The Mercury Theatre Company goes into its tenth year in 2009 having put on seventy-four productions since it’s inception in 1999. As a part of this anniversary, 2009 will see the Company undertake one of its most adventurous projects to date, GIFT, as artists from all around the globe work alongside local residents in a project of discovery about Colchester. The results of this work will bring performances later in the year, following five new Mercury Theatre Company productions this Spring season, that genuinely offer something for everyone.
Kicking off the season in the main house will be the first co-production between the Mercury Theatre Company and The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich: A Chorus of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn runs in the Mercury Theatre from Thursday 5 to Saturday 21 March. Unassuming and recently widowed, Guy quickly becomes a local heart-throb when he joins Penton Amateur Dramatics rehearsals of The Beggar’s Opera and gets whisked along in a whirlwind of backstage politics and scorching affairs. Catapulted into the limelight, soon everyone wants a piece of him and Guy just can’t say ‘no’ to anyone, no matter how bizarre their demands might be!
This beautifully constructed satire features some of Ayckbourn’s most memorable characters from power-crazed Welsh director Dafydd and his desperate housewife Hannah, to seasoned swingers Fay and Ian. New Wolsey Artistic Director, Peter Rowe directs a cast including Julian Harries (Eastern Angles Writer, Director and Actor) as the down-to-earth Guy Jones, as well as Mercury Theatre Company regulars Christine Absalom, Miranda Bell and Roger Delves-Broughton.
From Friday 17 April to Saturday 2 May the Mercury Theatre Company stages a gleeful and incorrigible take on the dark joys of man’s inhumanity to man by the Award-winning Martin McDonagh. The Lonesome West tells the story of the Connor brothers. They live in Leenane, a small town in Connemara 'the murder capital of the world,’ with an increasingly violent history. They don't have much between them, just a small house and the tiny inheritance left by their father. They get joy from simple pleasures: drinking, joking, swiping food at funerals and fighting with each other. The Lonesome West was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 1999 and Martin McDonagh’s 2008 film In Bruges won BIFA Best Screenplay and is nominated for a 2009 Golden Globe.
Parents, Grandparents, Teachers: Beware! This year will be best remembered for one thing; The return of Wagstaffe the Wind-Up Boy from Friday 22 May to Saturday 6 June. The Mercury Theatre’s celebrated panto team, led by Director Janice Dunn, returns for this Summer Spectacular adapted for the stage by Mercury Associate Director Adrian Stokes, known to many for the enormous amount of work he has done within the local community. Can you imagine a boy who is more horrid than Horrid Henry? So dirty, smelly and frankly loathsome that his parents run off to a circus and travel the world to get away from him? To celebrate, Wagstaffe plays on the A12 and is squashed flat, but a brilliant doctor patches him up with bits of old machinery, including a key to wind him up, special night vision eyes and a finger through which he can pee! Life is one big accident for Wagstaffe and he unwittingly uncovers a dastardly plot to send his missing parents over Niagara Falls in a barrel. How bad is Wagstaffe? Will he try to save them? Can he possibly conquer the most impossible odds? Will there be a happy ending?
As well as these Main House productions the Mercury Theatre Company will be putting on two Studio Theatre productions: From Tuesday 24 February to Saturday 7 March the Mercury Theatre Company teams up with London’s Theatre 503, producers of Fearless New Writing, for the world premiere of The Lifesavers by Fraser Grace. Fraser Grace (Breakfast with Mugabe, RSC) is at the top of his game with this stunning play - a gripping story of a couple fighting to bring up a child in a State that believes that children need protection from their parents. Paul Robinson directs a cast including Mercury Theatre Company regular, Gina Isaac.
Also in the Mercury Studio Theatre will be a short, sharp, shocking piece of new theatre described by the author as ‘Smash Hits on acid’ and ‘the uncensored thoughts of the bladder of my mind’. Catastrophic Sex Music will be performed from Monday 23 to Saturday 28 March. This experimental production is being developed as part of the Mercury’s ongoing support for new artists. Based on the writing of 23 year old Bysshe Coffey, audiences are invited to give feedback after each performance. This production contains explicit strong language and graphic sexual references.
Tickets for The Lifesavers, Catastrophic Sex Music, The Lonesome West and Wagstaffe the Wind-Up Boy are on sale from Monday 12 January. Tickets for A Chorus of Disapproval are on sale now!
Call the Box Office on 01206 573948 or book online at www.mercurytheatre.co.uk Why not beat the credit crunch with the Company Season Ticket? The more productions you book, the greater the percentage you save: Book for all five Mercury Theatre Company productions together and get a massive 40% off the ticket price, that’s a saving of up to £25 per person! Book for four shows and save 35%, three shows and save 20% or two shows to save 10%. The Mercury Theatre Company prides itself on being accessible to everyone: each of the main house Mercury Theatre Company productions has a British Sign Language Interpreted Performance, an Audio Described Performance and new to this season, a Captioned Performance.
A Chorus of Disapproval
British Sign Language performance Thu 19 March, 7.30pm Audio Described performance Sat 14 Mar, 2.30pm Captioned performance Tue 17 Mar, 7.30pm
The Lonesome West
British Sign Language performance Thu 23 Apr, 7.30pm Audio Described performance Sat 2 May, 2.30pm Captioned performance Tue 28 Apr, 7.30pm
Wagstaffe the Wind-Up Boy
British Sign Language performance Thu 28 May, 7.00pm Audio Described performance Sat 6 Jun, 7.30pm Captioned performance Sat 30 May, 7.00pm
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