Open air theatre in Essex to provide jobs for creatives who struggled during the pandemic
It will celebrate Colchester's Roman heritage
A new open air season of theatre in Essex will provide jobs for creatives who struggled for work during the pandemic.
From May, Colchester's Castle Park will host a Roman season of theatre, designed to celebrate the history of Britain's oldest recorded town.
Neil Jones, the artistic director of Castle Park Theatre, who are hosting the season, says they'll be employing more than 20 locally-based creatives, many of whom struggled for work during the pandemic.
He says he's pleased to be able to offer this: "Over the last couple of years, they haven't been able to perform at all because of the pandemic. So for them to have an opportunity to walk into the park - they don't have to get a train to London and make the journey - and say: 'I'm doing a professional job, getting professionally paid for it and I'm doing it in my hometown', they can take pride in that.
"It's also not just for them to take pride in, it's also an opportunity for the public to be proud of the cultural makeup that the town has."
Neil also wants to make it clear that these will not be amateur shows, they'll be highly professional: "Local theatre does get a bit of schtick sometimes. When people hear it's a 'local' show, they assume it'll be rubbish and it's not.
"There are lots of professional actors who've made their home in and around Colchester. The beauty of this is that it's making work accessible for people who live locally and it's celebrating the creative community we have in the town."
When deciding what shows to put on in the season, Neil says it was obvious: "I thought that if we were going to launch Castle Park Theatre, we might as well do it with a bang and we might as well do it in keeping with Colchester's heritage and its huge historical significance within the world."
The season will feature performances of 'Ben Hur', 'Julius Caeser', 'The Boadicea of Britannia Street', and a family show called 'King Coel's Curtains'.
All will be performed outside, on the park's lower bowling green. Neil says that adds a unique spin to performances: "Just being in the space, it's just magic.
"Psychologically, it's about being out in the open air, having that fresh air inside your lungs, the birds tweeting up in the sky and the wind rustling through the leaves. It's ridiculously green, fresh and lovely.
"We're trying not to mess around with the space too much because the beauty of open air theatre is that you let the space speak for itself. You let the space become a part of the show."