01 Sep WHAT’S ON AT MERCURY THEATRE COLCHESTER IN SEPTEMBER 2023
Mercury Theatre Colchester has a wide range of entertainment scheduled for this month including Rosie Jones’s newest show Triple Threat and the acclaimed play Strategic Love Play, direct from its run at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Best known for her hit travel series’ Trip Hazard and Mission: Accessible, and for numerous appearances on shows The Last Leg, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Cats Does Countdown, Hypothetical, Mock the Week, The Ranganation and Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Rosie Jones brings her show Triple Threat to the Mercury Theatre on 20 September. The show is guaranteed to be full of unapologetic cheekiness, nonsensical fun and unadulterated joy from the triple threat herself.
Blackeyed Theatre in association with South Hill Park Arts Centre will bring the 60th Anniversary tour of Joan Littlewood’s musical entertainment Oh What A Lovely War to the Mercury Theatre from 21-23 September. Brimming with timeless songs, razor-sharp satire and high jinks, Oh What A Lovely War is a hilarious, heart-breaking snapshot of life for those caught in the crossfire of conflict, a unanimous voice from the trenches and a timely warning from the theatre of war itself. Now, more than ever, it holds a mirror up to the world and speaks to us all.
Avalon Theatre will present their monthly The Comedy Network comedy night in the Mercury Studio on 22 September, which will feature a line-up of the best up-and-coming comedians.
LATES, the Mercury Theatre’s free Cocktail Cabaret that champions local queer talent will return on 23 September. Hosted by the King and Queen of Colchester, Cyro and Flick, the free event in the Mercury’s Café Bar will feature various splashes of drag, dashes of dance, sprinklings of comedy, drama, and poetry making up the cocktail for the night.
Internationally acclaimed Johnny2bad recreating the greatest sounds from Birmingham reggae legends UB40 in UB40: The Legacy in the Mercury Theatre on 27 September.
Yippee Ki Yay, the acclaimed parody retelling of the classic film Die Hard from Fringe First-winner Richard Marsh, heads to the Mercury Theatre on 28 September. Following rave reviews at its Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, the uplifting action romp (and unauthorised parody) pays affectionate tribute to the iconic 80s festive fan favourite.
Concrete Youth’s new multi-sensory theatre production, The Whispering Jungle, will run from 28-29 September in the Mercury Studio. The production, produced in association with the Mercury Theatre, brings together ASMR, sensory play and sensory puppets in an immersive touring production for young audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Come and help the animals of the rainforest rebuild their home and realise that home really is wherever you’re with your family.
Britain’s raciest and sassiest musical cabaret trio, Fascinating Aïda, will celebrate 40 years on the road with their 40th Anniversary Show tour – which heads to the Mercury Theatre from 29-30 September. Fascinating Aïda have racked-up millions of internet followers, performed in the world’s most prestigious venues and been showered with awards and plaudits since they sashayed onto the scene back in 1983. Marking this astonishing milestone, the show will feature much-loved favourites and some wickedly hilarious new songs.
Direct from this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Miriam Battye’s acclaimed play Strategic Love Play heads to the Mercury Studio from 29-30 September. Directed by Katie Posner and performed by Archie Backhouse and Letty Thomas, the play takes a scalpel to modern romance, interrogating what we really talk about when we talk about love. Strategic Love Play is produced by Paines Plough, Soho Theatre and Belgrade Theatre, in association with Landmark Theatres.
Throughout the month of September the theatre will also be hosting numerous classes and workshops including Pilates, Zumba, Mercury Community Choir, Mercury Young Company, Musical Theatre and Drag Workshops. Olisa Odele (Netflix’s Big Boys, Channel 4’s It’s A Sin, BBC’s Scarborough, E4’s Chewing Gum) will lead a full day Masterclass on 17 September on developing skills in acting for the camera through practical exercises, and explore how to prepare for both the acting and technical challenges of screen acting.
Tickets can be bought at www.mercurytheatre.co.uk
