While the pandemic has devastated theatre schedules, venues and theatre companies have been taking advantage of new technology to deliver some much-needed entertainment during difficult times.

But New Perspectives have taken a different approach - relying on a technology that's been around for centuries.

The company has already served-up a hugely successful event using the medium of the postal service.

Their postcard drama - Love From Cleethorpes - was mailed to 26 countries worldwide, and now they've developed a new spin on the format, taking the postcards out of the seaside town of Cleethorpes and into the thrilling world of Alton Towers.

Dare To Look Down! will deliver a set of six original postcards that will propel audiences from the 1800s into the future, as each instalment captures a fresh view of the beloved park from a different perspective.

It's going to be an immersive journey which fuses history with wild imagination that will find its way straight to your letterbox.

Artistic Director Jack McNamara said ...

"Postcards and theme parks can often suffer the same fate; seen as tacky and unworthy of much cultural attention.

Yet both contain multitudes, binding families and memories and travelling you through time and space in garish technicolour.

The story of Alton Towers is an extraordinary one, and captures the distinct strangeness of British history over the last hundred or so years.

As our lives remain locked down, with theatres still largely closed, I feel a stronger than ever need to re-enter those vast communal spaces that invoke wonder, terror and the occasional splash of nausea."

About the company

New Perspectives is an East Midlands based company with over 40 years' experience of touring high-quality productions to venues of all sizes across the UK, from mid-scale theatres to village halls.

With a strong rural core, they create productions to fit spaces of any size in order to bring new work that is unexpected and thought-provoking to a wide range of audiences.

Since 2012, New Perspectives has been led by Artistic Director Jack McNamara.

Their series PlacePrints, ranked the UK's 25th most popular fiction podcast (2020) is currently available and Soho On Demand is hosting their Zoom adaptation of The Boss of It All starring Josie Lawrence.

Other recent productions have included WhatsApp drama Stay Safe, a series of Christmas cards, and their internationally successful postcard drama Love From Cleethorpes which has reached over 2,000 letterboxes in 26 countries.

The Stage Award winning The Fishermen by Gbolohan Obisesan (Trafalgar Studios, Assembly George Square Studios and UK Tour) is available on BBC Radio 3 catch up in a new recording uniting original cast members Michael Ajao and Valentine Olukoga with David Alade for the first time, directed by Jack McNamara and produced by New Perspectives and Naked Productions.

Booking and mailing

The postcards for Dare To Look Down! will be mailed individually from the week of 25 May 2021 and will arrive at weekly intervals.

UK addresses will receive all six postcards over a period of two months.

Postcards mailed to overseas addresses may take longer.

Age guidance: you should be as tall as six postcards to enjoy this ride!

Created by Jack McNamara.

Tickets £12.50 to UK addresses and £26 worldwide - more details and booking here.

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