Coming up
- A Two Woman Hamlet Tue 04 Mar - Wed 05 Mar
- King John Thu 06 Mar
- Malcriao Tue 11 Mar
- Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera Thu 13 Mar - Fri 14 Mar
Student theatre takes centre stage at the Lakeside Theatre
Mon 17 Feb 2025
Student theatre takes centre stage at the Lakeside Theatre
This spring the Lakeside Theatre sees University of Essex students and alumni take centre stage with four brand new shows!
The spring Homegrown season kicks off with Deanna Strasse’s BOO!, and Nora J Williams brings A Two Woman Hamlet to our studio theatre too.
The Theatre Arts Society present their spring show, Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera, and Re-Write 2024 winner, Zarbopulon 5 returns to the Lakeside with a full production.
The Lakeside Theatre is our Colchester Campus performing arts theatre which runs both a public and student arts programme, as well as supporting the development of any Essex student or alumni in their dream to become a performing arts professional.
BOO!
Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 February, 7pm
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.
Part of our Homegrown season, this performance of BOO! is a staged reading by MA Scriptwriting student, Deanna Strasse.
A Two Woman Hamlet
Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 March, 7pm
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.
Part of our Homegrown season, this show is produced by Nora Williams and directed by PhD Theatre Studies student, Noah Alfred Pantano.
Find out more about A Two Woman Hamlet.
Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera
Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March, 7pm
An update on Shakespeare’s tragedy with a rocking twist by the Theatre Arts Society.
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. Get your air guitar ready… it’ll be a night to remember…
Find out more about Romeo and Jules: A Rock Opera.
Zarbopulon 5
Thursday 20 March, 7pm
A new play by University of Essex alumni and Theatre Arts Society Re-Write 2024 competition winner, Peter Vetere!
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 through the genre of sci-fi.
Find out more about Zarbopulon 5.
Homegrown
Homegrown is the Lakeside Theatre’s talent development programme for budding theatre makers at the University of Essex. Students, researchers, staff and alumni can start their Homegrown journey at any stage during their time at Essex. You do not need to be studying drama to star on our stages!
Apply to Homegrown and you can put on your show at the Lakeside Theatre. We will support your show with a small budget and help you with creative, technical and production advice as required.
Find out more about Homegrown.
This blog post was originally published on the University of Essex website on 13/02/2025.
Join the Lakeside Theatre team!
Fri 17 Jan 2025
We’re currently looking for enthusiastic new team members!
Take a look at our vacancies below:
Please apply via the links above, by uploading your CV and Cover Letter.
Applications close Thursday 30 January at 11.59pm.
If you have any questions, please email arts@essex.ac.uk.
Good luck!
Lakeside Theatre Christmas opening hours
Wed 11 Dec 2024
We’re closing for the Christmas break!
The Lakeside Theatre Box Office will be closed from 8pm on Friday 13 December 2024 and will re-open on Thursday 9 January 2025. This means that our doors will be shut, our phone-line will not be operational and our email will not be monitored.
Our staff will be taking a much earned break over this period and as such, will not be monitoring emails or calls during this time, but please be comforted that responding to enquiries received via email over the break will be our priority on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 January 2025.
You are welcome to contact us prior to 13 December 2024 by phone (01206 873261) or email (arts@essex.ac.uk).
We would like to thank everyone who visited the Lakeside Theatre in 2024 and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you again in January 2025.
Love
The Lakeside Theatre Team x
Colchester Fringe 2024 preview
Thu 24 Oct 2024
Colchester Fringe returns for its fourth year, opening on Friday 25 October and running to Sunday 3 November at venues throughout Colchester. Our Lakeside Theatre team have previewed the shows featuring University of Essex alumni and students at this year’s festival.
(This blog post was originally published on the University of Essex blog on 23 October 2024.)
Colchester Fringe
Established in 2019 by Essex’s very own Dr Cameron Abbott-Betts (PhD Theatre Studies 2024) and Steve Goatman, and with its first iteration taking place in 2021, Colchester Fringe celebrates and supports the work of local emerging artists while also working to attract acts and theatre companies to Colchester from across the UK and beyond.
Alumni and student shows at Colchester Fringe
Sub Titles Over
A new play by BA Literature and Drama 2022 graduate Marina Cusi Sanchez (The S is Silent, Plucked).
Just hours away from the referendum for Catalan independence, two young anti-fascist activists hold hands in the dark, waiting for the police to arrive… Performed in Catalan with English subtitles.
Marina said: “Sub Titles Over is a multilingual, multidisciplinary extravaganza of a one-woman-show. With nothing else than one performer on stage and English captions on the back, this show explores political activism, democracy, state censorship, and the manipulative power of translation.
In this show, Cusí is a tour de force in acting, commanding the bare stage by herself for 50 minutes, delivering a performance that encompasses three languages, ten characters, and an infinitude of twists and turns.
If you’re interested in the nuances within translation and how these shape the way we see and understand the world around us, you simply cannot miss this show!”
Three Wise Monkeys, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October
Spit It Out
PhD Creative Writing student Alice K Stephens’ new play about coming out as trans came to the Lakeside Theatre in February 2024 and then went on to take the 2024 Pinch of Vault festival by storm, and was loved by Brighton Fringe audiences too.
BA Drama 2024 alum Isobel Sheard (The S is Silent) co-directs and delivers a spectacular supporting performance alongside trans actress Willow MacDonald (PECs, 11 Miles) and Robyn Faye (Les Enfant Terribles).
Headgate Theatre (Rehearsal Room), Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 October
Pup Play: A Queer Pseudo-Lecture (of sorts)
PhD Theatre Studies (by practice) student Noah Alfred Pantano presents a surprisingly introspective and chaotic search for identity featuring audience participation, homonormative puppet shows, kinky gay sex, and erotic musical numbers.
Noah said: “Pup Play is a controversial, unapologetic, and brave journey through gay fetish subculture. The play has already faced a torrent of angry emails, defaced and torn down posters, and a stern warning not to flyer on the street due to fear of hate crimes in Colchester (and the show hasn’t even been performed yet).
That’s why this piece was created and why students should come see it.
Pup Play, behind its silly masks and sex, is a stirring examination of the fears and joys queer identity can bring. It is based on real research by real people who all demand we do more to protect even the most different of subcultural kinky communities.
(Also Essex Students get 5£ tickets with code ESSEXLGBTQ so you might as well go just to support 🐶)”
Three Wise Monkeys, Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 October
My BF Wouldn’t Buy A Stupid Window (Why I Did and Don’t Regret It)
MA Scriptwriting student, amateur comedian and self-professed sex-icon, Jake Halimi, performs his hilarious queer stand-up show about a neurodivergent queer man and his obsession over a window found in a thrift sale.
Patch, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October
I Deleted Hinge for Deliveroo
Taa Very Much Theatre Company are a new theatre company featuring Adult Nursing student Angharad and her friends.
This hilarious original show follows Robyn, “a single pringle who’s not quite worked out how to mingle” who is convinced to download Hinge in a quest to find love, but longs for the sweet embrace of her true love, Deliveroo.
Angharad, Tilly and Alex said: “We at TAA don’t mind making fools of ourselves, and we are sure this hilarious light-hearted cringeworthy debut production of ours will make you laugh.
Loosely, we repeat LOOSELY, based on real life stories or people we’ve met along the way, this show reassures audiences that it’s okay if your love life is not plain sailing. Everything happens for a reason and you may even end up meeting a fine distinguished Essex gentleman in the most bizarre way.
So why not watch Robyn and her pimp on their quest for love …. you may even get a side of fries.”
Headgate Theatre (Rehearsal Room), Friday 25 to Sunday 27 October
Creator is Present
Kraken Theatre are an emerging Colchester based theatre company made up entirely of Essex students and alumni.
An original play, written and directed by MLit Drama and Scriptwriting student Emma Kopf and featuring Shania-Grace Thompson and BA Film Studies 2024 graduate Peter Vetere (who will bring his own new writing production Zarbopulon 5 to the Lakeside Theatre in Spring 2025), Creator is Present explores the heart of the human experience through a mesmerising blend of absurdity and introspection.
Emma said: “Creator is Present questions the true essence of theatre and the reason why we as humans keep coming back to it so much. It opens our eyes up to the possibilities of storytelling and of its challenges too. The play completely ignores the fourth wall and acknowledges the audience’s presence as part of the show. While some scenes take place in the dark others are brought to the light and all the while the Protagonist never stops working. Hubris, seeing the Protagonist’s folly, one day decides to change this.
This is not merely a play – this is an invitation to explore what it really means to be part of our own story.”
Headgate Theatre (Rehearsal Room), Sunday 27 and Tuesday 29 October
The Little Prince
Another one from the Kraken Theatre team! Featuring a line-up of undergraduate drama students: Lolly Taylor, Tyler Reuben, Alice Bain, Eden Camara, Corey Lee and George Goddard.
Written and directed by Lolly Taylor and Tyler Reuben, The Little Prince has been adapted for the stage from the novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and is suitable for all ages!
The Kraken team said: “This new play, The Little Prince, takes the original story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and adapts it for a modern audience of all ages. The show includes puppetry, innovative blends of theatrical styles, a collection of colourful characters brought to life by six talented actors! We know that this play will resonate with every single one of you and we would love it if you could come and see it.
We can’t wait to see you there!”
Headgate Theatre (Main), Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 October
Blurred Lines
BA Drama 2023 alumni Bryony Palmer plays the lead role in a play which explores themes of consent and delves deep into what it really means.
Inspired by Andrew Bovell’s “Things I Know to be True”, this story explores the life of Poppy, who has been solo travelling Europe for the last three months. Lonely and longing for excitement, she meets a young man at a nightclub in Berlin, who sweeps her into his crazy world.
Bryony and Freddie of Aion Theatre said: “We’re Bryony and Freddie, the cast of Blurred Lines! Our show follows Rosie’s solo trip to Europe, where she meets Lucas, a man who pulls her into his chaotic world. Their whirlwind romance soon becomes complicated as secrets from that night threaten to unravel everything.
The play explores the complexities of consent: What is it? What constitutes consent? How has its meaning evolved in modern society?
Join us on October 26th at 8:30 PM and October 27th at 4:30 PM—we’d love to see you there! 🙂”
Headgate Theatre (Rehearsal Room), Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October
Two Come Home
Two Come Home may not feature any Essex alumni, but this beautiful production had its World Premiere at the Lakeside Theatre in March 2024.
A decade after a dramatic split, star-crossed lovers reunite at the worst time. Guilt, rage, and love collide in this new play with music.
Mercury Theatre Studio, Tuesday 29 October to Sunday 3 November
Forest of Truth
While there is no Essex alumni or student presence Theatre Group GUMBO, the Kabuki theatre performers from Japan, were the Artist’s Pick winner at Colchester Fringe 2023 and you may have seen them on campus rehearsing with our own Noah Alfred Pantano!
Welcome to the Forest of Truth! Stepping through the boughs of the densest trees, Man and Woman ‘fall in love’. However, the mythical residents of the forest have other plans. An award-winning raunchy satire about LOVE.
Headgate Theatre (Main), Saturday 26 October to Sunday 3 November
We’re recruiting – join our theatre team!
Mon 21 Oct 2024
Join the Lakeside Theatre team!
Want to work in a dynamic environment? Of course you do!
We’re currently looking for talented and proactive technical assistants.
Take a look at our vacancy below:
Get working on your CV and Cover Letter now and please apply via the link above.
Applications close Monday 28 October at 12pm (midday).
If you have any questions, please email Harry Harris, the Lakeside Theatre Technical Manager at arts@essex.ac.uk.
Good luck!
Autumn 2024 season launches
Wed 28 Aug 2024
As the leaves begin to turn and a crisp breeze fills the air, we’re thrilled to welcome you to our exciting autumn season at the Lakeside Theatre!
This term, we are putting the spotlight on the incredible talent and creativity right here in our community, with a special focus on our brilliant student performers and creators.
Our new season celebrates the theme of ‘Homegrown Stories’, featuring multiple art forms that explore the rich tapestry of experiences that make our community unique. From thought-provoking dramas to a cabaret comedy, each performance promises to showcase the diverse voices and perspectives that thrive on our campus.
Highlights of our autumn line-up
2 Minutes to Shine
An original play written and performed by Literature and Sociology student Wanjiku Wanyeki, 2 Minutes to Shine explores acting theory through improvised scenes, challenging two students to tackle social issues and theatrical dilemmas whilst pushing moral boundaries.
Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 November, 7pm.
Windrush Secret
Rodreguez King-Dorset’s explosive one-man drama Windrush Secret, three clashing ideologies collide over the Windrush scandal, as a shocking personal revelation threatens to upend everything.
Saturday 12 October, 7pm.
Laugh Out Proud
An electrifying celebration of LGBTQIA+ talent bursts onto the stage with side-splitting comedy, dazzling cabaret, and everything in between – hosted by the brilliant Mark Cram, it’s the ultimate night out where everyone’s invited to be fabulously themselves!
Thursday 17 October, 8pm.
Students get involved
We’re also excited to announce expanded opportunities for student involvement this season.
Our monthly Open Mic programme invites talent in our community to take the stage in our friendly cosy café, and our behind the curtains workshops will offer hands-on experience in various aspects of theatre production with expert theatre makers to build confidence and make theatre more viable.
As always, we’re committed to making theatre accessible to all. We’re proud to offer student discounts, and free workshops throughout the season.
Homegrown
You’ll see a lot more of Homegrown this year, with us expanding the programme that develops performing arts talent at Essex outside of the classroom. You don’t need to be studying theatre to hone your skills as an actor, producer, writer, director, or technician at Essex!
Applications for our Homegrown slots are open!
This year students, staff and alumni can apply for a First Steps slot which offers an opportunity for new or early-stage productions to feature on our Studio stage, or a Next Level slot for the more advanced productions or theatre companies to bring a show to our mighty Main Stage!
Join us in celebrating the power of storytelling and the incredible talent that grows right here at home.
Don’t be shy
The Lakeside Theatre is “the best university theatre in the country” (thank you Dr Cam Abbott-Betts, Director of Colchester Fringe!) and we can’t wait to welcome you all through our doors.
If you want to be the first to find out about new show announcements and discover what goes on behind the scenes at the Lakeside Theatre, please sign up to our mailing list or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and X.
Launch Festival 2024
Fri 10 May 2024
Launch Festival 2024
It’s a four day festival of student theatre from the drama students of the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre studies at the University of Essex!
EXPLORE THE LAUNCH FESTIVAL 2024 LINE-UP
Join us each evening from 5pm to 9pm to support our drama students and help launch their careers as performers, theatre makers, artists and more.
The Lakeside Theatre Café will be open from 4.45pm to 9.30pm on Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 May for you to enjoy pre-show and interval refreshments.
Summer Term activity at the Lakeside
Fri 10 May 2024
Summer Term activity at the Lakeside Theatre
You may have noticed that our programme is much smaller this term than it has been in the Spring and Autumn.
This is because as well as being an active and commercial theatre, we are also heavily involved in the teaching, support and development of theatre and drama students in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex and the Summer term is their main assessments period.
Our Technical Team are busy on a daily basis throughout the Summer term, working with drama and theatre students practically on their tech and rehearsals, helping them to get ready for their final performances.
The rest of our team are also working hard on planning the delivery of our programme for the Summer months, and planning the Autumn term programme (which we can promise will be packed full of Homegrown theatre, professional theatre performances, workshops and more!).
Make sure you come and see the final year drama students Individual Professional Practice performances during the Launch Festival, Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 May!
Spring break opening hours
Wed 3 Apr 2024
Spring break opening hours
This Spring break the Lakeside Theatre team are busy PAT testing EVERYTHING WE OWN, but don’t worry, while the theatres may be temporarily closed, our café will be open!
The Lakeside Theatre Café will be operating reduced hours throughout the Spring break, but you will still be able to enjoy great coffee, great snacks, a relaxed environment, and plenty of low-fi games and activities to enjoy while you unwind.
We’ll have outdoor seating available for you to enjoy a picnic vibe and will have a selection of drinks and snacks for kids too if you’re looking to enjoy a day out with the family at Wivenhoe Park this Easter Holidays.
Opening hours
The Lakeside Theatre Café will be open at the following times on the following dates:
- Monday 8 April to Friday 12 April – 11am to 2pm
- Monday 15 April to Friday – 8am to 7pm (please note this is spring graduation week)
- Monday 22 April onwards – 8.30am to 3.30pm (usual operating hours with Essex Food)
Theatre and LGBTQ+ History Month
Mon 5 Feb 2024
This blog post was originally shared on the University of Essex blog, this is a re-blog.
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PhD Theatre Studies candidate and Lakeside Theatre Front of House team member, Noah Alfred Pantano, has curated a month’s worth of events to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month at the Lakeside Theatre this February. In this blog post, he tells us about his motivation for taking on such a curation in the celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month and introduces us to the shows and events which make up the curation.
LGBTQ+ History Month
I consider LGBTQ+ History Month to be of even more vital importance than Pride Month itself. It’s one thing to be proud of where we are, but this month calls on us to pay respects to the people who helped get us here and those we’ve lost on the way.
In curating this month, I chose shows which were grounded in some way to our history, and in turn, suggests a way forward.
LGBTQ+ History Month is as much a reflection of our past as it is a demand for the future of our community. Speaking of community, each show features current students, alumni, and LGBTQ+ people throughout Colchester.
The curation
To start the season, we have Shar Cooterie: Well Swung on 10 February. I first saw Shar Cooterie perform her cabaret act back in October as part of Colchester Fringe. I was tasked with reviewing her show. As I described in my review, I did walk out halfway through the show. Because I had to use the bathroom, mind you, but it’s a minute or two I will forever regret.
What makes Shar Cooterie: Well Swung so unique is its reimagining of queer voices in a classic music medium. Taking inspiration from the likes of Post-Modern Jukebox, she takes modern queer songs and warps them into a familiar product of the past. This reinterpretation reminds us of queerness’ place through history. Queer people have always existed.
Shar Cooterie’s show gives a glimpse to a utopian revisionist past where queer voices can be amplified as they are now today. But introspection aside, Shar Cooterie and her accompanist Adam Saiz Abo-Henriksen are standout performers who are guaranteed to make you cackle.
Next, PhD Creative Writing candidate Alice Stephens’s Spit It Out premieres on campus on 23 February. The work first began as Stephens’s MA Dissertation and has evolved to the full production at Lakeside that will soon tour the UK.
Emily is a transgender woman who is still not fully out to her family, workplace, and friends. The play charts her struggles with trans identity and the cyclical nature (and liberation) of coming out.
Stephens’s work is deeply rooted within queer history. For instance, the play directly calls out Thatcher’s Section 28 and reflects upon the ways it continues to haunt queer people.
Contrary to popular belief, coming out is not a one and done thing. It’s a non-linear process that too often goes back in on itself based on situation, historical influence, and the ever-shifting nature of identity. Emily is a mirror to transgender people today boldly combatting the ways trans people are still discriminated and marginalized, and situating how perseverance, friendship, and strength are the bedrock to identity.
Our season closes out with the world premiere of Joe Eason’s Two Come Home on 1 March. Two Come Home follows Evan, a lonely former drug addict in the Appalachians, as his gay lover, alcoholic mother, and violently abusive father all return home.
Two Come Home takes inspiration from the likes of Tracey Letts and Queer Appalachian romanticism. What makes the show so unique, however, is its ultimate rejection of queer self-loathing.
Eason wrote Two Come Home to challenge the historical errors of queer narratives. Starting from the familiar place of the gay loneliness and rage, Eason has managed to develop a work that is moving and empathetic to its queer subjects. It’s a show I am certain will go far and set a new standard for queer dramas. Furthermore, if the emotional intensity of the work was not enough, the full live band is guaranteed to bring you to tears.
And the rest
Accompanying these plays, we have two film screenings: We Were Here on 13 February and The Watermelon Woman on 21 February. Both films were chosen in collaboration with Dr Sean Seeger, Senior Lecturer in Literature in the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, to support his teaching, but the screenings are open and available to the entire University of Essex community.
We Were Here is a 2011 award-winning documentary about the AIDS Crisis in San Francisco by David Weissman. San Francisco holds a vital place in queer history and served a role in developing gay leather culture. We Were Here looks at the ways the government ignored, vilified, and ultimately, killed gay men during the AIDS Pandemic. But more so, it’s a moving tribute to those lives who were lost and the people who bounded together to save even more.
The Watermelon Woman is a 1996 pseudo-documentary film about filmmaker Cheryl Dunye (playing herself) discovering the history of the title character. After becoming obsessed with old Mammy films (films which feature the stereotype of an upbeat, black, enslaved houseworker), Cheryl embarks to discover who the uncredited “Watermelon Woman” is — only to discover that the actress was a lesbian with a white partner. The film is a brilliant play of genre and form making audiences invested in queer history. While the film is entirely fictional, the stories which it is based on are not. The titular character is an amalgamation of the erasure of queer stories waiting to be rediscovered. Dunye’s own plot in the film reflects on the ways history still affects us today and the parallels the past draws to the future. Both films are not to be missed (but I recommend bringing tissues).
A season about hope
With all these selections, the goal was to show the versatility of queer experiences and the ways history still follows LGBTQ+ people. This season should be educational, entertaining, and impactful. I hope by seeing all these works the viewer will leave viewing LGBTQ+ people differently, better understanding our struggles, our perseverance, and our way forward as a community. This is a season about hope.
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