The Merlin Theatre’s autumn season promises a feast of drama, dance and music and a lot more!
National Theatre screenings include Ben Power’s new version of Euripides’ drama Medea, starring Helen McCrory and directed by Carrie Cracknell on Thursday 4th September, followed later in the month on Tuesday 16th September by Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar named Desire with Ben Foster, Vanessa Kirby and Gillian Anderson as Blanche Dubois.
Two versions of the classic gothic horror Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle, provide a two-day Hallowe’en special on 30th and 31st October. Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch alternate between playing Victor Frankenstein and his grotesque creation. All NTL screening start at 7.00pm and are priced £15 (£10 concessions). Or book BOTH showings of Frankenstein for £20.
Wrong ‘un, from Red Ladder Theatre on Friday 19th September takes us back a hundred years to tell the story of the suffragettes through the journey of Annie, a Lancashire mill-girl caught up in the struggle. There’s both humour and menace in Cross Cut Theatre’s production of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter on Wednesday 22nd October, and more classic drama from UK Touring Theatre who return with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House on Friday 7th November.
Younger audiences can look forward to half-term shows, with Jack and the Beanstalk from Lyngo Theatre on Sunday 26th October and New Old Friends’ production of The Falcon’s Malteser on Friday 31st.
Dance highlights include the return of Mark Bruce’s Dracula on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th September, Merlin Theatre Company with A Chorus Line (a 40th birthday fundraiser for the theatre) from 16th – 18th October and a Showcase Fundraiser from local performer Lottie Ball on 29th October.
Local heroes Sgt Pepper’s Only Dartboard Band play a farewell tour performance on Saturday 4th October and Pip Utton returns with a new persona – Casanova – on 1st November. Add in an evening with Michael Portillo, the true story of a young man’s sponsorship of a Ugandan schoolboy in Educating Ronnie, the Shakespeare Schools Festival, and the dark comedy, masks and puppets of The Shop of Little Horrors, all interspersed with a full and varied programme from Frome Film Club, and you have a season’s programme with something for everyone.
The year ends with a major production from Frome Drama Club in November – Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, and of course the Merlin’s Christmas production – the ever popular and relevant A Christmas Carol.
