Coming up
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A Christmas Pantomime Wed 13 Dec - Fri 15 Dec
- National Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet Thu 21 Dec
- Establishing ESCALA: a talk with founding Professors Dawn Ades and Valerie Fraser Tue 23 Jan
- National Theatre Live: Dear England Thu 25 Jan
Homegrown Season 2023-24 applications are open!
Thu 23 Nov 2023
Applications for our Homegrown Season 2023/24 are open!
Have you got an idea for a show, spoken word, dance or musical performance? Are you working on a script? Are you a budding writer, poet, musician, dancer, director or producer looking to test out some ideas on a live audience?
It’s time to apply for the Lakeside Theatre Homegrown Season!
Find out more and apply online.
Applications open on Friday 24 November and close at 11.59pm on Monday 11 December.
We are hiring
Tue 17 Oct 2023
Join the Lakeside Theatre team!
We are looking for enthusiastic, friendly and wonderful people to join our Front of House team.
Do you have a passion for theatre and experience in retail or venue front of house? This could be the perfect casual role for you!
Take a look at our vacancies below:
We are looking to appoint multiple new members of our Front of House team, so get your application in! Get working on your CV and Cover Letter now and please apply via the links above.
Applications close Tuesday 31 October at 11:59pm.
If you have any questions, please email us on arts@essex.ac.uk.
Good luck!
Black History Month
Mon 25 Sep 2023
Black History Month
This October 2023, the Lakeside Theatre and Lakeside Theatre Café will be celebrating Black History Month. This year’s community theme is Celebrating the Sisterhood and we accepted the brief! So what have we got lined up for you?
Jerkpit
Monday 2 to Friday 6 October, 9am to 5pm
Join Barking based Caribbean restaurant, Jerkpit, for their pop-up in the Lakeside Theatre Café serving up authentic Caribbean food daily throughout the University of Essex’s Welcome Week! Vegetarian options available.
Thriving Socially at University
Wednesday 4 October, 2pm to 4pm
Shomi Williams, Psychological Therapist and founder of inclusive health education African and Caribbean groups platform, Lafiya Health, will be delivering a wellbeing workshop in the Lakeside Theatre Studio specifically for University of Essex students.
Telling Your Own Story
Wednesday 18 October, 5.30pm
Join Nigerian-British performer, writer and educator, Tania Nwachukwu, for an intimate skills training workshop on telling your own story confidently. The workshop will take place in the Lakeside Theatre Studio, and is specifically for University of Essex students.
Law Student to Theatre Maker
Thursday 19 October, 2pm
Join Ophelia, a University of Essex law graduate who dared to chase her dreams in the world of acting, for this workshop in the Lakeside Theatre Studio. This workshop is FREE for University of Essex students.
You Are African First Before Anything
Thursday 19 October, 7pm
University of Essex Law graduate and successful theatre company operator, Ophelia Charlesworth, brings her much anticipated show to the Lakeside Theatre.
This semi-autobiographical one-woman show delves deep into the intricate dynamics of the African mother-daughter connection. Meet Chile, a brilliant and ambitious woman in her mid-twenties, embodying the captivating fusion of her British upbringing and rich Nigerian heritage.
You Are African First Before Anything is followed by a 15 minute Q&A session.
The Lakeside Theatre programme is part of the University of Essex‘s celebration of black communities as part of Black History Month October 2023.
Lakeside Theatre Café open from 19 September
Wed 13 Sep 2023
Lakeside Theatre Café open from 19 September
We’re reopening the Lakeside Theatre Café early this September to create a cosy wellbeing space for our much loved patrons!
The café closes every Summer and usually re-opens during the first week of the University of Essex Autumn term, but we’ve decided to open our doors a little sooner and offer a calming and welcoming space before our beloved students return on 2 October!
Join us in the Lakeside Theatre Café weekdays only, Tuesday 19 to Friday 29 September, 10am to 2pm for hot and cold drinks and snacks.
Take advantage of our “Theatre Deal” of a coffee of hot chocolate and a snack (croissant, brownie, millionaire shortbread or flapjack) for £3.50.
Relax with colouring, puzzles and a Lakeside Theatre crossword!
We can’t wait to see you.
Summer Graduation
Wed 19 Jul 2023
Summer Graduation
It’s summer graduation week here at the Colchester campus of the University of Essex and the Lakeside Theatre puts you front and centre for viewing the live screenings of ceremonies! Come and support your friends and family in our comfortable 200 seater theatre, located off square 5 and underneath the Albert Sloman Library.
We are screening every ceremony live and you can also pick up some great drinks and snacks deals from our bar!
Grab a drink and a sweet treat for £3.50 or two flutes of prosecco for £5!
We can’t wait to welcome you.
Fleabag drinks offer
Wed 14 Jun 2023
Fleabag drinks offer
“Gin and theatre are my two great loves.” – Phoebe Waller Bridge, 2021
We bow down to the genius that is Phoebe Waller-Bridge (PWB), and what better way to celebrate the Lakeside Theatre screening her 2019 production of Fleabag than to create a PWB inspired drinks offer!
On Thursday 15 June from 6pm onwards you can take 50p off your Gin and Tonics at the Lakeside Theatre Café bar!
- Single Gin and Tonic –
£3.50£3 - Double Gin and Tonic –
£4£3.50
(Offer valid on Thursday 15 June only, ages 18+)
Summer Box Office Opening Hours
Mon 12 Jun 2023
Summer Box Office Opening Hours
From Monday 12 June, the Lakeside Theatre will be operating it’s summer box office opening hours.
You can call us on 01206 873261 between 10.30am and 1.30pm.
You wont be able to visit the Box Office in person during these hours as the Lakeside Theatre Café will be closed for the summer, but you are more than welcome to drop us an email on arts@essex.ac.uk.
The Lakeside Theatre Café will continue to open as a bar on show nights from 6pm.
The box office will resume it’s term time opening hours from October 2023.
Theatre Quiz Night 25 May
Fri 19 May 2023
Don’t miss our Theatre Quiz Night on Thursday 25 May from 6pm in the Lakeside Theatre Café!
The theme is THEATRE of course.
£1 entry per person and you can enter teams of 4 to 6 people.
Book your entry online or pay on the door.
We’ve been nominated! Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023
Fri 28 Apr 2023
Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023
We are very excited that we have been nominated in the the BEST THEATRE/ARTS VENUE category in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023 for Essex!
To get us to the shortlist of nominations we need YOU to vote for us!!
Head to the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023 nominations webpage and vote for the “Lakeside Theatre” in the BEST THEATRE/ARTS VENUE category.
Please get voting! You have until Monday 8 May in this round.
About Muddy Stilettos
Muddy Stilettos is the UK’s biggest lifestyle site outside London with our awards celebrating the best of local independent businesses. Our Awards are renowned for their quality – we search out and celebrate the most exciting businesses, so to win a Muddy Award is a mark of distinction and real kudos.
GOOD drinks offer
Wed 19 Apr 2023
Vodka and Diet Coke mixer offers
If you are visiting the Lakeside Theatre on Thursday 20 April for our screening of NT Live’s GOOD, don’t miss this *GOOD* drinks offer!
£2.50 for a Vodka single with Diet Coke mixer, or £3 for a Vodka double with Diet Coke mixer**.
Offer valid for Thursday 20 April only.
**We may have gotten a little carried away with creating a drinks offer to symbolise the mixing of ideologies displayed through Tennant’s character in GOOD…