The Merlin Theatre

The Merlin Theatre in Frome, Somerset has an outstanding reputation for presenting the very best in performing arts and presents an extensive community and education. It is a 240 seat professional venue based on the campus of Frome Community College.

In the past 12 months it held…
o 93 performances
o 22 screenings
o 291 workshops for adults and young people
o 74 days of rehearsal time and support given to professional artists.
o 20,840 participants attended events

The Merlin has a national reputation for its work with theatre companies and performers giving valuable rehearsal and production input. This includes the 15 artists who make up the Merlin Creative Team. Claudia Berry, Mayuri Boonham, Mark Bruce, Guy Dartnell, Alex Green, Sarah Godsill, Kathy Hinde, Joanna Harvey, Neil Light, Annabelle Macfadyen, Niki McCretton, Crysse Morrison, Subathra Subramaniam, Marina Sossi, Pip Utton.

Work featured in this exhibition includes…

· The 2006 community pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, which won four awards and 17 nominations at the recent Somerset Fellowship of Drama Cinderella awards including runner up for Best Production in the County.

· Mark Bruce’s production, Sea of Bones, which was produced and premiered at the Merlin in September. It is currently on a national tour performing to sold out audiences and to national press acclaim.

The Merlin Youth Theatre - just one of six weekly workshops that 91 children and young people take part in each week.

The Merlin has been supporting Louise Barrett from Pretty Good Girl to hold regular dance workshops at Frome Youth Centre.

In March the Black Swan Arts and Merlin worked an ambitious project funded by the Arts and Kids Foundation. 450 children from four local schools, Berkley First School, Bishop Henderson Primary School, Christ Church First School, and Mells First School attended the Merlin to see a performance by Theatre Rites and worked with visual artists Celia Smith and Karen Willis to create artwork inspired by the show which was exhibited in the Round Tower.

If you would like to know further information about supporting the Merlin Theatre contact Paula Hammond: 01373 461360, info@merlintheatre.co.uk

www.merlintheatre.co.uk