After two years of closure, Colchester’s Mercury Theatre has reopened with a season of original and touring shows at their extensively refurbished venue. Thanks to a three-year campaign which raised over £11.3 million, the theatre has been fully modernised with increased facilities and improvements to accessibility throughout the building.
East Anglia’s most active producing venue has been transformed with an all-day café bar in a bigger, brighter foyer space. The main auditorium has been redeveloped and expanded with additional seating, as well as new community spaces and dance studios to encourage upcoming community talent. The theatre has also ensured it has a 100% renewable electricity policy with the expansion of LED lighting and the use of solar panels.
The Mercury Theatre prides itself on welcoming the most popular touring shows while also nurturing its own talent. Its inaugural season started with Baskerville! A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, directed by Creative Director Ryan McBride which is on until 22 August. The madcap adventure features five actors playing 40 characters in this reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes novel. Later in the year they will be premiering a new adaptation of the Greek tragedy Antigone before staging the Christmas classic Aladdin in time for pantomime season from 27 November.
Also launching this season is Mercury Originals, a programme of ground-breaking new plays to showcase local writers. This will start with world première of Sirens by award-winning playwright, Kenny Emson. The theatre has also commissioned Joel Horwood to adapt Stephen King’s The Green Mile for the stage, which will receive its world premiere in Colchester in 2022 ahead of a national tour.
But theatre isn’t the only entertainment the Mercury offers. With their enhanced space, the venue plays host to a variety of community initiatives and creative engagements for all ages. On the last Sunday of each month you can test out your singing voice with a musical sing-a-long for all ages. You can explore other avenues of theatre with their workshops on puppetry, sound design or a course on improvisation. From young to old, the Mercury offers multi-sensory classes for toddlers, dance classes for all ages and a senior social club throughout the day.
You can visit the Mercury Theatre and check out the amazing refurbishment in person with our prize draw to win two tickets to Baskerville! Enter by clicking here before midnight on 15 August.