In 1631, The Fens, the flat area of land stretching from Cambridge to Norwich, were drained. In 2050, The Fens return to the sea. Two children play in the waterscape. They tell tales of a mythic Waterman, who scours the water for sunken parts. But, in the bitter struggle for survival, soon play adopts a more sinister note. Meanwhile in Ely, 2023, a priest gets a visit from a woman haunted by prophetic dreams. It’s a play about grief, faith, and the climate crisis; the crashing confluence of past and present; the refusal to heed the warnings we’re given. It’s a play about loneliness and the longing for human connection.

Writer: Tom Murray (North Star, Norwich Theatre Royal, Cambridge Junction, Mercury Theatre, RSC 37 Plays Winner / FRAMED, Theatre503 / Peter Shaffer Playwright In Residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, 2024) 

Director: Katie Thompson (Weeds, Norwich Theatre Royal / Season’s Greetings, Sheringham Little Theatre and St. George’s Theatre / Artist in Residence with Complicité: Mudlarks International Residency 2024)

Performers: 

Layla Chowdhury,

Isabella Thompson,

George Kirby-Smith

The Company: The Mango Ensemble is a multi-award winning, female and non-binary led company, founded by Layla Chowdhury, which aims to provide a platform for underrepresented voices and stories. We create ensembles to develop shows collaboratively in order to produce innovative productions which break the constraints and preconceived ideas of ‘collaborative theatre’.

FITLOE emerged during Tom’s time with the Mercury Theatre’s Writers’ Development Group in 2023, where it received dramaturgical support from playwright Ken Emson. As Peter Shaffer Playwright in Residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was given the space to develop the piece further. After showcases with the ‘Utopia Scratch Night’ (Walthamstow Trades Hall), staged readings with Old Red Lion Theatre, a climate workshop with HighTide, and multiple R&Ds/rehearsals at Orange Tree Theatre, it’s been nurtured into the production it is now.

This production is sponsored by The Peter Shaffer Foundation.