/£8 concs , show 8pm Over four decades after exploding onto the spoken word scene, Don Fletcher Park and Mervin Mule – two once-radical (and now increasingly frazzled) punk poets – struggle against the prospect of slow disintegration into genteel oblivion, adrift in the picturesque East Anglian coastal village of Wivenhoe. Poets Day inhabits a strangely familiar landscape; brimming with fading artists, assorted eccentrics and bus-pass bohemians. I Hear Voices Theatre Company presents two new, half-hour adventures in this popular, absurdist audio series, which has exceeded all expectations by not becoming the subject of legal proceedings (at time of printing). Recorded before your very ears at the Company's spiritual home of Colchester Arts Centre. In Transit, written by Darren Gooding Having completed an inexplicably successful gig in Europe, the Universe punishes Mervin and Donny with a seemingly interminable train delay. As the hours drag longer and the Tannoy announcements become increasingly incomprehensible, the enforced inactivity begins to drive the hyperactive Mervin into a Sartre-esque nightmare of paranoia and ennui. Meanwhile, Donny decides to drink the entire contents of a duty-free shop – beginning with the perfume aisle. Will our heroes ever get home to Wivenhoe; for if Hell truly is “other people”, could Purgatory be the Eurostar Lounge at Brussels? The Panel Show, written by Damien Bell Donny’s star is in the ascendant again; he has been invited to make a guest appearance on a famous comedy panel show. Merv is therefore drafted in as Donny’s minder for the day and – with the lure of telly money foremost in their minds – off to the TV studio they go. But are these 20th Century relics equipped to deal with the vicissitudes of modern comedy? Is Merv prepared to handle being in the limelight? How many jelly babies is too many? And can poetry save the day? DISCLAIMER: ANY SIMILARITY BETWEEN POETS, ESSEX OR PUNK, IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL  I Hear Voices Theatre Company is a small-scale performance group, founded in 2012 by Damien Bell and Darren Gooding. Its primary focus is producing live recordings of original, audio-comedy podcast serials, including the 1950’s spy thriller, The Adventures of Bentley Strangetrousers, Victorian Steampunk epic, Tea with Lady Breakneck and the sci-fi space opera spoof Space Wizards on the Brink. Since 2021 they have been annually plundering the works of M.R. James to produce their own (very silly) Ghost Story for Christmas. Written and Performed by Damien Bell & Darren Gooding Sound Recording by Stuart Armitage

Venue: Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 1NF.

Event type: PERFORMANCE.

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