'Everyone Through The Same Door, the Sarah Baker Story' by Liz Page Train

FPAC's new play 'Everyone Through The Same Door, the Sarah Baker Story' by Liz Page Train has had a wonderful start to life in September.

First off was an 'Open Rehearsal' as part of Heritage Open Day at the Sunflower House in Folkestone and then 10 days later, a scratch performance at the Gulbenkian Theatre a###s part of 1 Degree East's South by Southeast Festival.

Below is more information about the new play:

Everyone Through the Same Door: The Sarah Baker Story is a new one-woman play celebrating the extraordinary professional life of Sarah Baker, an 18th-century theatre-maker, entrepreneur and performer who became one of the most important theatrical figures in Kent.

Although Sarah Baker's name is relatively unknown today, her story is remarkable. From travelling as a penniless performer and dancing for her supper, she went on to become a successful theatre proprietor and creative force, running theatres and presenting entertainment across Kent.

Our ambition is to bring this extraordinary woman back to life on stage through a joyous theatrical romp combining storytelling, character, humour and the atmosphere of Regency theatre. The play will explore the challenges of being a woman working and succeeding in a male-dominated industry, while celebrating Baker's progressive approach to theatre and her belief that everyone should have access to the magic of performance.

Baker's theatres brought together audiences from very different social backgrounds. The princess in the royal box and the urchin who had bartered his way in could experience the same wondrous entertainment. That belief in theatre as a shared experience feels particularly relevant today and gives the play a contemporary resonance.

Sarah Baker's professional life also provides a remarkable map of Kent's theatrical history. She worked in Canterbury, Rochester, Maidstone, Folkestone, Hastings, Tunbridge Wells and Faversham, creating a direct connection between her story and communities across the South East.

This local connection will become an integral part of the eventual tour. Each performance will include a short section specifically connected to the town or area in which the play is being performed. Baker wrote extensively about the places she visited and worked in, providing a rich source of material for these localised sections. This means that while the central story remains the same, each performance can reveal a different part of Baker's journey and give audiences a personal connection to the story.

For example, if the play is performed in Canterbury as part of the South by South East Festival, we can tell the story of Baker opening her first purpose-built theatre there, just months after legislation changed to allow theatrical performances outside London. Contemporary accounts describe the extraordinary popularity of the theatre, with the roads leading to Orange Street becoming blocked by crowds coming to see her performances. The site is now occupied by the BoConcept retail shop, creating a striking connection between Canterbury's theatrical past and its present.

These local stories are not simply historical information; they are inherently theatrical. They allow us to bring the places in which audiences live into the performance and encourage them to see their own communities through a different lens. As the production tours, the play can therefore evolve alongside the communities it visits.

At the heart of the piece is a woman who was ahead of her time: an actress, producer, businesswoman and theatre proprietor who built audiences and ran successful theatrical enterprises when women had very little formal power. Through her story, we can explore contemporary questions about who gets to make theatre, who gets access to culture, what an inclusive theatre looks like, and how much has changed for women working in the performing arts.

We believe the combination of an extraordinary female protagonist, humour, local history and contemporary relevance will make the piece accessible to audiences beyond those who already consider themselves theatre or history enthusiasts. Sarah Baker is first and foremost a compelling theatrical character and the play will be energetic, entertaining and accessible rather than a conventional historical biography.