Empire Theatre, Halstead. Tel: 07778 025490
Friday 26th March, 7.45 for 8.15pm, Tickets: £10.00
EMPIRE COMEDY NIGHT This is the first in a series of comedy shows being brought to Halstead
Headliner: Nick Revell, Support Acts: Imran Yusuf and Holly Walsh, Compere: Mike Manera

Sunday 28th March, 7.00 for 7.30pm, show t.b.c.
ROCK N ROLL NITE. A show capturing the sounds of the 50s and 60s with Terry Dene, Wee Willie Harris, & Naturally Tales From The Woods House band plus Brian Licorice Locking, Clem Cattini and Dave Sampson

Sunday April 11th Doors open 7.00 for 7.30pm, Tickets: £14.00
CLOSE TO YOU - A Carpenters Tribute. 'Close To You' is a magical celebration of the songs of The Carpenters.

Sunday 6th June 2010 at 7.00 for 7.30pm, Tickets: £14.00
THE RING OF FIRE. Europes Leading Johnny Cash Tribute will take you back to the sounds of those magical 1950's shows that became the birth of Rock'n'Roll.

The Quay Theatre, Sudbury, Tel: 01787 374745
Tuesday 9th March 2.00pm & 7.30pm. Film @ Quay presents: THE SOLOIST 117 Minutes (12A). Tickets £5.00 Friends £4.00. Scurrying back to his office one day, Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times, is stopped short by the ethereal strains of a violin. Searching for the sound, he spots a homeless man coaxing those beautiful sounds from a battered two-string violin. When the man finishes, Lopez compliments him briefly and rushes off to write about his newfound subject, Nathaniel Ayers, the homeless violinist. Over the next few days, Lopez discovers that Nathaniel was once a promising classical bass student at Juilliard, but that various pressures—including being one of a few African-American students and mounting schizophrenia—caused him to drop out.

Friday 12 March 8.00pm. All-Electric Productions presents: CANTABILE – FROM MADRIGAL TO McCARTNEY. “one of the finest vocal groups in Europe.” Classic FM Magazine. Tickets: £16.00 Children £14.50. We are truly fortunate to be able to bring this quartet to the Quay. Since their formation as a student group in Cambridge, they have pushed the boundaries of a capella singing back and back. A thoroughly international reputation is well deserved. Their unique combination of virtuoso singing and side-splitting comedy makes this evening a must book.

Saturday 13 March 8.00pm. By arrangement with Samuel French Ltd., Jamie Marcus Productions presents: MISERY BY STEPHEN KING. Tickets £11.00 Children £9.50. Adapted for the stage by Simon Moore. Author Paul Sheldon awakes after a terrible road accident to find ex-nurse Annie Wilkes standing over him. She is his number one fan. But Paul is not as fortunate as he thinks. One of the greatest thrillers ever penned, Stephen King’s novel twists and turns in this excellent adaptation. You will be kept on the edge your seat.

Sunday 14th March 7.30pm. HISTORY OF SUDBURY – 2010 Season. Tickets £7.00 per individual session.

Tuesday 16th March 2.00pm & 7.30pm Film @ Quay presents: FISH TANK 123 Minutes (15) Tickets £5.00 Friends £4.00 This award winning film which took the Jury Prize at Cannes. Everything changes for 15yr old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend. British filmmaker Andrea Arnold took everyone by surprise three years ago with her debut Red Road. Not only did it win the jury prize at Cannes and scoop five Scottish Baftas, the uncompromising crime drama was heaped with near universal acclaim. Arnold's follow-up should leave nobody in any doubt of her talent. A neo-kitchen sink drama, Fish Tank immediately ranks her among the greats of social realism, right up there with Tony Richardson, Ken Loach and perhaps even John Osborne.

Wednesday 17th March 7.30pm THE QUAY PLAY READERS GROUP. Please note that we now meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month upstairs in the Geoff Kisby Room. An informal group that meets once month to read and discuss a play selected by the group.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 17-19 March 8.00pm. Tickets £18.50 Friends £16.50 Lip Service presents: MOVE OVER MORIARTY – For your delectation and delight, LipService go all music hall! After too long an absence – over ten years – Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, who are delighting audiences the length and breadth of the country, are back for a short season at the Quay, effortlessly (well almost) moving from frock to frock as they piece together another improbable adventure. While death stalks the boards at the Strand Theatre, who better to call in to investigate than Brilliant violin playing, French-knitting Sherlock Holmes and his smaller side kick Dr Watson. In this murderous music-hall melange they come face to face with Vesta Curry, Death-Defying Dan and his Whelk infested Tank of Terror, the Musical Motherless Twins and lots more alliterations – truly a three pipe problem.

Sunday 21 March 7.30pm. OPEN MUSIC NIGHT in the Bar of the Quay Theatre, Quay Lane, Sudbury. Free entry. All welcome. Bring an instrument, your voice or just listen.Open Music Night (details as above)

Monday 22nd March 2.00pm & 7.30pm. Film @ Quay presents: ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD 99 Minutes (PG) Tickets: £5.00 Friends £4.00. Werner Herzog takes his camera to Antarctica where we meet the odd men and women who have dedicated their lives to furthering the cause of science in treacherous conditions.
A scientist studies neutrinos, which are everywhere, yet elusive; he likens them to spirits. A researcher's night time performance art includes contorting her body into a luggage bag. A survival guide teaches his students to survive white-out conditions by wearing cartoon-face buckets over their heads. Animal researchers milk mother seals as part of their study. Volcanologists offer advice on what to do when a volcano erupts. A pipefitter shows us the anomaly in his hands that he says are a sign he descended from Atzec royalty. A former Colorado banker drives what he has christened Ivan the Terra Bus. An underwater diver shows his colleagues DVDs of apocalyptic sci-fi films like Them! (1954). And -- though Herzog declares he's not "making another film about penguins" -- we meet a penguin researcher who answers the filmmaker's questions about homosexuality and insanity in his subjects. We also meet an individualist penguin, who breaks away from the other birds to run toward the mountains, facing certain death.

Friday 26th March 8.00pm. Black Ram Theatre Company presents: ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD. Tickets £11.00 Friends £9.00. In Stoppard’s famed modern masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead plays out the comic flip side of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as seen through the eyes of his most enigmatic duo, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Complete with musicians, acrobats and circus performers, blazing fire and trailing glitter, the plot follows these vaudeville anti-heros as they trip, traipse and fall through the dark world of Hamlet in search of hope and purpose, leaving greasepaint and sparkle in each footprint.
Spanning the spectrum of theatrical genres and visual techniques, including dance, live music, and music hall set pieces, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern melds the beauty of the bard with the imaginative visuals of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, through the mind of Britain’s best loved living playwright.
Black Ram Theatre Company are a Norwich-based professional theatre company specialising in big-name dramas, who have moved from strength to strength in the last three years, achieving critical acclaim for their Shakespearean and contemporary dramas, and have become one of East Anglia’s leading repertory theatre companies.

Saturday 27th March 8.00pm. MAGIC IN MIND, BODY AND SOUL Tickets £7.00 Friends £5.00. An Evening of close up magic, mind games and soul singing makes this an evening for all the family. All in support of the Quay Theatre. David J Marks is an experienced performer who is highly regarded for his Close-up, Cabaret and his Childrens Magic. David has performed for Two successful Summer seasons at the prestiges house of illusion a magic theatre and bar in Salou, Spain. With television and radio appearances and a host of clients including Suffolk and Essex County Councils, Cine-World Cinemas, RNIB, Horizon Inns, Top Hotels, Schools and Colleges and Numerous Private Functions . He will be appearing with Nutty Norman and Guest Star Flora Charlton. Monday 5th April at 7.30pm. A Quay Bar Event. BOOK CLUB @ THE QUAY. Free Entry Open to all. Book Club is an informal group that meet to read and discuss the book of the month.

Tuesday 6th April 2.00pm & 7.30pm. Film @ Quay presents: JULIE AND JULIA 123 Minutes (12A). Tickets £5.00 Friends £4.00. Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.
In 1949, Julia Child is in Paris, the wife of a diplomat, wondering how to spend her days. She tries hat making, bridge, and then cooking lessons at Cordon Bleu. There she discovers her passion. In 2002, Julie Powell, about to turn 30 and underemployed with an unpublished novel, decides to cook her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year and to blog about it. We go back and forth between these stories of two women learning to cook and finding success. Sympathetic, loving husbands support them both, and friendships, too, add zest.

Wednesday 7th April 7.30pm. Milkbottle Theatre presents THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:– read by Robert Crighton. The Empty House & The Norwood Builder. Tickets £5.50 Friends £5.00. Having survived his apparent death, Holmes returns to fight with the last of Moriarty’s henchmen in these stories from Conan Doyle’s third collection of stories.

Thursday 8th April 2.00 & 4.30 pm Image Musical Theatre presents THE LITTLE PRINCESS from the Story by Frances Compton Burnett. Tickets £7.00 Friends £5.50 Family of four £22.00. When her father dies India Sarah Crew is left penniless and alone. Her privileged life is over. She adapts to her new circumstances with a courageous heart. The resolution of her plight and to downfall of her tormenters is a satisfying conclusion to an inspiring story. Image Musical Theatre present the story with their customary ingenious set, costume and original music.

Friday 9TH April 8.00pm. SID KIPPER “Mud and Pullets”. Tickets £10.00 Friends £9.00. In this sizzling new show Sid recreates in song and story 'Gentleman' Jack Kipper's infamous ride from Kings Lynn to Mundesley in 1826. His route was simple - he took the Trans-Norfolk Highway, now more commonly called the B1145, which runs, straight as a bow, from Norfolk's west to east coasts. Leaping toll bars and scattering sheep, 'Gent' left many a tale of the exploit in his wake for us to relish.
He was, however, quite impervious to the everyday lives being led in the halls and cottages along the way. But we will take time to meet some of the meddlesome maids, timorous tailors and swaggering squires who occupied them, as ribs are gently tickled and fun is thoroughly poked.
No animals will be harmed in the course of this performance, though some reputations may well be.

Saturday 10th April 8.00pm. THE COMMITTED. Tickets £10.00 Friends £8.50. We’ve all seen the film The Commitments and have rocked along to the excellent Rock and Roll. One of the most authentic tributes to The Commitments, this band have truly emulated the original sound. Uncanny look & soundalike to Andrew Strong, singer Neal is backed by a passionate band 'committed' to making your event amazing! We have local top class interpreters coming to the Quay this Saturday – and next – if you can’t make tonight …..

Mercury Theatre Company, Colchester, Tel: 01206 573948
Thursday 25 February to Saturday 13 March. ROMEO AND JULIET. Tickets: £8.50 - £19.50. Concessions available. The Mercury Theatre Company unites with the critically acclaimed seven-piece Astillero Tango Orchestra and international actors to perform Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic tale of forbidden love, in a co-production with Salida Productions.
Through the power and passion of the evocative tango, the decline of the lovers is seen not as fate, but an act of orchestration. The musicians intertwine with the actors creating their world, their love, and ultimately their fate.
The cast includes Mercury Company actors: Keith Dunphy, Gus Gallagher, Gina Isaac and Shuna Snow, performing alongside Astillero. Formed in 2005 and renowned as the only tango orchestra in the world playing original tango compositions, Astillero have released two CDs to great acclaim and recently completed a tour of the UK including a performance at the Mercury and two sold out performances at the Southbank as part of the London Jazz Festival.

Friday 12 to Saturday 13 March MOON FOOL - ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT Tickets: £9.75 / £6 concessions. Moon Fool is an inventive re-imagining of Shakespeare's well-loved play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this engaging, funny and visually striking production, Titania, Oberon and Puck play out events from their past, hosting nightly revels in their attempt to woo audiences off the path and back into the woods. Combining original music and playful movement, Moon Fool is the fairys' tale with an amplified twist.

Monday 15 March C H SPURGEON – THE PEOPLE’S PREACHER Tickets: £8 / £6 concessions. An innocent country lad from the Fens goes to London where he earns the love and respect of a nation as one of its most influential figures. But his strong principles run against the grain of the culture, and in standing up for them he becomes isolated, ridiculed by the media and broken-hearted.
This powerful, inspirational drama documentary faithfully recreates the times of C H Spurgeon and brings the ‘peoples preacher’ to life, following his trials and triumphs with historical accuracy.

Tuesday 16 to Wednesday 17 March JUS' LIKE THAT Tickets: £13 / £16.50 / £17.50 / £18.50. ‘I got a new car for the wife yesterday… not a bad swap!’ Jus’ Like That brings Tommy Cooper back to life with all the familiar trademarks - the fez, the laugh and the magic. Jus’ Like That is an hilarious tribute to one of the greatest comedians this country has ever seen.
‘Someone left a note on my car the other day. It said “Parking Fine”… so that was nice.’
Clive Mantle - best known for his role as Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty and Holby City as well as Simon Horton in The Vicar of Dibley, stars as the legendary comedian ... all 6'4 of him! This show is the closest you can get to seeing the late, great comedian live. Book now for a genuinely funny and outstanding evening of stand-up comedy.

Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 March HUCK Tickets: £10.50 / £13 / £14 / £15, Children £9.50. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain’s all-time classic novel of taking chances and pushing boundaries, is brought crashing onto the stage by award-winning theatre company Shapeshifter. With live music and a charmingly funny script, HUCK is a messy, raucous and uncouth epic for young, old and
everyone in between.
Suitable for ages 8+, contains issues of racism and slavery – especially suitable for Teachers and Students Key Stage 3

Monday 22 to Saturday 27 March DAD'S ARMY MARCHES ON Tickets: £9.50 - £20.50
The boys are back in town! To celebrate 70 years of the Home Guard, Dad’s Army is returning to the stage with a brand new production of the classic sitcom. The same team who cleverly breathed life into the Lost Episodes are dusting down their uniforms and polishing their medals to bring these much loved characters back to the Mercury Theatre. Sign up now for an evening of nostalgic pleasure and madcap mayhem with the would-be heroes of Walmington-on-Sea.

Wednesday 24 to Thursday 25 March SHOOT/GET TREASURE/REPEAT AND ESCHARA Tickets: £9.75 / £6 concessions. A harrowing cycle of short plays exploring the effects of war and terrorism on modern society. Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat is a highly acclaimed collection of short plays that will leave you questioning your social mores. Eschara is the first play to examine the after-effect of the 7/7 attacks on the London transport system. A winner of the Norden Farm ‘Granted’ scheme, it has also been sponsored by Transport for London. Both productions received 5 star reviews at The Brighton Fringe Festival. Contains strong language. Suitable for 14+ years

Saturday 27 March SOUL PLAY Tickets: £9.75 / £6 concessions
Soul Play depicts an intimate contemporary story of one man’s personal journey, following his mysterious and untimely death. Suitable for 12+ years

Monday 29 March YOUNG ESSEX ASSEMBLY: BEAT BULLYING As part of Essex County Council’s anti-bullying week in 2009, members of the Young Assembly voted to make bullying their top issue. Beat Bullying brings together groups and schools who have been working on telling their own stories about bullying with the hope that adults will listen to what children have to say! Tickets are FREE but must be booked in advance

Tuesday 30 March THE ELO EXPERIENCE Tickets: £13 / £16.50 / £17.50 / £18.50. In the 1970s Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra became one of the world’s best known and greatest recording bands, packing stadiums throughout the world.
Now you can relive the days of progressive rock once more as these talented musicians take you through the greatest hits of ELO including Living Thing, Telephone Line, Wild West Hero, Sweet Talking Woman and perhaps their most famous, Mr Blue Sky.

Wednesday 31 March THE SORCERER Tickets: £16 / £19.50 / £20.50 / £21.50. Chaos and havoc prevail in an unsuspecting country village when John Wellington Wells, the celebrated dealer in “magic and spells” places a powerful aphrodisiac in the village hall teapot! This inspired company have moved Gilbert and Sullivan’s first great success from quaint Victorian Britain to the flower power 70’s.

Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 April LA MUSICA Tickets: £7.50 / £5.50 concessions. La Musica is the meeting point of two ordinary people in a hotel lobby on the day their marriage is finally dissolved. Wrestling with desire, regret and anger, they struggle to come to terms with their past, their present and their future.

Saturday 3 April HAPPY BIRTHDAY FASCINATING AIDA Tickets: £13 / £16.50 / £17.50 / £18.50
Britain's top female comedy trio is 25 years old and due to popular demand the girls are coming back to Colchester and are still celebrating! For those of you who thought they’d retired, this isn’t a comeback; it’s a chance for you to help them celebrate this auspicious birthday.

Monday 5 to Saturday 10 April FRANKIE & JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE Tickets:£9.50 - £20.50. Hard-boiled waitress Frankie and cock-sure chef Johnny find themselves in bed together after a first date. Johnny is certain he has found his soul mate, but Frankie is far more cautious and less inclined to jump to conclusions. As the night unfolds, they slowly begin to reveal themselves to each other as they take tentative steps towards the start of a possible relationship in this funny and tender, bittersweet romantic comedy. Suitable for ages 16+.

Wednesday 7 April MY MOTHER TOLD ME NOT TO STARE Tickets: £7.50 / £5.50 children and concessions. A deliciously dark operetta for curious children and their grown ups that presents the rules that must absolutely not be broken …and then absolutely breaks them! An operatic play suitable for ages 8+ years

Friday 9 to Saturday 10 April THE DRAGON'S DAUGHTER Tickets: £7.50 / £5.50 children and concessions. Once upon a time in a far away land, lived a lonely little boy called Hans who spent his days imagining the most fantastic adventures. One starry night, a tiny ball of light falls from the sky and there, lost in the darkness, is a real-life baby dragon. Can Hans return his new-found friend to her mother before it is too late?

Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 May Spike Milligans' ADOLF HITLER: MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL. Tickets: £9.50 - £20.50. Spike Milligan’s celebrated war memoirs arrive in Colchester in this gloriously absurd and exuberant hit comedy drama, which has had both audiences and critics in stitches.
High comedy and tragedy collide, as we follow Gunner Milligan and his jazz quartet, adrift on the tide of great historic events, discovering how humour, music and comradeship enabled a hapless bunch of young men to prevail against the might of the Nazi War machine.