Tom Paine Needs You

Next year's planned Celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the death of Thetford's own Thomas Paine Tom Paine 200  feature two major events - a specially commissioned play with music on the life of Paine - Citizen of the World   - to be performed in October and a weekend of costumed Re-enactment  on the 6th/7th June.

If you would like to take part in either or both of these events - read on.

You are invited to a meeting in the Guildhall at 7.30 on Tuesday 25 November to find out more.

Musician and re-enactor Jim Bisgood of Great Hockham-based Nuns Meadows Productions will talk about plans to turn King Street into eighteenth century Thetford. He will describe the opportunities for all those - adults and children- who would like to be involved in the processions and costume dramas to be played out over the weekend. In particular, he will provide information about how to source and make an appropriate costume to wear on the day - so needlesmiths and costume-makers who would be willing to join a wardrobe team as well as actors young and old are warmly invited to join us.

Also on the 25th, East Anglian dramatist Mike Levy will talk about his ideas for Citizen of the World,  one of which is that as a Community Play, the script will be written around the skills and talents of those who come forward to take part. So whether you are 8 or 80, male or female, amateur or professional, an individual or a family, an actor, a musician, a backstage lighting or sound technician, whether you want to move an audience or move scenery, join the  chorus or take the lead, whether you sing, tap-dance or eat fire, whether you have lots of time or just a little and whether you are experienced or have never done this kind of thing before, you are guaranteed a place on the team. We look forward to seeing you.

This meeting will not be the only opportunity to become one of the several hundred we hope to recruit to the cause. There will be further public meetings in the Spring or if you prefer, telephone the Celebrations Coordinator John Weeks (01842 820060) now to express interest and join our mailing list.  

Tuesday 25th November  is, however, a chance to be in at the beginning of what promises to be a memorable experience and for those thinking of helping costume the event a particularly useful meeting to attend.

You don't need experience - just interest, enthusiasm and the willingness to give it a go. See you  in the Guildhall on the 25th.

Our latest press release

7 September 2008

Range and Participation  are key features of the seven-month programme of Festival events being planned to begin in Thetford in June 2009.

The celebrations mark the bi-centenary of the death of Thomas Paine, the Thetford-born tradesman who lived to influence the course of history in 18th century America, France and Great Britain through a turbulent and ultimately unhappy career.

As well as telling the vivid story of his life and ideas, the Tom Paine 200 Celebrations will explore what Thetford was like in the time of the Georges - its costume, sport and entertainment, its politics and daily grind.

‘We hope to catch the attention and hold the interest of everyone in the town,” said Celebrations coordinator John Weeks, “whether it is with a punk-folk gig from The Men They Couldn't Hang, academic lectures from the likes of Paine's acclaimed biographer John Keane and the Guardian's   savage cartoonist Martin Rowson, with cricket 18th century-style or war-gaming and reenactment recalling the American War of Independence”.

Cultural highlights will include the first opportunity outside the capital to see a rare portrait of Paine recently saved for the nation and the performance of a ‘lost' play by Paine's radical crony Thomas Holcroft.

Speakers with national reputations and visitors from abroad are part of the mix, but at the heart of the Celebrations is the opportunity for local people to take part as exhibitors or performers and to benefit as service providers during the summer and autumn of 2009.

First steps have already been taken towards Citizen of the World , a music-drama to be given as a community-play in October. Public Meetings in Autumn and the New Year (the first on November 25th) will be a chance for young and old to come along to sign on for the play or to take part in the costumed re-creation of Georgian Thetford over the weekend of 6th-7th June.

Additionally the organisers of the Festival, a sub-committee of the Thetford Society, are keen to hear from groups and individuals not yet approached who would like to  be included in the festival programme, perhaps by giving an event in a society schedule a Paine twist. Sportsmen and women to take part in an eighteenth century sports day would be particularly welcome.  They would like to hear, too, from those who wish to offer services or would like to join the expanding team of volunteer helpers working to make the Festival a success. Please contact Oliver Bone at the Ancient House Museum or John Weeks on 01842 820060.

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Festival Overview

Friday June 5 - Monday 8 June 2009

Bicentenary Weekend

Friday offers a unique  opportunity to enjoy a play by Paine's friend and associate Thomas Holcroft in a rehearsed reading by a company from the 'Georgian Globe' - the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.

Against the appropriate background of market day Saturday, professional re-enactors and local groups will create a Hogarthian panorama of life in Georgian Thetford - its trades and popular entertainment, electioneering, crime and punishment, military recruitment and training and much else. On Sunday a French market and skirmishing below Castle Hill will add to the entertainment.

Displays and concerts will explore the thought, music, dance, fashion and art of the time in an event which sets the scene for further exploration of Paine through the year.

We are anticipating that the weekend's Celebrations will be formally opened by Sir Richard Attenborough on Saturday morning; they close with the Bi-Centenary Dinner on Monday the 8th, the anniversary of Paine's death.

Click here to see the draft programme for the weekend (as July 2008)

May - September

Among on-going events over this period, to include Georgian sport, music and drama, a schools' programme will introduce Paine into the classroom through an age-appropriate Paine Pack for every child and a range of related workshops and activities.

During the Autumn there will be a programme of Lectures from distinguished speakers addressing such topics as Paine's religious position, his contemporary significance and core ideas. There will be a series of Guided Walks with a local Paine expert.

October

October sees the completion of the schools' programme with a secondary school Public Speaking and Debating event.

This month will also see the culmination of our Community Play project  Citizen of the World with performances of a specially written work on Paine for a cast of over 100 - combining professionals, local amateur actors, school children, members of community groups, choirs and societies.

The Celebrations are brought to a close by a final Invitation Lecture from Paine's distinguished biographer John Keane.

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Please Join In

We are very interested to hear from artists or groups who would like to be associated with the Celebrations, participating in the community play, taking part in costumed re-enactment or contributing their own event to the main or fringe programme. 

We are also looking to expand our team as 2009 approaches and would love to hear from anyone with experience or an interest in the areas of promotion, event administration and stewarding who would like to be involved, perhaps for the first time in Thetford, in what we intend to be a whole town event making a positive impact across our communities. 

Please complete an interest form (groups) or contact the coordinator (individuals) or any other member of the committee directly.

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