Events Archive
Events
Event Date: 20250313
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera
Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera
Shakespeare needed an update…
Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera is an update on the classic Shakespearean tragedy with a twist: a seriously rocking twist!
Set in the long-gone days of 2005, the University of Verona is host to the fierce rivalry between the Montague fraternity, a group of snobbish nerds whose noses are far too deep in their comic books, and the Capulet fraternity, the lunkhead jocks who don’t know the difference between Oedipus and Oreos.
Only one thing links them all: Rock music.
But amidst this ongoing battle, two unlikely souls find one another. Romeo is a hopeless romantic who can’t catch a cold, and Jules is an Olympian in the making who hears the word love and thinks of tennis. A match made in Hell, right? But who knows: maybe opposites do attract.
Filled with plenty of humour, romance, drama, action, heart, and most of all, rock, this show has everything you could ever want.
Get your air guitar ready… it’ll be a night to remember…
Show Credits
- Written by Fin Armstrong
- Directed by Fin Armstrong and Aniya He
- Performed by the Theatre Arts Society
Content Guidance
- Show contains implied sex references, suicide mention, mild bad language, mild violence, some intense scenes, alcohol references, and smoking shown.
- Run time: (with interval) approximately 2 hours 30 minutes
- Age guide: 12+
Follow the Theatre Arts Society socials
Event Date: 20250304
Event Price: £5.50
A Two Woman Hamlet
A Two Woman Hamlet
Produced by Noah Alfred Pantano and Directed by Nora Williams
Part of our Homegrown season.
A TWO WOMAN HAMLET takes Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy and asks: what happens if you try to do this with a cast of two in just 60 minutes? This is an unpretentious adaptation, with joys in it for those familiar with Hamlet and those new to the story.
Mara Sherman, who directed the original production, describes her motivation as not just giving women an opportunity to play great roles such as Hamlet and Claudius, but giving these roles the opportunity to be played by women. Following the critical success of past productions at the DC and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, we present a fresh take on this fast-paced, fun, and irreverent adaptation for the Lakeside audience.
The two-hand casting draws out the intersections between the characters and emphasises their relationships, at the expense of the singular humanity of Hamlet. In this way, the production raises the stakes of the story for characters such as Ophelia, Laertes, Gertrude, and Horatio, and the result is a spectacularly fun and moving theatrical event.
Cast
- Sharmila Peake as Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras, Gertrude, Ophelia, and others
- Deanna Strasse as Claudius, Polonius, Horatio, the Ghost, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Gertrude, Ophelia, and others
Content Guidance
We recommend that this show appropriate for ages 16+
Please be aware that, like its source text, A Two Woman Hamlet contains some difficult themes, including:
- Death
- Domestic violence/intimate partner violence
- Femicide
- Mental illness
- Parental loss
- Sexual violence
- Suicide
- General violence
- Misogynist language
Event Date: 20250306
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students and under 18s / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students and under 18s / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
King John
Colchester Fringe Encore: King John
by Rendered Retina Theatre Company
Shakespeare’s WORST play, King John. Wait… worst? We disagree! Join us as with just a wooden box, 15 hats, original songs and a laugh a minute we prove once and for all that King John is in fact the bard’s BEST; it may just need a ‘few’ amendments…
Described as ‘A whiplash-inducing jolly good time’ (BingeFringe) we invite you to fasten your seatbelts and prepare to take flight on a journey you’ll want to travel again.
Awards
Prague Fringe Creative Award 2024
Prague Fringe Audience Award 2024
Prague Fringe Creative Award 2019 (Timon of Athens)
Best Emerging Company 2019
Best Show Paris Fringe (Form) 2018
Show Guidance
Duration: 60 mins
Age Suitability: 3yrs+
Sensitive Content: None
Colchester Fringe Encore
King John was the Pick of the Fringe (National) winner from Colchester Fringe Festival 2024 and is performed as part of two Colchester Fringe Encore performances at the Lakeside Theatre this Spring 2025.
Event Date: 20250207
Event Price: FREE
CANCELLED – The Real Black Swann: Black Queer History workshop
Unfortunately this scheduled workshop will not go ahead as planned on Friday 7 February. We are apologise for any inconvenience caused.
You can find out more about the LGBTQ+ History Month celebrations at the University of Essex here.
Event Date: 20250206
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
CANCELLED – The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen
Unfortunately this scheduled performance of The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen will not go ahead as programmed on Thursday 6 February. We are apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you purchased a ticket, we will be in touch shortly with an update and your refund.
You can find out more about the LGBTQ+ History Month celebrations at the University of Essex here.
Event Date: 20250130
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
Hide My Porn
Colchester Fringe Encore: Hide My Porn
By Joseph Rawlings, Minty Spectre
‘I guess I thought it would be a sensible idea to write down what I want in case everything goes tits up. If you are reading this, it probably has… sorry about that.’
As Joe scribbled ‘P.S. hide my porn’ at the bottom of a hastily written letter to his best mate, outlining what to do if the worst came to pass, he knew it would make him laugh.
This humorous and moving one-man show is performed by Joseph Rawlings and based on his experience upon discovering he had developed testicular cancer… in his chest.
Hide My Porn is a light-hearted reflection of a young man’s battle with cancer and the characters he met during his fight for recovery. Although his experience was full of operations, chemotherapy and discomfort, for a performer like Joe, it was a wonderful world of characters, accents, noise and laughter – not to mention the five separate Karens who all worked on the same ward.
One in two people will get cancer in their lifetime, which is s**t. But in Joe’s experience, it might just have been one of the best experiences of his life: a challenge re-lived full of hope, humour and happiness.
Show Guidance
Age Suitability: 14yrs+
Sensitive Content: Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes, Strong Language/Swearing, More Information
More Information: Show contains references to Cancer and detailed reflections of medical procedures and treatments. Contains some strong language.
Colchester Fringe Encore
Hide My Porn was the Pick of the Fringe (Local) winner from Colchester Fringe Festival 2024 and is performed as part of two Colchester Fringe Encore performances at the Lakeside Theatre this Spring 2025.
Event Date: 20250204
Event Price: FREE
How to market a show
How to market a show
Due to unforeseen circumstances this workshop will now no longer go ahead as planned on 4 February. We will reschedule the workshop in the near future and will announce this on our social media and directly to bookers. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
A one hour workshop designed to help budding theatre companies and performers market their show.
You’ve got your dates booked for performance, the venue is on board, your friends and family are ecstatic… but now what? Time to get marketing!
This session will take you through everything you need to consider when building an audience for your show and will look at examples from great contemporary theatre and Lakeside alumni.
Free for University of Essex students.
Event Date: 20250211
Event Price: £5.50
BOO
BOO
A new play by Deanna Strasse
Paranormal investigations have long been considered pseudoscience at best and outright hoaxes at worst. The Boolievers are attempting to change all that. The team behind this (marginally successful) internet ghost hunting show will use any means necessary to get the evidence and prove once and for all that we are not alone. While investigating The Omni Parker House Hotel, suspicions and friendships are tested, ultimately examining the big question of, “What do you believe?”
Part of our Homegrown season.
About Deanna
Deanna Strasse is an award-winning playwright who enjoys mixing the heartfelt with the hilarious. Originally from Milwaukee, Ms. Strasse now calls Colchester her home where is currently pursuing her Masters in Scriptwriting. Most notable works include The Cafe Mocha Murders, Summers in Prague, and Mayhem at Camp Marigold.
Ms. Strasse has seen her plays developed and produced through companies such as Network Theatre (London), Windfall Theatre (Milwaukee, WI), Sidecar Theatre (Minneapolis, MN), The Golden Chain Theatre (Oakhurst, CA), The Box Theatre Co. (Oconomowoc, WI), The Chameleon Theatre Circle (Minneapolis, MN), Piers Players Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), RSVP Community Theatre (Asheboro, NC), Bishkek International School (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) and more.
Show Guidance
- Show run time: approx. 90 minutes
- Age guide: 15+
- Content: mild language, spooky themes, brief discussions on historical crimes against women, brief discussions on murder, brief discussion on mental health issues, discussions on death.
Find out more
- Facebook page: Deanna Strasse, Playwright & Storyteller
- Instagram: @DeannaStrasse
- Website: DeannaStrasse.com
Event Date: 20250320
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concession / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
Zarbopulon 5
Zarbopulon 5
by Peter Vetere
Theatre Arts Society Re:Write winner 2024
It’s opening night for Elodie Marks’ Zarbopulon 5 at the annual Essex Theatre Festival. The cast and crew are hoping that it’s the defining performance of the competition, as winning would finally establish their creative careers and ensure that their show will transfer to London.
The performance seems to go on with only some minor difficulties, although getting a glimpse behind the scenes it’s clear that the appearance of Pierre La Crouton, the infamously critical critic and the Festivals surprise judge, sends the actors and the crew of the show into a spin.
If you’ve ever been involved in amateur theatre you’ll understand the pain of tech going wrong, actors almost knowing their lines and scripts not being as good as they were pitched. The horror stories of working in the creative industry are the foundations of Zarbopulon 5 and are put front and centre in this comical farce.
About Peter Vetere
Peter Vetere (he/him) is an actor, writer and director. Peter has a first-class bachelors degree specialising in script writing and has been lucky to write for the stage and screen. Most recently he has written Alice in Wonderland, The Lakeside Theatre’s pantomime for 2024.
Alongside his writing, Peter is an avid character actor and has performed as Wizards, Elves, Pharaohs and Goblins. He is now a part of the Fools Flock, a comedy theatre troupe who are putting together their first performance together, Zarbopulon 5.
How the show came to be
Zarbopulon 5 was initially performed as a part of the Theatre Arts Society’s Re-Write competition in 2024. In its first iteration the show was twenty minutes long. It was this performance that won the competition and the show has now been developed into a feature length play. The new version of Zarbopulon 5 now sports three new characters and is now almost triple its original runtime!
Event Date: 20250327
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concession / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Strangelove
co-adapted by Armando Iannucci
co-adapted and directed by Sean Foley
Dr. Strangelove is a National Theatre Live screening of a live performance recorded during the Autumn 2024 West End run.
Seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge, The Trip) plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove.
When a rogue U.S General triggers a nuclear attack, a surreal race takes place, seeing the Government and one eccentric scientist scramble to avert global destruction.
This explosively funny satire is led by a world-renowned creative team including Emmy Award-winner Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, Veep) and Olivier Award-winner Sean Foley (The Upstart Crow, The Play What I Wrote).