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From memory, the last production I saw at the Lakeside Theatre was An Inspector Calls, sometime circa 1991. It wasn’t that the performance at the University of Essex Theatre was so bad, but a bit of a geographical detour diverting me to South London, via the City of Death, finally led to a return some nineteen years later.

A complete refurbishment has taken place in the intervening two decades. A smart new cafe entrance is located where I once smuggled books out of the Albert Sloman Library. I half expected my bag to be searched as I strolled up for the production of Richard III on Thursday evening.

I may have been almost twenty years away from the Lakeside, but a semi-interest in all things theatrical has been a tradition. We’ve been regulars for the past decade down at Bankside and The Globe. If you can stand through a challenging three hour contemporary production of Macbeth, then a Lakeside romp through Richard III should be a stroll.

Smoke from the side of the stage pre-emptied the classic “winter of discontent” opening lines. The last time I breathed in such fumes was at a Psychedelic Society Disco, in the long lost Oliver Tambo Room at the University. The refreshments on offer at the Lakeside on Thursday night weren’t quite as strong, which is just as well, given the production that lay ahead.

This was a contemporary performance of the Shakespeare tragedy. Such a term often leads to a tragic performance, but not so for the touring production from the Love and Madness Theatre Company.

With a stripped down simple set and costume approach, the language became the main focus. An outstanding lead performance from everyone’s favourite Jacobean bad boy carried the show from start to finish. Here is a classic pantomime villain that you side with from the first curtain call.

A quick interval, and by pure chance and I met up with my immediate next door neighbour.

Blimey.

We swapped and shared tales of the plot, filling in the gaps where I was too busy closing my eyes and drifting off to those Psychedelic Society Disco days. The pace for the second half of the performance increased, concluding with a Space Invaders style interpretation of the epic battle scene, just ahead of the “my horse, my horse…” closing refrains.

A brief bike ride back towards the town, and I pondered that I needed some booze to reflect upon what I had just seen. Ten minutes later and I was at The Station, propping up the bar with my other neighbour.

Blimey, blimey etc.

All the world’s a stage, especially so in The Station at chucking out time on a Thursday night.

There’s a wonderfully diverse programme of productions at the Lakeside until the end of the year. This runs all the way through until the pantomime, mid-December.

Oh no it doesn’t… Oh yes it does.

You get the idea.

The £9 ticket price for punters is reasonable, and given the proximity of the theatre right on our Wivenhoe doorstep, it’s no surprise to see so many familiar faces taking up their seats.

Or maybe it’s just a #hyperlocal neighbourly thing?

“An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.”

See ya.