Past Performances
THE ROCKTOCADEMY
Saturday 15 July 2023 – 2pm
At the Rocktocademy, Rocktopus, the world’s number 1 rock band for kids, will help you unleash your inner rockstar as you graduate from rookie to rocker at their fully inclusive and interactive family show suitable for nursery and primary aged children.
We can confirm that this show will take place on Saturday 15th and NOT Friday 14th as shown in the FF brochure.
A Frome Festival event
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE – Illyria
Friday 14 July 2023 – 7pm
Sadly, we have made the decision to move tonight’s performance inside due to the bad weather conditions. No need to bring food or chairs! We hope to see you later.
A Frome Festival event
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE – BOB MORRIS LECTURE
Thursday 13 July 2023 – 7pm
William Dalrymple is one of Britain’s great historians and a bestselling author. He will deliver the Bob Morris Lecture, an annual fixture of the Festival, sharing stories and insight from his life and career.
A Frome Festival event
SOS SUMMER ON THE STONES
Tuesday 11 July 2023 – 7pm
Because of the rather unpredictable weather forecast we have decided for everyone’s comfort, and the band’s safety, tonight’s Frome Festival gig will be brought inside. Seating will be unreserved, so sit where you like. We will keep the bar open throughout, and we will make sure you have a space to get up and dance! See you later… Still a few tickets remaining.
A Frome Festival event
ELVIS McGONAGALL PRESENTS THE CRYSSE MORRISON PRIZE FOR POETRY
Monday 10 July 2023 – 7.30pm
A night to celebrate the wonderful life of Crysse Morrison with the inaugural prize for poetry presented by world-renowned stand-up poet and comedian Elvis McGonagall.
A Frome Festival event
MILES JUPP IN CONVERSATION
Sunday 09 July 2023 – 7.30pm
In this brand-new show, Miles is joined by his close friend Lynne Miller to discuss his career as an actor, comedian and author.
A Frome Festival event
SEX CELLS
Friday 07 July 2023, SATURDAY 08 JULY, SUNDAY 09 JULY – 8pm
Sex Cells is a very funny, poignant play about motherhood, friendship, love and loss.
A Frome Festival event
AFD YOUTH DANCE PLATFORM
Sunday 02 July 2023 – 7pm
An exciting showcase celebrating diverse youth dance from the South West. Amy Foskett, artistic director of AmyFoskettDance, creates this platform to provide opportunities for young people to perform on a professional stage.
THE HAUNTING OF RICHARD THE THIRD
Friday 30 June 2023 – 7.30pm
Following its premiere at last year’s Frome Festival,“The Haunting of Richard Third” a new musical by Martin Dimery and David Hynds, has been re-worked for an exciting short beginning at the Merlin en route to Fotheringhay and Market Bosworth. This production will be indoors.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: FLEABAG
Wednesday 21 June 2023 – 7pm
Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life. Following a box-office record-breaking run in 2019, the one-woman show returns to the Merlin this summer.
CONNECTEDNESS
Thursday 15 June 2023 – 7pm
Many people believe that there needs to be a seismic shift in the web of life if we want to see a happier and more content world.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – QUANTUM THEATRE
Sunday 11 June 2023 – 2pm
Today’s performance will be inside due to the rainy weather. Keep dry and enjoy!
PRIDE – THE MOVIE
Friday 09 June 2023 – 7pm
Who’d have imagined that a film about gay / queer people, trade unionists and socialists could ever become a mainstream hit with an all-star cast? Pride told the unlikely story of how radical LGBT activists struck up an alliance with South Wales miners during the 1984/85 miners’ strike.
CELEBRATE ME
Thursday 08 June 2023 – 8pm
Behind the party balloons 92-year-old Barbara has a secret which could shake up the relationships of six women for good. Find out where the pieces fall in this engaging, funny and moving new comedy drama about the power, pain and beauty of the freedom to choose.
HUTCH
Friday 02 June 2023 – 7.30pm
Due to the unexpected unavailability of key members of their team, it is with great regret that the company have had to cancel their performance of Hutch. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have purchased tickets our Box Office will be in touch.
MATILDA THE MUSICAL – ON SCREEN
Thursday 01 June 2023 – 2pm
A film adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.
I LOVE YOU MUM – I PROMISE I WON’T DIE
Thursday 25 May 2023 – 7pm
Everyone loves Dan. He’s cool, compassionate and at 16 he has plans – just losing his life isn’t one of them. Dan took ecstasy at a rave… and this powerful true story, tells of what happened to him, his family and friends. A story of tragedy to redemption.
ROBIN HOOD – Illyria
Sunday 21 May 2023 – 4pm
With King Richard away, the rich will break every rule to seize power. They’re ready to play dirty, but so is Robin Hood. He plots to bring down the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham and every other villain along the way!
FEARLESS FUN!
Saturday 20 May 2023 – 2pm
Build your brilliance in improvisation classes using theatre games – come and play.
SATURDAY 20 MAY
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: BEST OF ENEMIES
Thursday 18 May 2023 – 7pm
David Harewood and Zachary Quinto play feuding political rivals in James Graham’s multiple award-winning new drama.
Jeremy Herrin directs this blistering political thriller, filmed live in London’s West End.
BUFFALO GALS – Bluegrass String-Band Sunday Social
Sunday 14 May 2023 – 2pm (Bar from 1.30pm)
One of the most sought-after acts on the Americana music circuit, Buffalo Gals, led by champion USA fiddler and funny-woman Kate Lissauer, present a joyful, relaxed Sunday social of Bluegrass, Old-time and early Country songs punctuated with thrilling step-dance.
ALFIE MOORE: FAIR COP UNLEASHED
Friday 12 May 2023 – 7.30pm
Based on a dramatic real-life incident with thrilling ups and downs of the night a mysterious clown came to town and more than one life ended up in the balance. It was no laughing matter – but this show certainly is!
AETF WESTERN AREA FINAL
Sunday 07 May 2023 – 2pm and 7pm
Five companies that have already won Festivals perform their plays before adjudicator Alan Hayes, GoDA, providing a varied day of theatre. We never know what to expect but look forward to an exciting and entertaining day.
SHODDY DETECTIVE AND THE ART OF DECEPTION
Saturday 29 April 2023 – 7.30pm
Shoddy Theatre are back with their sell out, multi rolling, slapstick whodunnit? inspired by the classics of British and American comedies.
DOOR TO DOOR POETRY: NATIONWIDE
Friday 21 April 2023 – 7.30pm
Rowan McCabe knocks on strangers’ doors and writes poems for them. In 2019 he did this all around England. But as March 2020 approached, world events pushed the project in a very different direction…
‘Ingenious’ BBC Radio Scotland
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: GOOD
Thursday 20 April 2023 – 7pm
David Tennant makes a much-anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays.
TRI.ART SHOWCASE 2023
Saturday 15 April 2023 – 2pm and 6.30pm
Join Tri.Art Dance Academy for their fantastic annual Easter showcase as they celebrate their 10 year anniversary! This performance comprises a re-telling of the traditional Ballet Coppélia and a showcase of dazzling numbers from our performing arts students.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: LIFE OF PI
Thursday 06 April 2023 – 7pm
Puppetry, magic and storytelling combine in a unique, Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of the best-selling novel.
HOME, I’M DARLING
Thursday 30 March 2023, Friday 31 March, Saturday 1 April – 7.30pm
Frome Drama present Laura Wade’s 2019 Olivier Award winning comedy about nostalgia and celebrating the present. Judy Martin is determined to create the perfect 1950s home. But can the perfect housewife’s marriage survive in the 2010s?
MARY POPPINS JR
Thursday 23 March 2023, Friday 24 March, Saturday 25 March – 7pm
Selwood Academy presents Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins Jr. Full of all the well known songs from the movie, you will be transported away through a world of colour, music and dancing.
SEEDS OF MEMORIES
Saturday 18 March 2023 – 2.30pm and 7pm
Recently it has felt like grief is all around us. Seeds of Memories is a wistful and uplifting show packed to the brim with puppetry and poetry.
ANYTHING GOES
Wednesday 15 March 2023 – 7pm
Filmed live at the Barbican in London, this major 5-star production of the classic musical comedy features an all-star cast led by renowned Broadway royalty Sutton Foster alongside three-time Olivier Award winner Robert Lindsay, Evening Standard Theatre Award winner Felicity Kendal and beloved West End Legend Gary Wilmot.
AMELIE – IMMERSIVE SCREENING EXTRAVAGANZA
Friday 10 March 2023 – 7pm
In a lively and memorable last night of The Kindness Festival the Merlin Theatre turns into Paris for a ’Secret Cinema’ style gala screening of Amelie complete with fancy dress, live music and unexpected pop up theatrics. Bring a group of friends and help contribute to our fundraising efforts.
SHE
Friday 24 February 2023, Saturday 25 February – 7.30pm + 2pm Sat matinee
SHE interweaves the stories of 14 different women in their twenties, embracing life from infancy to old age. Visceral, poignant, and laced with humour, SHE is curated as seven contrasting plays, performed by two actors.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: OTHELLO
Thursday 23 February 2023 – 7pm
Wed in secret, Desdemona and Othello crave a new life together. But as unseen forces conspire against them, they find their future is not theirs to decide.
Othello is filmed live on the Lyttleton stage of the National Theatre.
ENCANTO SINGALONG
Thursday 16 February 2023 – 11am and 2pm
The tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto.
DINOSAURS AND ALL THAT RUBBISH
Tuesday 14 February 2023 – 2pm
One man’s dream to reach the stars leaves the world in ruins! Can the sleeping dinosaurs wake and save planet Earth? A riotously fun environmental tale fuelled by rock’n’roll.
SCHOOL OF ROCK – NEXT GENERATION
Thursday 09 February 2023, Friday 10 February, Saturday 11 February – 7pm
Featuring our talented students from years 9-13 at Frome College, we invite you to spend the evening rocking out with us!
MRS CHURCHILL – MY LIFE WITH WINSTON
Saturday 28 January 2023 – 7.30pm
They say that behind every great man, there is a great woman. Was this true in Churchill’s case? What of Clementine, his wife for 56 years? Did he bully her like he did so many other people? Was he as grumpy and irascible at home as he often was in the House of Commons? Did Clem have any influence on him at all? Or was she ‘the little lady at home’?
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: THE CRUCIBLE
Thursday 26 January 2023 – 7pm
A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller’s captivating parable of power with Erin Doherty and Brendan Cowell. Lyndsey Turner directs this contemporary new staging, designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin. Captured live from the Olivier stage at the National Theatre.
MIKE WOZNIAK – ZUSA
Wednesday 25 January 2023 – 7.30pm
Ever wondered how Mike’s Great-Aunt Zusa made it from Poland to Luton with a war nipping at her heels? Here’s your chance to find out.
FROME TOWN BAND with THE SNOWMAN
Saturday 17 December 2022 – 7pm
In a family-friendly concert, Frome Town Band invites you to join their musical Christmas celebration. Sing carols, see Father Christmas, and listen as Frome’s very own community brass band play live with the film of Raymond Brigg’s Snowman as he soars above the snowy landscape.
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Wednesday 07 December 2022, THURSDAY 08 DECEMBER, FRIDAY 09 DECEMBER, SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER – Various times
The story of this magnificent peach is faithfully told by James himself and the insect characters – Miss Spider, Old-Green-Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybird and Earthworm.
MATTHEW BOURNE’S NUTRACKER!
Sunday 20 November 2022 – 2pm and 7pm
The sweetest of all Matthew Bourne’s treats comes to cinemas for the first time. Celebrating its 30th Anniversary, this witty, wonderful, rip-roaring spectacular is a Nutcracker! for all seasons and the sweet treat we all deserve.
THE FROME TO CANTERBURY TALES
Wednesday 16 November 2022, THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER, FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER, SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER – 7.30pm
Chaucer’s vivid characters, the story of their pilgrimage, and the gripping and often raunchy tales they tell on their way, are updated to the early 1950s in this new and original adaptation, full of life, energy, and humour.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: THE SEAGULL
Tuesday 08 November 2022 – 7pm
Emilia Clarke makes her West End debut in this 21st century retelling of Anton Chekhov’s tale of love and loneliness. Following his critically acclaimed five-star production of Cyrano de Bergerac, Jamie Lloyd brings Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic play to stage.
Encore screening, filmed live in London’s West End on Thursday 3 November.
COMEDY OF ERRORS – Shakespeare Live
Saturday 15 October 2022 – 8pm
Shakespeare’s sparkling farce is a roller coaster of wit, romance, physical comedy and mistaken identities, as two sets of twins cause mayhem in ancient Ephesus when their lives and loves become almost inextricably tangled.
I AM BECAUSE WE ARE – TEDxFrome
Sunday 09 October 2022 – 2pm-6pm
TEDxFrome celebrates local ‘ideas worth spreading’. Ten speakers will be sharing their ideas in the theme of ‘I am because we are’ – climate, words, women’s health, life and death, personal development, culture, food, the natural world, our homes and more.
CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
Saturday 08 October 2022 – 7pm
From the creator of The Spirit of Woodstock…
From Space Invaders to Star Wars, glam-rock to punk, flares to safety pins, Wilson to Thatcher.
A dynamic theatre collage of the stories, the people, the music.
A romp through the 70s.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: JACK ABSOLUTE FLIES AGAIN
Thursday 06 October 2022 – 7pm
A rollicking new comedy by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris, based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals.