America Ground The Musical

Hastings based playwright John Knowles and musician Bob Tipler have created a satirical play with songs, very loosely based on the history of the America Ground area of Hastings. The America Ground was an area of shingle beach that was settled on in the late 18th and 19th Century with its residents paying no rent as the land apparently had no owners.

The play is actually an allegory concerning today’s housing crisis and issues of land ownership which has a particular relevance to Hastings and many seaside towns today. With the huge rise in house and rent prices, the surge in second homes and holiday lets over the last few years, secure accommodation is a real issue for many people.

With support from Historic England and Arts Council England, we are nearly there with the funding we need to professionally stage the play this coming June with a full cast of local actors and musicians.

If this issue is important to you and you’d like to see the play staged we would appreciate your help.

Tickets when available, will be offered to funding contributors first.

All donations welcome no matter how small.

Thanks for reading

Bob and John