Colchester’s Mercury Theatre looks ahead to 2013 and beyond with confidence

Establishing a
full 12-months’ programme of in-house and co-productions is by itself
something of an achievement in these times of shrinking funding. One
initiative in connexion with this is the new season ticket offer. It
comes in two glittering shades – gold for all the Made in
Colchester productions where £132.00 (which could save you up to
£145.50 and includes free programmes and ticket exchanges, not to
mention a 10 per cent reduction on the à
la carte menu at the adjacent Food@theMercury) and silver (£90.00
with a saving of £60.00).

So, what do you
get for your money? The first Studio show is Andy Barrett‘s
Garage Band which is directed by Paul Hodson.
Basically it’s about four middle-aged men wanting to revive the music
(not to mention the passions) of the punk decades some 30 years ago.
Strong language and very loud music are promised between 20 February
and 9 March.

Popping up in
between other productions are four of Alan Ayckbourn‘s Intimate
Exchanges in which two actors play all the characters.
Events on a Hotel Terrace is the first (7-16 March
then 23, 25 and 27 April). A One Man Protest
follows (18-27 April and 14, 16 to 18 May). A Pageant
is, appropriately enough, its successor (8-18 May, 18, 20 to 22 June)
and A Game of Golf concludes the quartet (12-22
June). All are main-house productions and directed by Robin Herford.

Melvyn Bragg‘s
adaptation of his novel The Hired Man with a score
by Howard Goodall is revived in a co-production with Leicester’s
Curve Theatre from 21 March to 6 April. Buckroyd is the director for
this, and for Alan Bennett‘s The History Boys
betwen 23 May and 8 June. September ushers in The Butterfly
Lion, arguably Michael Morpurgo‘s finest book. Buckroyd
has made the adaptation and again directs (5 to 14 September).

Two variations on
a theme mirror each other in October. The main house has a
translation by Michael Hofmann of Brecht‘s The Good
Person of Sichuan (3 to 19 October) directed by Nikolai
Foster while the Studio hosts Manfred Karge‘s Man to
Man in the Anthony Vivis translation (4 to 19 October). As
you may know, both plays were inspired by the same true story. A new
musical comedy by Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon called The
Opinion Makers is another co-production, this time with the
Derby Theatre (25 October to 9 November).

To usher in
Christmas 2013 and January 2014 comes the home-grown pantomime The
Sleeping Beauty (6 December to 11 January and, if you book
before 31 January 2013, ticket prices are the same as for this year’s
Jack and the Beanstalk. Nor should we forget that
The Mercury has a flourishing and well-thought-of youth group – the
Young Company. Their ambitious summer production of a new stage
adaptation of the classic Peter Townshend/The Who album
Quadrophenia. This is a main house presentation
running from 22 to 24 August.

Slotted in between
these Made in Colchester productions will be the usual wide array of
visiting companies including both week-long and short-run
productions. These plays, musical events and one-man shows will be
announced in a new twice-yearly What’s On Guide,
the first of which is already in preparation. “A festival of big
ideas” – The Only Way is Ethics – is
promised from 9 September to 19 October. It will involve playwrights,
journalists and philosophers in a mix of live performances and
associated events at a variety of Colchester locations.