Mercury Theatre Announces SLEEPING BEAUTY as 2023 Pantomime

After two years of record-breaking sales, Mercury Theatre today announce their new pantomime for Christmas 2023, Sleeping Beauty, which is now on sale. The production will star pantomime royalty and Mercury Theatre regulars Antony Stuart-Hicks and Dale Superville. Directed by Mercury's Creative Director Ryan McBryde and written by Guy Unsworth, Sleeping Beauty opens on 25 November 2023, and runs until 14 January 2024.

Mercury Theatre also today announce Me..., their Christmas Studio production for under 5s, designed as an ideal first experience of theatre for young children. Presented by Little Angel Theatre and based on the book by Emma Dodd and published by The Templar Company Limited, the show is directed by Samantha Lane with puppetry created by Jimmy Grimes. Me... will run in Mercury's Studio space from 13 December 2023 until 7 January 2024.

Mercury Theatre Creative Director Ryan McBryde today says "I'm delighted to be directing Mercury's record-breaking panto this year as we delve into the wintery world of Sleeping Beauty. It promises to be a fantastic family riot and I'm super excited to be working with Guy Unsworth's hilarious script. Audiences will love the family friendly shows that have become such a tradition for Colcestrians, plus we've added additional Adult-only performances due to popular demand. This Christmas will also see us working with Little Angel Theatre again for the third time this year as we welcome Me... to the Studio. It's brilliant to be able to offer a toddlers show to introduce little ones to the theatre for the first time. There will be a cuteness overload and we can't wait!"

Public sale begins 17 March with tickets from £10.

Once upon a time in Colchesteria, Princess Luna is turning 18 but all celebrations have been banned by her wicked Aunt Carabosse, who is determined to stop Luna from taking her rightful place as Queen of Colchestria. Carabosse tricks her niece into pricking her finger on a spinning wheel needle, cursing her to everlasting sleep.

Only true love's kiss can break the curse and wake the princess. Now it's up to her friends, Fairy Fizz, Dame Maris Piper and Brian to find her Prince, defeat the evil Carabosse and save Luna!

Will the curse be lifted? Will true love conquer all? Join us this Christmas on an unforgettable wintery adventure to find out!

Guy Unsworth is a director and writer working in the UK and internationally. He was a co-writer with Alain Boublil for the 2012 revival of Marguerite (Tabard Theatre) and devised the narrative for the West End hit Cool Rider (Lyric Theatre/Duchess Theatre). In 2016, he was part of the team behind the private 90th Birthday Celebrations for Her Majesty the Queen. Unsworth's adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (Fort Canning Park, Singapore) set in modern-day Singapore placed in the Straits Times' top three theatre events of 2018; and his stage play, based on the classic television comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, toured the UK in 2018 to critical acclaim.

Antony Stuart-Hicks returns to Mercury, having previously appeared in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and Dick Whittington. He is also co-ordinator for the Mercury Theatre Colchester's Creatives Mentoring Programme, and has worked extensively as producer, director and writer. His other acting credits include Legally Blonde (Jersey Opera House), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Criterion Theatre), Silence! The Musical (Above the Stag), A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Rainbow (UK tours), Snow White (Royal Court Liverpool/Central Theatre Chatham), Dick Whittington (Royal Court Liverpool) and Sleeping Beauty (Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple). For television, his credits include David Copperfield, And the Beat Goes On and Fan and Friend.

Dale Superville returns to Mercury, having previously appeared in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Spamalot, Dick Whittington, James and the Giant Peach, The Wind in the Willows, Jack and the Beanstalk, Habeas Corpus, She Stoops to Conquer and Oh! What a Lovely War. His other work includes Forever Young, Grandpa In My Pocket (Nottingham Playhouse/UK tour), Absent Friends, Dick Whittington, Aladdin and Cinderella (Watford Palace Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Pinocchio (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Return to the Forbidden Planet (The Haymarket, Basingstoke), The Knight Of The Burning Pestle (Mercury Theatre/Barbican), The Wind in the Willows (Oldham Coliseum), Simply Heavenly (Young Vic), Rumpelstiltskin (Unicorn Theatre), Epsom Downs (Nuffield Theatre), Mother Goose, Cinderella (Salisbury Playhouse), Big Nose (Coventry Belgrade Theatre), Having A Ball, Fings Ain't What They Used T'be, Of Mice and Men (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch) and You're Thinking About Doughnuts (Nottingham Playhouse). For television, his credits include Way to Go and Bill's New Frock.

Ryan McBryde is the Creative Director of Mercury Theatre. His productions for the Mercury include The Comedy of Errors, Aladdin, Baskerville, Oliver!, Moll Flanders and Pieces of String (the latter was nominated for UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Production and won Best New Musical at the Stage Debut Awards). Other recent credits include Romeo and Juliet (Theatre Trier, Germany), Faust, 1984 (Alte Schauspielhaus Stuttgart), Love on the Links, Before the Party, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk (Salisbury Playhouse), The Invisible Man (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch), Saturday Night Fever; Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Who's Tommy (European tour), A Day at the Racists (Finborough Theatre/ Barking Broadway), The House of Mirrors and Hearts (Arcola Theatre), Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery (Bridewell Theatre), and Terie Vigen (Royal Concert Hall).