Free Theatre Tickets! For under 26's: A Night Less Ordinary

The Merlin Theatre is a 240-seat theatre on the campus of Frome College. We present a varied programme of theatre, dance, music and spoken word. There is also a delightful stone amphitheatre outside where productions take place in the summer. The theatre also has an active community and education programme including eight weekly youth drama and dance classes and a range of projects involving schools, children’s centres and other community organisations.

Forthcoming:

• 08/05/2009 - 08/05/2009 Tango Siempre presents Subitango

  The music and dance of Tango Argentino

  Subitango is performed by the UK’s leading tango dancers Giraldo and Mina and the musicians of Tango Siempre. The show combines live music with stunning choreographed dance, illustrating the history and development of this most sensual and passionate of art forms.

  Mina and Giraldo studied with the greatest tango maestros in Buenos Aires and have performed extensively throughout Europe and Latin America including guest slots on BBC Strictly Come Dancing.

  “…an effortless fusion of Latin Passion and jazz virtuosity” Sunday Times

  
  
  
• 21/05/2009 - 21/05/2009 Pretty Good Girl Dance Theatre presents Elvis Still My Heart

  Three young people, lost in the heart of changing London. The year is 1970 and Elvis is not dead. But their hearts are, and it is only when they meet that they learn to ‘change the record’ and laugh again...

  With a dynamic cast of three, the story is told via toe–tapping Rock ’n’ Roll, fast paced physical theatre, all laced together with a ‘red-blooded’ new musical score.

  A sad, happy tale - just what you want from today's small -scale theatre... great sounds and a story to move you from Frome to Graceland.

  
  
  
• 06/06/2009 - 06/06/2009 Ballet Central

  Ballet Central returns to Frome with an exciting new programme by graduate students from the Central School of Ballet, showcasing some of the world’s most talented young dancers.

  The 2009 repertoire offers audiences the rare opportunity to see a unique programme of works by renowned choreographers David Bintley (Birmingham Royal Ballet,) Richard Alston (Richard Alston Dance Company) and the late Christopher Gable (founder of Central School of Ballet).
  

  
  
  
• 14/06/2009 - 14/06/2009 Po’ Girl

  Long awaited return to the Frome by this brilliant Canadian urban roots band featuring the gorgeous vocals and multi-instrumental talents of Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira - joined by Benny Sidelinger

  Po'Girl have become one of the most successful bands ever to emerge from Canada, weaving a blend of musical influences, sweetness, grit & soul. These urban minstrels pen harmony drenched melodies you'll find yourself humming, wowing audiences across the globe with their powerful, passionate and spirited live show.

  “some of the finest acoustic musicians Canada currently has to offer.” BBC, Folk and Country Review

  www.pogirl.net

  www.myspace.com/pogirls

  
  
  
• 17/06/2009 - 18/06/2009 Frome Youth Choirs present Songscape

  After a year away from the Merlin stage, Frome Youth Choir returns with a riot of song - from Musicals to Madrigals, from Folk to Film and from Gospel to World music - in fact, something for everyone to enjoy. Musical Directors Nikki Lewis and Alicia Little bring out the talents of one of the very few true community youth choirs in the country, welcoming friends, family and strangers alike to this diamond of a show.

  
  
  
• 19/06/2009 - 19/06/2009 Flash Fiction – Spoken Word in the foyer

  Frome’s first fab fun Friday Flash Fiction phenomenon.

  400 words, 4 minutes to deliver them, £40 prize for the best!

  Book your ticket and bring your stories; any theme or genre. Fifteen names will be drawn at random from the hat to read. The winner leaves £40 richer; everyone gets a great night out.

  Judges: novelist Debby Holt, journalist Dan Biggane, publisher Barry Cunningham

  Come to compete or just to listen. Bar open throughout.

  
  
  
• 06/07/2009 - 06/07/2009 Film Frome presents The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Das Cabinet Des Dr Caligari) (U)

  Classic silent movie made in 1920 screened with an improvised live music soundtrack

  A milestone of the silent film era. This event promises to be an audio-visual feast of painted sets, distorted perspectives, sharp angles, twisted architecture with an entirely improvised music soundtrack produced by an eclectic group of local musicians.

  
  
  
• 08/07/2009 - 08/07/2009 Sustainable Frome presents Flourishing

  *A talk by Rob Hopkins on building resilience to climate change, peak oil and the shaky global financial system.*

  Based in Totnes Rob Hopkins is the originator of the Transition concepts and co-founder of the Transition Network. He publishes www.transitionculture.org and is author of the just published ‘Transition Handbook’. He is also a Trustee of the Soil Association.

  
  
  
• 09/07/2009 - 09/07/2009 Illyria presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream

  What could be more delightful on a summer’s evening than a picnic and Shakespeare enjoyed in the open-air?

  Performed with a magical twist, international award-winning Illyria’s production of this perennial Shakespeare favourite is passionate, poetic and very, very funny.

  Recommended: 8 plus Running Time: 2 hours 20 mins including interval

  Bring picnics and cushions. In the event of bad weather the performance will come inside.

  www.illryria.uk.com

  
  
  
• 10/07/2009 - 10/07/2009 Words @ Frome Festival present Poetry Foyer: Touching Joy

  Poetry Event in conjunction with Bath Poetry Cafe, hosted by Rose Flint and Rosie Jackson. Open Mic session to be judged by the guest poets from Bath; Sue Boyle, Tracy Wall and Wayne Hill.

  Celebrate the height of summer and the festival season with poems of joy; be they hard-won, random, surprising, healing, exuberant...

  
  
  
• 15/07/2009 - 17/07/2009 Frome Community College and Merlin Theatre present West Side Story

  Is the love affair between Tony and Maria doomed to failure? Set against the background of 50s New York where rival gangs, the Sharks and Jets, battle for territory and respect.

  Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and packed with unforgettable songs including Maria, Tonight, Somewhere, America and I Feel Pretty.

  Members of the creative team behind the hugely successful Merlin Christmas shows will work in partnership with a cast and crew of students, ex-students and staff of Frome Community College to present this masterpiece of musical theatre.

  Directed by Claudia Pepler Berry

  Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins Books by Arthur Laurents : Music by Leonard Bernstein : Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Entire original production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins Originally produced on Broadway by Robert E Griffith & Harold Prince by arrangement with Roger L Stevens. This amateur production is presented by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LTD on behalf of MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL of NEW YORK

  
  
  
• 19/07/2009 - 19/07/2009 The Magnolia Sisters Cajun Band

  This highly respected band of Cajun women from southwest Louisiana are true ambassadors for the Cajun French music of their region; led by the multi-instrumentalist, author, record producer and photographer, Ann Savoy, who recently recorded the Grammy nominated CD "Adieu False Heart" with legendary pop idol Linda Ronstadt.

  *The Magnolia Sisters is the product of years of singing of the old songs and associating with the Cajun masters.*

  
  
  
• 23/07/2009 - 23/07/2009 Miracle Theatre presents Moliere’s Tartuffe on ECOS

  Tartuffe – He only wants what’s best from you!

  Cornwall’s Miracle Theatre celebrate their 30th anniversary with a new adaptation of Tartuffe, Molière’s sharpest comedy.

  This masterclass in hypocrisy, as fresh and provoking as when it was banned in 1664, is perfectly suited to Miracle’s high energy outdoor performance style.

  Orgon welcomes the righteous Tartuffe into his home, adopting him as a spiritual and life-style guide and, as a true disciple, signs over everything he owns. His family smells a rat and sets out to rescue their inheritance and expose Tartuffe for the hypocritical villain he is.

  Bring picnics and cushions. In the event of bad weather the performance will come inside.

  
  
  
• 06/08/2009 - 06/08/2009 Illyria presents The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

  One for All, and All for One!

  Young D'Artagnan aspires to be a Musketeer of the Guard, but are his swashbuckling credentials sufficient? Find out as he rescues the Queen's diamonds and honour, survives the plots laid by the scheming Cardinal Richelieu and encounters one of the greatest femmes fatales Milady de Winter.

  Illyria has a reputation for staging some of the finest swordplay in the business, and in Alexandre Dumas's comic adventure it promises to be more dazzling than ever!

  
  
  
• 15/05/2009 - 15/05/2009 Luke Wright: A Poet's Work is Never Done

  Purchasing hairspray, choosing a belt, waiting for cheese on toast to melt and daytime TV doesn’t watch itself. A poet’s work is never done.

  A Poet’s Work is Never Done is Wright’s third solo show and the most poetry-packed to date. Working without the constraints of a theme Wright offers us ten new poems: hang out with MySpace’s latest embyronic star Evangeline Katz, do meths with Cool Mum and meet Wright’s Sex Butler.

  “The hard working heir to John Hegley.” The Guardian
  “The best young performance poet around.” The Observer

  
  
  
• 27/05/2009 - 27/05/2009 Save the Last Dance

  7.45pm

  An inspirational film of a girl who finds happiness again through her love of dance… and a boy.

  Sara Johnson (Stiles) dreams of becoming a professional ballerina but after the accidental death of her mother, Sara is forced to move from a quiet Chicago suburb, to her father's ghetto apartment on Chicago's gritty south side.

  The new urban environment is not than what she is used to but when she meets Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), a popular fellow student with a passion for hip hop dancing and a future brighter than his troubled past, her repressed ambition is released through a revitalized interest in dance.