Ava Pickett to adapt The Manningtree Witches in new Mercury Colchester season

Exclusive: The Mercury Theatre in Colchester has announced two new Mercury Original productions as part of its 2025–2026 season: The Manningtree Witches by Ava Pickett and Swallow The Lake by Tassa Deparis.

The Manningtree Witches, adapted by Pickett (writer of 1536) from A K Blakemore’s hit novel, will run from 28 February to 14 March 2026. Directed by Natasha Rickman, the production will be the first Mercury Original to open on the venue’s main stage. Set in Essex in 1643, the play follows 17-year-old Rebecca West as she becomes embroiled in the rise of England’s first Witchfinder General, exploring themes of fear, power, and historical erasure. The adaptation was developed with support from the National Theatre’s Generate programme.

Pickett, who grew up in Colchester, said it was meaningful to tell a local story with such enduring relevance: “The Manningtree Witches is a blisteringly beautiful gut punch of a novel and it’s my privilege to bring the voices of Rebecca and these women, so vivid in AK Blakemore’s book and too often pushed in to the shadows of history, on to the Mercury stage,” she said.

Swallow The Lake, written by Tassa Deparis and directed by Yasmin Hafesji, will run in the Mercury Studio from 2 to 11 October 2025. Developed through the Mercury Playwrights programme in association with Paines Plough’s Tour the Writer, and produced in partnership with HighTide, the play follows Joanna and Joseph as an old story disrupts their family life in a quiet Essex town.

Set against the backdrop of the 2024 protests, the play traces their relationship from childhood to present day, confronting questions of loyalty, identity and fracture.

Deparis said: “This story means a lot to me and I’m lucky to be surrounded by such a caring team. I’m enormously grateful to the Mercury Theatre, Paines Plough and HighTide who are not just supporting this play, but me. They have not only given me a chance to grow as a writer, but to be one at all. I am so looking forward to seeing what is uncovered during the process and learning more about the play and myself.”

Tickets for both productions go on priority sale from 10am on Tuesday 24 June, with general sale from 10am on Friday 27 June.