The Mercury Theatre, Colchester this week launched their new online programme of work, Mercury Online, offering digitally accessible activities to entertain and engage all ages during the current COVID-19 lockdown.
The Mercury Theatre programme, which is comprised exclusively of online content, utilises social media, live streaming and video conferencing platforms to bring theatre and arts-based activities to their followers and beyond, all for free.
The programme officially launched on Monday 30 March with the first of the Mercury’s exciting outreach activities, Monday Mercury Masterclasses; every Monday evening for the next 5 weeks a different course leader will present a virtual learning session via a video conferencing platform, delving into their specialist arts-based subject to share their knowledge and skills with an online audience.
On Tuesday the Mercury also announced Mercury Monologues in association with Josef Weinberger Ltd. This exciting partnership between the theatre and publishing powerhouse is their second combined initiative following their 2018 Mercury Weinberger Playwriting Competition and will see creative hopefuls submit a short monologue, lasting no longer than 4 minutes, each week. Submissions will be judged by a panel of industry professionals and each week a new winner will be announced, earning themselves a £100 prize, and the chance to have their monologue read and streamed to the Mercury’s social media channels and website, by a professional, paid actor.
Other Mercury Online activities include Storytime with Dale (a Mercury panto favourite) on Tuesday afternoons via Facebook Premiere and YouTube; Mercury Musical Sing-a-longs via video conferencing with west-end star Craig Mather on Wednesday evenings; and a Ten Day Tale creative writing competition, currently running on the Mercury’s Facebook page and ending on Sunday 5 April.
The Mercury are pleased to be able to offer all of these activities to online audiences for free and are thrilled to be able to engage with actors, freelancers and other industry professionals during these unprecedented times. Click here for more information on Mercury Online activities. The Mercury’s Customer Experience team are also available to discuss these activities (or just for a friendly chat!) over the phone Monday – Friday, 11am – 4pm on 01206 573948.
Douglas Mayo has had a life long love affair with musical theatre. He has authored several books on publicity and marketing for amateur theatre groups. He is in the process of developing a musical based on his original story concept.
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