Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September 2025 

Tickets: £18 (£15 under 18s & students)

Saturday 13th September 7.30pm

Sunday 14th September 2.30pm

Tickets available HERE , by phoning 01728 454022 or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

Join us for the launch of a heartening, ever-evolving collaborative theatre project – a kaleidoscope of poetry, music, dance, video, swifts…

About Thinking of Happiness Etc

Michael and Jack Laskey’s Thinking of Happiness Etc is a unique father and son collaboration.

Michael is a T S Eliot Prize shortlisted poet. Two of his collections are Poetry Book Society Recommendations.

‘Laskey is his own man – so when I compare him to Larkin and Heaney it is merely to place him in the company he deserves.’ Craig Raine

Michael has never made a piece of theatre before. At the heart of the production, Michael will read his plain-speaking poems. A simple poem can be found below.

Michael’s poems will be accompanied by: live music, dance, projected live video, and foley sound effects. The professional experience of the ensemble working with Michael is extensive and far-reaching.

Theatre is Michael’s third son Jack’s first love. He’s directing Thinking of Happiness Etc. His intention with the production is to create some warming limelight to bathe his 80-year-old father in.

Jack is a multi-disciplinary artist. He is Artistic Director of creative arts company Spielhouse – who currently have various theatre productions in development. Jack has worked internationally as an actor for the past 22 years – after training at RADA.

‘Jack Laskey… lights up the stage.’ Michael Billington, The Guardian.

After an Arts Council England grant, Michael and Jack started collaborating on this project – with the aim of expanding the reach of Michael’s poetry. The fruits of this research and development period form part of Thinking of Happiness Etc.

All the work on the project is being recorded – so Jack can make future versions of their ever-evolving show – with his dad appearing in video projection. Jack plans to meet his father in front of audiences when he reaches 80 himself.

In 2026 Michael and Jack hope to mount an East Anglian tour of the show – followed by a small National Tour in 2027. They are also in discussions about a run of some weeks at a theatre.

Central to the touring project are creative community workshops – which begin in Spring next year. Eventually there will be a touring exhibition – co-created by workshop participants, Michael, Jack and the Thinking of Happiness Etc ensemble.

Alongside his own writing, Michael Laskey a ‘champion of contemporary poetry’ – teacher, mentor, workshop leader, editor.

In 2015 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for Services to Poetry.

Almost all Michael’s work life has been on a voluntary basis – including founding and directing The Aldeburgh International Poetry Festival, which ran for 26 years – 23 of which were at the Jubilee Hall – making the hall the logical and best place for the Thinking Of Happiness Etc project to launch from.

Michael lives Suffolk with his wife, who was a GP. He was mainly responsible for looking after their three sons when they were growing up.

Please support this project via their Crowd Funder HERE

Sample Poem
From The Tightrope Wedding, Michael Laskey, 1999

The Last Swim

September, October… one thing
you don’t know at the time is when
you’ve had your last swim: the weather
may hold, may keep nudging you in.
Only afterwards, sometimes days on,
it dawns on you that you’ve done:
just the thought of undressing outdoors,
exposing bare skin, makes you wince.
And that’s best, to have gone on swimming
easily to the end: your crawl
full of itself, and the future
no further than your folded towel.

Doors open half an hour before the performance starts.

Saturday 20th September 2025, 7.45pm

Tickets: £15.50/£13.50 available HERE or phone 01394 279613 

Doors open at 7.15pm.

Operation:RADAR written by Suzanne Hawkes

It’s a race against time. Boffins Robert Watson-Watt and Skip Wilkins are working to develop a method of detecting aircraft. They must succeed before they either succumb to the bleak conditions of Orfordness, or the Luftwaffe obliterates the RAF—before the flying boys have even got their socks on!

Aldeburgh Comedy Weekend

Friday 17th – Sunday 19th October 2025

In a world that feels heavy with headlines, a good laugh isn’t just welcome, it has never felt more vital. That’s the thinking behind comedy producer Paul Schlesinger and writer Jon Canter teaming up to launch the very first Aldeburgh Comedy Weekend taking place from 17th to 19th October at Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall.

Brimming with wit, warmth and mischief across three joy-packed days, audiences can expect a lively mix of stand-up, satire, improv and theatre, with some of the sharpest names in British comedy heading to the Suffolk coast.

Rory Bremner – Making an Impression – SOLD OUT 

Friday 17th October, 7.30pm

Unmissable first-ever Aldeburgh appearance by the legendary TV satirist and a guest appearance from Helen Atkinson-Wood.

Tickets £30 available HERE

A Short Gentleman 

Saturday 18th October, 3pm & Sunday 19th October, 3pm

Michael Fenton Stevens stars in this tragi-comic crime story set in Aldeburgh. Written by Jon Canter.

Tickets £20 available HERE

Showstopper!

Saturday 18th October, 8pm

With your help, the Olivier-Award winning improvisers create an instant new musical in this one hour show.

Tickets £22.50 available HERE

Lunchtime Achievement Award for Services to Comedy – Alison Steadman – SOLD OUT 

Sunday 19th October, 12 noon

The Abigail’s Party and Gavin & Stacey star talks to Clive Anderson.

Tickets £25 available HERE

Tickets available through the links above, by phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

Saturday 25th October 2025

7.30pm

Tickets: £20

Tickets available HERE  by phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

Meet Gail, Hobby and Salty – three year 11 students about to leave their school days behind them, fighting their anxieties with imagination and theatre. As their final term nears its end, the trio perform a play inspired by the chaotic first days of their idealistic drama teacher.
With only the props of their classroom to hand and just three actors taking on over 20 different roles, Teechers is a tour-de-force of storytelling and the power of live theatre.

Written by John Godber in the 1980s, Teechers is a fast-paced comedy with a vital message about the entrenched inequalities of the UK’s education system that are still as punchy as ever forty years later.

“Certainly fun! Inventive and well-drilled” WhatsOnStage

“A brilliantly crafted show, full of comedy, charisma and heart” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ West End Best Friend

“A raucous comedy”/ “joyously energetic” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Guardian

“Powerful, punchy, pacy and political” Entertainingly Different

“A wonderful celebration of the power of imagination” Curtains Up

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What’s On Live, Behind The Arras, What’s Good To Go, Drama And Theatre

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fairy Powered Productions, Northern Soul, Theatre And Art Reviews

Thursday 30th October 2025 10am – 4pm

Doors open at 10.00am

Tickets: Pay what you can

Please select a time slot between 10am – 3pm. This time is your arrival time. Once you are there you are welcome to stay as long as you like.

Tickets are available HERE  by phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

A family event for Halloween.  From witches’ frogs to coiled snakes, scary spiders and ‘mini-beast’ reptiles, you are invited to a Halloween gathering of fantastic beasts and exotic visitors from around the world.  Come and meet an extraordinary collection of mammals, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians in a day-long ‘open-house’ with the opportunity to get close up to the animals and learn more about them from Our Animal World’s experts.

There will be a Curiosity Corner of reptile skins, feathers, skeletons, insects in resin, fossils and much more to be explored with our magnifying glasses and microscopes when you’re not getting close to these amazing animals. Dressing up encouraged!

Open to all, but we ask that any under 18s are accompanied by an adult at all time.

www.ouranimalworld.com
www.facebook.com/OurAnimalWorld22

Sunday 16th November 2025

2pm (Doors & Bar open at 1.30pm)

Tickets: £25

Tickets available HERE by phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

Saxophonists Derek Nash and Phil Veacock, plus guitarist Mark Flanagan have collectively notched up over 75 years of boogie with the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Together, they bring you a show full of swing, blues and grooves, going toe-to-toe for your approval alongside the rhythm section of Pete Whittaker (organ) and George Double (drums). While Jools himself won’t be joining us this time, you’ll be in the expert hands of his long-standing bandmates.

Saxophonist Phil Veacock is best-known as the main arranger, musical director and tenor saxophonist of Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. In this role he has arranged for and played with practically everyone of note in popular music from Paul McCartney to Barry White from Elvis Costello to Kylie Minogue.

Derek Nash is one of the busiest freelancers on the UK music scene. A multi award-winning bandleader, instrumentalist and composer, he has been with the Jools Holland R & B Orchestra for nineteen years and delights audiences around the world with his infectious and soulful performances.

Mark Flanagan joined the Jools band in 1988.  Since then he has made countless live, TV, radio and recording appearances with many of the biggest names in the industry.  Mark has also made a name for himself as a solo artist with his own catalogue of songs, written on Dobro and acoustic guitars.  Performing solo, or with a small band, Mark wows his audiences with fine guitar playing and songs written from the heart.

Friday 28th November 2025 at 7.30pm

Doors open at 7.00pm

Tickets: £25

Tickets are available HERE

by phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

England cricketing legend Graham Gooch OBE is the highest run-scorer of all time, and his 67,057 runs across first class and limited-overs cricket is more even than Sachin Tendulkar’s tally.
One of only 25 players to have scored over 100 first-class centuries, he is a three time Ashes winner, captained England to a World Cup final, and his famous 333 against India is the highest Test score ever at Lord’s.
In 2012 he became England’s batting coach, working with greats including Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root. Gooch’s experience of the game simply can’t be bettered, and he has the stories to prove it!

The event finishes at approx. 9.15pm, including one interval.