Events Archive
Events
Event Date: 20250606
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
Re:Write
RE:WRITE
The University of Essex Theatre Arts Society return to the Lakeside Theatre for their annual Re:write Festival, an original playwriting competition for Essex students.
20-minute plays are performed to an audience, and then a panel of judges decides a winner…
Age guidance: 14+
The line-up
- TBC
Judges
- TBC
Social media
Members of the audience can photograph or video the performances (without flashes) but only with the express written permission from the relevant production teams and performers.
Event Date: 20250522
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
DNA
DNA by Dennis Kelly
How far would you go to protect a secret?
The woods can’t keep secrets forever…
A group of teenagers do something bad, really bad. In a panic, they cover the whole thing up. But when their secret begins to unite them and bring harmony to their once fractious lives, where is the incentive to put things right? The struggles of being a teenager are something we can all relate to, but that struggle is amplified when you accidentally kill a friend. What’s the right thing to do? Who do you tell? How do you fix something so broken?
This dark and thought-provoking play follows a group of teenage bullies whose actions lead to a tragic accident. Exploring themes of groupthink, social responsibility, morality, and peer pressure, it will have you questioning the characters and your own adolescence for the full 60 minutes.
Show credits
This production of DNA is co-directed by Lou Naïlo and Tallula Ashdown; produced and acted by University of Essex Theatre Arts Society Members. It is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd.
Show Guidance
- Content guidance: Bullying, violence, references to alcohol and themes of death
- Age guidance: Age 14+
- Run time: Approximately 1 hour total
Theatre Arts Society
- Instagram: @essextas
- Facebook: @essextas
- Website: www.essexstudent.com/organisation/7226/
Event Date: 20250918
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
National Theatre Live: Inter Alia
National Theatre Live: Inter Alia
a new play by Suzie Miller
Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Saltburn) is Jessica in the much-anticipated next play from the team behind Prima Facie.
Jessica Parks is a smart Crown Court Judge at the top of her career. Behind the robe, she is a karaoke fiend, a loving wife and a supportive parent. When an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance, can she hold her family upright?
Writer Suzie Miller and director Justin Martin reunite following their global phenomenon Prima Facie, with this searing examination of modern motherhood and masculinity.
Running Time: 120min TBC
BBFC Certificate: 15 ‘as live’ TBC
Event Date: 20250612
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams
directed by Benedict Andrews
Gillian Anderson (Sex Education), Vanessa Kirby (The Crown), and Ben Foster (Lone Survivor) lead the cast in Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece, returning to cinemas.
As Blanche’s fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski.
From visionary director Benedict Andrews, this acclaimed production was filmed live during a sold-out run at the Young Vic Theatre in 2014.
Running Time: 180min TBC
BBFC Certificate: 15 TBC
Event Date: 20250620
Event Price: Advance Prices - £6 UoE Students / £10 Concessions / £15 Full. On the Door Prices - £8 UoE Students / £12 Concessions / £16 Full
Mother Courage
Mother Courage
Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex
This is the public performance of Mother Courage. If you are looking for the schools performances on 19 or 20 June at 10am, please visit this webpage.
For more information please contact the Lakeside Theatre Box Office on (01206) 873261 or arts@essex.ac.uk.
The world turns, torn apart by endless war.
Anna Fierling, known as Mother Courage, struggles to keep her business afloat – and her three children alive.
But what happens to the innocent when profit is valued above people?
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing
About the dark times.”
Regarded by some as the greatest anti-war play of the twentieth century, Brecht’s darkly comic, poetic masterpiece about the brutality and beauty of humanity takes to the stage of the Lakeside in a new concise version.
Event Date: 20250619
Event Price: Free for school groups
Mother Courage – schools performances
Mother Courage
Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex
These performances of Mother Courage on 19 and 20 June at 10am are for schools audiences and bookings can only be made by school staff. If you wish to attend the public showing of Mother Courage, please visit the webpage for the performance on 20 June at 7.30pm.
For more information please contact the Lakeside Theatre Box Office on (01206) 873261 or arts@essex.ac.uk.
The world turns, torn apart by endless war.
Anna Fierling, known as Mother Courage, struggles to keep her business afloat – and her three children alive.
But what happens to the innocent when profit is valued above people?
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing
About the dark times.”
Regarded by some as the greatest anti-war play of the twentieth century, Brecht’s darkly comic, poetic masterpiece about the brutality and beauty of humanity takes to the stage of the Lakeside in a new concise version.
Event Date: 20250513
Event Price: FREE
Launch Festival 2025
Launch Festival 2025
The Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies present their annual Launch Festival! Where undergraduate Drama students present their final degree pieces in a four day festival across both our stages.
Tickets to this event are free to all! Day tickets will allow you access to all performances that day, please book in advance if possible. Please book tickets for multiple days if you plan to attend more than one day!
Programme
Day 1 (Tuesday 13 May)
(Some performances on Tuesday are Closed Runs for Invited Audience only – see **)
12 noon: If The Veil Lifts
Melinda Hett and Sharon Adebayo
The truth surrounding Lyla Morgan’s murder is finally uncovered on the eve of the killer’s resentencing.
1.15pm: One’s Guilt is Another One’s Power
Chloe Bareham
Join Lady Macbeth and Amy Dunne – two of the most cunning females in literature – come face to face with their guilt and fears, but also their power. Does too much power undo each character – or is it the guilt that brings them down?
** 2pm: My Dad Almost Died (And Other Funny Stories) CLOSED RUN – INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
Lolly Taylor
On a young woman’s 22nd birthday, she gets a call many dread: her father is in the hospital. As she makes the journey to see him, she tries to work out what to say to him. This piece that explores different genres and styles in order to ask the question “is there a style of theatre that is best for portraying emotions?”.
CW – mentions of abuse and death (parental death), hospitals, strong language
** 2.45pm: Sonny Days CLOSED RUN – INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
Nathan Burke
A man looks back to his younger, freer, more vibrant self and the life he was living before the pandemic.
** 3.30 pm: nightmares for my godmother CLOSED RUN – INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
Namatayi Mavunga-Akinti
She knows she’s going to die, she just doesn’t know how. With time running out and the fear building in her chest, Tambudzai begins to talk. talk about things she hasn’t thought about in years.
4.15pm: In Their Shoes
Jess Brooks
A young woman looks back on the challenges of her life growing up as she travels home from university. Reminiscing about her school years, she wonders how growing up too soon and facing a global pandemic with her situation has affected and encouraged her.
Day 2 (Wednesday 14 May)
(Some performances on Wednesday are Closed Runs for Invited Audience only – see **)
**12 noon: Splintered CLOSED RUN– INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
Corey Lee
What would you do when your existence is at stake?
Mas is a newly formed personality (or altar) in the mind of Michael, somebody with dissociative identity disorder, and is trying to find his place within the system of personalities. It isn’t long until his existence, and other altars around him, is put in danger.
Through his scientific theories, Mas fights to repair the fractures in Michael’s mind, seeing art as a way of connecting to one another. However, Mas finds himself in conflict with other altars, who don’t share his moral perspective, fearing Mas’s dangerous solutions will lead to the disintegration of Michael’s mind.
Will Mas succeed in saving Michael and his altars in time to prevent the complete splintering of the mind he inhabits?
**12.45pm: Emma Kopf CLOSED RUN– INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
A pregnant woman in a bath hears a voice calling through the bath taps and pursues it in an attempt to find out more about the future of her unborn child in an era of climate change
1.30pm: Taylor/Hamlet
Tyler Reuben
Fresh from their recent failures, Flute and Rubin make way for a new generation of performers with an ambitious live cinema adaptation of Hamlet. Follow the creatives as they inhabit Shakespeare’s classic, wrought with suspicion, death and mental distress, proving that everyone can’t help but bring themselves to a character.
**2.45pm: Sinking in Sangria CLOSED RUN – INVITED AUDIENCE ONLY
Sally Hardy Jones
Amid a rising new authoritarian government and the steady erosion of civil liberties, Daisy Morgan’s quiet pub life is shaken to the core as she searches for intimacy in a world where personal freedom is vanishing. As the government enforces increasingly invasive laws for women—controlling speech, enforcing curfews, and even taking her own personal autonomy —her romantic encounters become fraught with fear, resistance, and quiet rebellion.
**3.30pm: The Sun and Song We Carry CLOSED – INVITED SUDIENCE ONLY
Teah Bernard
In 1980s London, we follow Aaliyah, a child of the Windrush generation and a midwife navigating life within a hostile and unforgiving healthcare system. When faced with the task of taking care of an abandoned baby, she is left with a moral dilemma.
(NB This show is in the Lakeside Studio Theatre)
Day 3 (Thursday 15 May)
12 noon: In Their Shoes
Jess Brooks
A young woman looks back on the challenges of her life growing up as she travels home from university. Reminiscing about her school years, she wonders how growing up too soon and facing a global pandemic with her situation has affected and encouraged her.
12.45: nightmares for my godmother
Namatayi Mavunga-Akinti
She knows she’s going to die, she just doesn’t know how. With time running out and the fear building in her chest, Tambudzai begins to talk. talk about things she hasn’t thought about in years.
1.30pm: Sonny Days
Nathan Burke
A man looks back to his younger, freer, more vibrant self and the life he was living before the pandemic.
2.15 pm: My Dad Almost Died (And Other Funny Stories)
Lolly Taylor
On a young woman’s 22nd birthday, she gets a call many dread: her father is in the hospital. As she makes the journey to see him, she tries to work out what to say to him. This piece that explores different genres and styles in order to ask the question “is there a style of theatre that is best for portraying emotions?”.
CW – mentions of abuse and death (parental death), hospitals, strong language
3pm: One’s Guilt is Another One’s Power
Chloe Bareham
Join Lady Macbeth and Amy Dunne – two of the most cunning females in literature – come face to face with their guilt and fears, but also their power. Does too much power undo each character – or is it the guilt that brings them down?
3.45pm: If The Veil Lifts
Melinda Hett and Sharon Adebayo
The truth surrounding Lyla Morgan’s murder is finally uncovered on the eve of the killer’s resentencing.
Day 4 (Friday 16 May)
12 noon: Taylor/Hamlet
Tyler Reuben
Fresh from their recent failures, Flute and Rubin make way for a new generation of performers with an ambitious live cinema adaptation of Hamlet. Follow the creatives as they inhabit Shakespeare’s classic, wrought with suspicion, death and mental distress, proving that everyone can’t help but bring themselves to a character.
1.15pm: The Sun and Song We Carry
Teah Bernard
In 1980s London, we follow Aaliyah, a child of the Windrush generation and a midwife navigating life within a hostile and unforgiving healthcare system. When faced with the task of taking care of an abandoned baby, she is left with a moral dilemma.
(NB This show is in the Lakeside Studio Theatre)
2pm: Sinking in Sangria
Sally Hardy Jones
Amid a rising new authoritarian government and the steady erosion of civil liberties, Daisy Morgan’s quiet pub life is shaken to the core as she searches for intimacy in a world where personal freedom is vanishing. As the government enforces increasingly invasive laws for women—controlling speech, enforcing curfews, and even taking her own personal autonomy —her romantic encounters become fraught with fear, resistance, and quiet rebellion.
2.45pm: Emma Kopf
A pregnant woman in a bath hears a voice calling through the bath taps and pursues it in an attempt to find out more about the future of her unborn child in an era of climate change
3.30pm: Splintered
Corey Lee
What would you do when your existence is at stake?
Mas is a newly formed personality (or altar) in the mind of Michael, somebody with dissociative identity disorder, and is trying to find his place within the system of personalities. It isn’t long until his existence, and other altars around him, is put in danger.
Through his scientific theories, Mas fights to repair the fractures in Michael’s mind, seeing art as a way of connecting to one another. However, Mas finds himself in conflict with other altars, who don’t share his moral perspective, fearing Mas’s dangerous solutions will lead to the disintegration of Michael’s mind.
Will Mas succeed in saving Michael and his altars in time to prevent the complete splintering of the mind he inhabits?
Event Date: 20250308
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.
All for a bag of RICE?
All for a bag of RICE?
A Play by The Malaysian Society
What would you do if you were given a second chance? Set in 1960s Malaysia, All for a Bag of RICE? follows the journey of a man named Danial, who is given an extraordinary opportunity: a second shot at life.
Once imprisoned for theft, he navigates the complexities of self-discovery and redemption. He begins to realise that every choice comes with consequences. How far would he go to rewrite his past? And what price must he pay for a future he never thought possible?
This thought-provoking play delves deep into themes of fate, morality, and the power of a single decision to change everything. Brought to life by the passionate and talented members of the Malaysian Society of Essex, this promises to be a night of theatre that you won’t want to miss.
Credits
- Produced by Alexander Phuah and Keenan Goh
- Directed by Ariff Idzuan
- Written by Harishna Kajentharan and Hyril Yusuf Show
Show Guidance
- Show contains mild adult language, mild violence, some intense scenes and smoking shown.
- Age guide: 15+
- Run time: approximately 2hrs
Socials
- Instagram: @msocessex
- Tik Tok: @msocessex
Event Date: 20250311
Event Price: FREE
Malcriao
Preview screening of ‘Malcriao’ by Bryan Giuseppi Rodriguez Cambana
Be part of the preview screening of ‘Malcriao’ before it goes out on wide release.
Director and producer Bryan Giuseppi Rodriguez Cambana would love to hear your thoughts about their new film – on the ways it resonates with you, what you like, what you don’t, and how it makes you feel.
Free entrance and all welcome!
Malcriao is a feature-length film. The work orbits salsa, reggaeton and ‘perreo’ cultures as complicated and contradictory spaces rooted in social class dynamics. It is told through the lens of a family mourning the death of a young family friend in the port city of Callao in Peru. The narrative unfolds in a reggaeton/perreo party (a wake’s after party), where thorny family dynamics come to light through dance and coded vulnerabilities.
Part of the Taking a Bow exhibition programme at Art Exchange.
Image © Bryan Giuseppi Rodriguez Cambana
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+