Come To Where I’m From – Pulse Fringe Festival, Sir John Mills Theatre

Now under new management, champions of new writing Paines Plough are presenting a series of shows around the country asking local writers to examine their local environment.

For the Ipswich leg of Come To Where I’m From we are treated to four short views on life in East Anglia. Perhaps worryingly for the East of England Tourist board the central theme running through all four pieces seems to be a desire to escape.

We start in Colchester (Niki Werenowska) and a tale of departure and return both modern and roman. It’s a clever concept but one that like the previous nights offering (The Siege) would work better on paper than as a performance.

From Colchester to Gt Yarmouth (Ian McHugh) and tales of growing up, lost love and sexual identity. There is a strong narrative here and one that could be developed into a longer piece.

Next a tale of how caring for a sick relative turns to witchcraft (Molly Davies). This is a comical tale but underpinned with some real pathos.

The final piece (Joel Horwood) the influx of creative types into Suffolk but again the comic tale is underpinned by tragedy. Again this is a piece that could be developed into a longer piece, either as a published text or as a monologue.

The concept is interesting and the writing diverse. Authors reading their own work perhaps didn’t work and some background to each piece (again no programme or notes) would help understand where the author was coming from. Like the previous nights offering perhaps some of this more suited to the page rather than stage.