About Us
"A unique, special theatre project"
The Black Dog Theatre Creation is a special not-for-profit theatre group set up and run by Alfie James Productions which aims at using performance skills to support people suffering from poor confidence, anxiety and to help to reduce the risk of people becoming isolated. It is also open to those who simply love being creative, learning new theatre skills and staging plays regularly. Now in its sixth year it is slowly growing and is building its reputation as being a wonderful, positive, and successful group. We currently have two groups in Colchester and Camden, London and we often run short bite-size projects in Brentwood and Suffolk. We develop small projects, workshops and performances and work with other artists to offer our members the opportunity to engage in a wide range of artistic skills. Our projects are free to access and open to all.
To find out more about us click here:
WHAT'S UP NEXT...
"Women in War" by Alfie James
At: The Kelvedon Institute
When: Saturday 23rd May 7.30pm
Tickets: FREE
"Buckle up! And hold on to what you can. This ride is gonna’ get bumpy, but them Bessie's need us.”
The Red Cross Nurse carries our soldiers out of sickness, out of darkness, back to the light of good health. During WW1, over 38,000 women and men worked as nurses and ambulance drivers. This is their story.
For Lottie, it was her first day as a volunteer nurse. As she stood on the muddy courtyard outside the make-shift hospital a few miles from the frontline, her stomach sunk. Over the course of a few days, we see a small glimpse of what life was like as she works with Lady Dorothy Feilding, Miss Knocker, Miss Chisholm of the famous Munro Flying Ambulance Corps under the strict and stern watchful eye of the ward sister.
As friendships grow and love blossoms, tragedy suddenly strikes, bringing them closer together in their fight to survive.
A special performance honouring the role which women (and men) played on the frontline during WW1 as nurses and ambulance drivers. Performed by members of the Black Dog Theatre Creation Colchester group.
Performance notes:
-The performance running time is approximately 1 hour 10 minutes
-There is no interval.
-Recommended aged suitability: 8yrs +
-Our performance may be filmed as part of our evaluation process. (Camera will be focused on the actors on stage)
-Trigger warning: The performance explores issues/memories of war, mild references to grief which some people may find upsetting.
-Free refreshments will be available
-Please be aware that the car park only accepts payments via the NCP app.
-There will be a small collection at the end of the performance collecting donations to help support our continued community work.
Box office:
Tickets are FREE, but must be pre-booked using the link below. (You will be taken to our Ticketsource webpage)
A right witchy treat!
Our latest Black Dog Theatre Creation project in Colchester came to a wonderful end recently with our special performance of Roald Dahl’s masterful classic “The Witches.” Over the past few months, we have been exploring wordplay, raps and creating larger than life panto characters. It’s helped to further develop our confidence and break down our anxiety on stage. The performance was a big success with our sell-out audience. Here are a few snap shots and a film recording of the performance for you to enjoy. THANK YOU to everyone who took part and came along to support us.
CURRENT NEWS
Women in War tickets going fast for our Kelvedon Institute performance
Our Black Dog Theatre Creation group in Colchester are staging a new production of Women in War at the Kelvedon Institute this May. Rehearsals are going brilliantly and we’ve even added in two new scenes to the play which weren’t seen in the performances at last years Camden and Edinburgh fringe festivals.
Suffolk Black Dog Theatre group going from strength to strength
Our Bury St Edmunds workshops have really taken off again and we’re so excited to be working towards creating a production of The Reluctant Dragon for a new audience. We’ve also been welcoming local artists to lead workshops sharing their skills. Circus performer ad Actor Dylan Brown worked with us using clowning techniques and mime to help us to develop expressions and emotions on stage to enhance our storytelling. Helen Taylor popped in to give us a wonderful session on chanting and we absolutely loved it!
The Sound lab
We are excited to announce a new project for our Black Dog Theatre Creation East-Ham group. This year we will be working alongside Wireless Theatre to create a special project exploring voice artistry, audio and radio plays. We will also be creating a special new adaptation of Wind in the Willows to be recorded for Spotify.
Women in War Norwich Heritage Project starting soon –
We’re thrilled to announce that we will be working with the HLF, The Norwich Records Office and Norfolk Museums to create a special new Women in War project. We’re now looking for people living in Norwich who may like to be involved. During the project we aim to use performance techniques to explore the role of women as nurses and ambulance drivers in WW1, developing history skills, creating a short film about local nurse Edith Cavell and a new production of Women in War in Norwich in Autumn 2026.
WE’RE LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS, LOCAL ARTISTS & VOLUNTEERS
We are always looking for new people to work with including:
-New Members for all our groups (Adults aged 18+)
-Local Artists who may like to collaborate with us or be our guest workshop leaders sharing their skills.
-Volunteers to support our members
Please get in touch if you’re interested