Mercury Theatre

Company Profile

The Mercury is Essex’s only full-time producing theatre and last year we welcomed over 105,000 audience members into our auditorium, studio, and café bar events. As one of the East’s most ambitious producing houses, we are proud of the inclusive, innovative and high-quality work we share with our audiences.   The Mercury creates and shares stories that are exhilarating, revelatory, and relevant. Through the reinvention of classic texts and the creation of bold, new writing, we believe that the transformative power of theatre can enrich the lives of our community. The Mercury is a significant regional developer of new talent, working with a range of partners across the arts, education and creative industries to deliver a studio programme and a learning, participation and professional development programme aimed at nurturing the next generation of theatre makers. Everything we do is driven by our values of quality, innovation, diversity, and connection. We are Colchester. We are for everyone.   Our vision is of the Mercury as a vibrant, welcoming artistic hub at the heart of the cultural life of Colchester and Essex; a place where the diverse communities of the city and its surrounding region can come together to experience exceptional live theatre and a rich programme of other performing arts; a place where anyone, regardless of background, can get involved with our creative processes and start to realise their own creative potential. Our vision is of the Mercury as a strategically important part of the national theatre ecology and the wider creative sector, providing an important regional pipeline for creative and technical talent and contributing to the range and quality of middle-scale touring theatre, with a particular focus on drama and work for children and families.   Our programme is made up of a range of critically acclaimed Mercury Productions and Mercury Originals, which we compliment with a diverse programme of the very best visiting drama, dance, music, comedy, circus and variety available in the UK, together with a mix of creative learning events, corporate and community hires. We present work in our main auditorium, studio and café bar. We produce 5 main house productions and up to 3 studio productions, around 26 weeks of Mercury Productions each year. We present Lates, a programme of cabaret, spoken word and music in the café bar. We mix our in-house produced programme with a vibrant mix of visiting work. Our dedicated permanent production team consists of technical, workshop, wardrobe, and stage management. The theatre has an on-site scenic workshop with direct access to the stage and costume making facilities, rehearsal room and dance studio. The refurbishment of the theatre in 2020/21 has brought new facilities and equipment into the department. Working with a wide range of freelance directors and designers we also co-produce with theatres nationally. Our most recent co-production Unbelievable is currently running in the West End. We also work closely with our new associate companies: Frantic Assembly, Graeae Theatre Company, English Touring Theatre and Paines Plough.