Arts

Festive fun to round off autumn season at new-look Lakeside Theatre

 
A week of laughter, adventure and plain student naughtiness will round off a vibrant autumn season at the Lakeside Theatre.

Students from the Theatre Arts Society (TAS) will kick off proceedings on 10 December with their pantomime The Tart with a Heart - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Commissioned by Arts on 5 to produce a new piece of work for the end of this season, the students will perform their pantomime on 10 and 11 December. On the second night, TAS will be joined in a double bill with another very special show Loosing Marbles by East 15 Acting School. Set in the bowels of the British Museum, this fast-paced comic thriller is a tale of ancient grievance about the rightful home of the Elgin Marbles.

On 12 December, the final instalment of this term’s Three Shots Comedy Club takes to the Lakeside stage with three top stand-up comedians. Tom Wrigglesworth is a hugely in demand performer who won the 2003 So You Think You’re Funny award and was nominated for the 2009 Main Comedy award at the Edinburgh Festival. He is joined by close-up magician and comedian Ali Cook, and accomplished MC Adrian Poynton. 

Tickets for all shows are available from the University Gallery and on the door. For more information visit the Arts on 5

website at www.essex.ac.uk/artson5.

STAGEDOOR

Romeo and Juliet at the Lakeside Theatre

Review: Victoria Bartholomew

The newly-refurbished Lakeside Theatre provided a perfect setting for one of the world’s greatest love stories, when touring company Love and Madness presented Romeo and Juliet. 

The Lakeside’s atmospheric lighting was put to excellent effect during the production, while the innovative set design of scaffolding symbolised the barriers in the way of Romeo and Juliet’s love, as well as allowing the actors to show off their acrobatic skills. 

The small cast of just five put in strong performances as they each took on several roles within one of Shakespeare’s best known plays. Particular praise must go to the spirited performance of Wole Sawyerr as a dreadlocked Mercutio (especially as he also played the role of the Nurse with equal aplomb) and to Daniel Jennings, whose portrayal of Tybalt was suitably arrogant and swaggering. 

Clear diction by the cast ensured the production was accessible to all, including the two school groups in attendance, and resulted in an excellent performance within the new-look Lakeside Theatre

Also in the printed December edition of Wyvern:

• Lakeside transformed