Laurence Owen: The Elemental Dynamic

27 February 2012 - 24 March 2012

Venue: Art Exchange

Taking the constrictions implicit in the supposedly childish medium of felt tips to see what might emerge with their garish tones, Laurence Owen makes a series of images which are both disturbing and familiar. He presents us with a skewed rendition of the everyday, appropriating the language of advertising, photographs and holiday brochures to his own ends. Owen calls his felt tip drawings ‘a newsreel of everyday life’, resulting in images that lie somewhere between the fantastical and the mundane.

Polar Bear

25 February 2012

Performance Time: 20:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

 

Making a welcome return to Lakeside Theatre, Polar Bear are a London-based avant-garde jazz combo led from the back by BBC award winning drummer Seb Rochford. Pioneering a new form of British jazz, Polar Bear’s pulsating electronic soundscapes, dance friendly beats and catchy sax melodies lend their music wide appeal to audiences from traditionalists to people who don’t normally do jazz.

“The big-hitters of the current new wave” Independent on Sunday

Tickets: Book Ticket Now!

Curator’s Lunchtime Tour

Wednesday 22 February
Venue: Art Exchange
Time: 1 – 1.30pm
 
Admission free, booking essential - Email arts@essex.ac.uk Come along and find out more about the extraordinary work of artist Laure Prouvost. Join curator Jess Kenny for a tour of The Wanderer (Betty Drunk).

1 Beach Road

24 February 2012

Performance Time: 19:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

A tale of friendship, defiance, a shrinking island, synchronized swimming and trying to turn back the tide. 1 Beach Road explores the metaphorical connections between Alzheimer’s disease and coastal erosion and asks “what is it like to lose everything – your home and your memories?”Returning after the huge success of The Idiot Colony, award winning company Red Cape bring us their unique visual, physical storytelling, sense of humour and original writing.“a thoughtful, unsettling and beautifully
conceived show” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Tickets: Book Tickets Now! 

The John Law Trio

17 February 2012

Performance Time: 20:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Sensational pianist John Law leads his highly acclaimed ensemble in an evening of breathtaking original and popular jazz. Playing the best material from his acclaimed Art of Sound trio as well as ingenious reworkings of tunes from the standard jazz repertoire, John Law’s highly accomplished trio features Yuri Goloubev on bass and percussionist Asaf Sirkis.

“sheer technical brilliance” The Telegraph
Tickets: Book Tickets

Scenes From Communal Living

09 February 2012

Performance Time: 19:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Performed by an ensemble of the UK’s hottest improvisers, Scenes from
Communal Living uses audience suggestions to create a unique night of
entertainment.
Completely new combinations of characters and stories are invented in
each scene, all set in the rooms of shared accommodation. Witness the strangest characters who ever argued over a gas bill or taped a vaguely threatening note to the fridge in this show of fast paced invention!
“Very funny, fresh and endlessly creative...Two thumbs up!” Time Out London

Book Tickets

Comedy Central Live with Sean Hughes

04 February 2012

Performance Time: 20:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Tonight's Comedy Central Live! The updated line up features:
Sean Hughes
Stand Up Comedy legend and star of Never Mind The Buzzcocks Sean Hughes joins us to headline tonight.

"One of the best stand ups of his generation" The Daily Telegraph

Matt Forde
A sharp brain and an infectious laugh are the hallmarks of Matt Forde. A regular host and contributor to BBC radio, Forde is a keen eyed satirist who has written for Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats and received high acclaim for his 2011 Edinburgh show Dishonourable Member.

MC Jimmie McGhie
A highly regarded young stand-up and comic performer, Jimmy performs on the UK and international comedy circuit to great acclaim.

Head over to our facebook group for up to the minute updates.
Tickets: Book Tickets

Lucinda Belle Orchestra

05 February 2012

Performance Time: 20:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Singer, songwriter and jazz harpist Lucinda Belle is a rising star of the British music scene. Having played alongside Rufus Wainwright and Robbie Williams she is now building a reputation with Lucinda Belle Orchestra.
Belle’s soft toned melodies ring out over the cafe jazz of her versatile orchestra whose tunes effortlessly reference 1920’s Parisian gypsy cool and pop icons such as Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse.
Playing music from her 2010 debut album My Voice and My 45 Strings, don’t miss the incredible Lucinda Belle Orchestra. 

Tickets Online Now!  Book Tickets

Dianna's Last / My Last

02 February 2012 - 03 February 2012

Performance Time: 19:30

Venue: Lakeside Theatre Studio

 A kidnapping and the tense relationships that follow are the subject of a play and film by Troy Balmayer.
Exploring the process of cross medium adaptation, witness two versions of one thriller in Dianna’s Last/My Last, viewed sequentially in the Lakeside Theatre’s studio then main house.

Working in collaboration with the University of Essex Centre for Theatre Studies, Lakeside Theatre presents this Independent Practical Production third year Drama student Troy Balmayer.
 

Tickets: Book Tickets

Video Archive

Image Archive

Way Out West

26 January 2012

Performance Time: 19:30

Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Two men walk into a pub - and then it stops being normal. As the beer flows their conversation spans the creation of the universe, bar snacks, the meaning of happiness and a bizarre shared dream in which they’ve met Laurel and Hardy, and each other, before. An unnerving philosophical and spiritual world opens before them: has that great cinematic comedy duo returned? Way out West is a funny, tender and melancholic new play from the writer of Meeting Joe Strummer and Don’t Shoot the Clowns.
 

Tickets: Full £10, Concs £7, UoE £5
Book Now Online >

 

Laure Prouvost: The Wanderer (Betty Drunk)

18 Jan 2012 - 23 February 2012

Venue: Art Exchange
 

Art Exchange presents Laure Prouvost’s The Wanderer (Betty Drunk), a newly commissioned film and installation.  Based on a script by artist Rory Macbeth, who without knowledge of German translated Kafka’s The Metamorphosis into English, Betty Drunk follows characters as they undergo a series of increasingly bizarre experiences, navigating a path through situations in which reality becomes increasingly uncertain.

Laure Prouvost is winner of the Max Mara Art Prize 2011.

Events:

Find me out in the country
Saturday 28 January
Venue: Art Exchange and Company Shed Mersea
Time: 1 – 6.30pm
Ticket prices: £5 Concs: £3. Bookings go live Monday 9 Jan 2012.
Lunch not included in price.

Join artist Laure Prouvost for a trip to Mersea’s famous Company Shed for lunch, followed by an afternoon talk and reception to celebrate The Wanderer (Betty Drunk) coming to Art Exchange.
A minibus will take us to Mersea, collecting from Art Exchange and Colchester.

Artist’s Film Choice: L’humanité
France/Benoit Dumont/1999/148 mins/Cert 18
Monday 13 February
Doors: 7.00pm Screening: 7.30pm
Venue: Lakeside Theatre
Ticket Prices: Full £5, Concs £3. Bookings go live Monday 9 Jan 2012.
When a girl is brutally raped and murdered in a quiet French village, a police detective who has forgotten how to feel emotions investigates the crime, which asks more questions than it answers.

Laure Prouvost in Context
Wednesday 15 February
Venue: Art Exchange
Time: 6.30 – 7.30pm
Admission free, booking essential. Bookings go live Monday 9 Jan 2012.
A chance to watch a selection of Laure Prouvost’s films that brought her to international attention. Stay on for a discussion of this up-and-coming artist over a glass of wine.

Curator’s Lunchtime Tour
Wednesday 22 February
Venue: Art Exchange
Time: 1 – 1.30pm
Admission free, booking essential. Bookings go live Monday 9 Jan 2012.
Come along and find out more about the extraordinary work of artist Laure
Prouvost. Join curator Jess Kenny for a tour of The Wanderer (Betty Drunk).

Dick Whittington and his Pussy

14  - 16 December 2011
Performance Time: 19:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

The Theatre Arts Society makes a raucous return with its annual original pantomime Dick Whittington and His Pussy.

Full of glitz and glamour, brilliantly re-imagined characters and the type of festive rudeness you d hope for at this time of year the TAS panto is not to be missed! (photo: Aladdin, 2010)

Tickets: £10, £7, £5

Kentridge in Context

07 December 2011

Time: 18:30

Venue: Art Exchange  

Join curator Jess Kenny for an evening of discussion that places William Kentridge's work in a wider context. A chance to watch other seminal short films by William Kentridge including 'Mine', 'Ubu Tells the Truth' and 'Tide Table'.  Admission free, but please ensure your place arts@essex.ac.uk 

Writers at Essex presents Roger Moss and Phil Terry

06 December 2011
Time: 18:00
Venue: Art Exchange

Following in others' footsteps, walking within cities, the past and present politics of cities - are touched on in this evening of readings. Phil Terry will be reading poems derived from walks, including a poem based on walks from The Cut, a thoroughfare near Waterloo in London, conceived as a protest against the government cuts, and some poems retracing W. G. Sebald's steps. 

 

Roger Moss will also be reading works that are inspired by the theme of walking between worlds.

Admission free.

Lakeside Writers

Monday 5 December
Time: 7.00pm-9.00pm
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Lakeside Writers is a new initiative aimed at writers and aspiring writers whose work includes an element of performance. Open to all University of Essex students and to any writers living in the east of England and led by Lakeside Theatre's Literary Consultant Andrew Burton, it is a space where writers can network, see excerpts of work-in-progress, and hear about current developments in the wider cultural sector.

Whether you describe your work as drama, audio drama, live literature, documentary, screenplay, storytelling or song lyrics, you are welcome to join us.

For further information, or to book a place email arts@essex.ac.uk

 

Writers at Essex presents Ian Monk

02 December 2011

Time: 18:00

Venue: Art Exchange

Ian Monk is a translator, writer of poetry and fiction and a member of french writing group OULIPO. His works include Family Archaeology and Other Poems and Writings for the Oulipo and among his translations are works by Pennac, Perec and Roussel. Tonight he will give a reading from his own works.

“Ian Monk is like Perec. When presented with a constraint two things can happen: either the constraint is easy, in which case Ian yawns and goes to sleep. Or else it is difficult. He then wakes up and gets to work. The more the constraint is difficult, the more the work is excellent.” Jacques Roubaud.


Admission free.

Working the Devil

01 December 2011 
Performance Time: 19:30
Venue: Lakeside Theatre

Two sharp and blackly funny takes on the absurd world of work. With The Devil and the Details, less is more, more or less. Set against a live beat box score, it takes minimalism and dance to a darkly comic place. Meanwhile Hinterview channels the grand themes of progress and collapse into solo dance, for your pleasure.

A fresh and understated show, Working The Devil was developed at the Lakeside Theatre and showcased by the British Council at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011.

Tickets: UoE Students £5, UoE Staff & Concessions £7, Full £10

Margins: walking between worlds (Part 3)

01 - 17 December 2011 
Venue: Art Exchange 


Part 3 explores issues of displacement and forced exile in the work of South African artist William Kentridge. We focus on ‘Shadow Procession’, a seminal work that reminds us that mobility is not always a matter of choice, but a by product of war, famine and colonial legacy. Beautifully made and with a disconcertingly celebratory sound track, this film reminds us of the complexities and contradictions bound up in the simple act of walking.