Bringing Interactive Theatre to Rural Communities!
Following Black Country Touring’s production of Wild, which toured to East Anglia in November 2025, Manchester based company Just Some Theatre is next in line to deliver high quality theatre to rural and underserved communities across the country as part of a national tour through Create Tour Connect.
Eyes Down is a delightfully simple, playful whodunnit–style theatre show in which audiences take part in real games of bingo as the story unfolds. Behind the familiar calls of “house!” and “eyes down” is a piece of touring theatre that keeps live performance thriving beyond city stages.
This is thanks to Create Tour Connect, a nationwide commissioning project led by Applause Rural Touring, in partnership with other rural touring schemes across the country (including Creative Arts East) and supported by Arts Council England. The project was developed to address a growing number of challenges in the touring landscape, including the high costs associated with making and touring work, a lack of available funds to support it, and a shortage of suitable productions, particularly two to four hander drama and theatre that is relevant to contemporary rural audiences.
For Just Some Theatre, the partnership is as important as the show itself. Co-founder Jake Urry describes the project as more than simply an opportunity to tour:
“The project will be an invaluable stepping stone for us, allowing us to reach more communities with our work in the future by building relationships with rural touring organisers nationwide.”
Theatre That Reaches More People
Those relationships, between artists, touring schemes and local venues, form a cultural ecosystem that is often invisible to audiences yet vital in enabling theatre to reach people who may face social, geographical or economic barriers to accessing arts, culture and creativity.
Eyes Down has been popular with our rural venues here at CAE, particularly because of its bingo hall setting, a game deeply woven into community life across the UK. It provides a shared national language that lowers barriers and invites participation from audiences who may not usually attend theatre, creating an immediate sense of familiarity, connection and fun.
Let’s make Eyes Down a full house – grab your tickets!
Eyes Down begins its Spring 2026 tour on 26th February and comes to the East of England via Creative Arts East’s rural touring Promoters from 26th to 29th March.
- Thursday 26th March, 7.30pm at Freckenham Village Hall
- Friday 27th March, 7.30pm at Shouldham Village Hall
- Saturday 28th March, 7pm at The Old School Hall, Sawtry
- Sunday 29th March, 7pm at Margaret Harker Hall, Blofield
Click here for full details, tickets and further information
Image credits: Just Some Theatre
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