Past Performances

Tonight’s performance has moved inside due to the weather.

A clowning and improvisation workshop established in London, and now coming to the Merlin Theatre for the first time!

Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott in Noël Coward’s provocative comedy. Captured live from The Old Vic in London in 2019, Present Laughter is a giddy and surprisingly modern reflection on fame, desire and loneliness.

The results of the annual Writers in Residence and Young Writers competitions will be announced. Judge Kylie Fitzpatrick, will present the Frome Festival Short Story Competition prizes and the winning story will be read.

An open air performance on our very own ECOS Amphitheatre 

A Frome Festival event

Amazing tales elegantly told. There will be pirates and princesses, unicorns and dragons, sword fights and spacemen, and all of it is completely and irrefutably true. Top award-winning comedians and improvisers tell extravagant stories based on the Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

A Frome Festival event

‘Born to Swing’ celebrates the original and modern day crooners with a fun party atmosphere! Keeping alive the great sounds of the big band era with fabulous vocal performances from the UK’s most successful crooner Andrew Bourn.

An outdoor performance on ECOS

A Frome Festival event

The Frome Show Choir and Frome Rock Choir invite you to join them in their debut double headline concert! There’s something for everyone in this fun packed choir show for all the family!

A Frome Festival event

Experience an evening of Cuban music, culture and history told through the eyes of DJ Jigue. Travel to his hometown of Santiago de Cuba to find inspiration for the African-Caribbean musical fusion, Bakosó, through stunning visuals and scoring. The documentary will be followed by a Q&A session with the director and cast – and, of course, some fine Cuban rum!

A Frome Festival event

In this funny and touching new play by Polly Lamb, Stella’s been seeking answers and finds herself intrigued by an alternate truth. As she dives deeper, the layers of truth are peeled away to expose the personal cost of conspiracy theory.

A Frome Festival event

An evening of ancestral inspiration with Frome’s own David R Abram, photographer of prehistoric sites and author of the ‘Aerial Atlas of Ancient Britain’. Revealing the connection between archaeological monuments and their landscapes, his shows have garnered rave reviews across the country.

A Frome Festival event

Jenny Eclair was the first woman to win the coveted Perrier Award at the Edinburgh festival in 1995 and hasn’t stopped banging on about it ever since. Join her for a one-off special evening of tall tales and compelling chat with actor and personal friend, Lynne Miller.

A Frome Festival event

Bojangles Dance School’s bi-annual show case involving all ages and a variety of genres

Rocktopus, the world’s Number 1 rock band for families, will help your kids unleash their inner rock star as they graduate from rookie to rocker at this fully inclusive and interactive family music show suitable for nursery and primary aged children.

A Frome Festival event

Amy Foskett’s youth company AFDYOUTH will be showcasing their work from the year and will be joined by different dance groups from across the South West.

Adapted from the original, and partly devised by the young adult cast, this is a new retelling of the classic story of the Darling children’s journey to the magical islands of Neverland with Peter Pan.

The UK’s first – and funniest – refugee comedy collective come to Frome for Refugee Week as part of their first national stand-up tour. “The No Direction Home comedians are very funny and the material is really good” Nish Kumar

Step into a world of etiquette, scandal and matchmaking, with this fresh new take on an 18th century rom-com from Cornwall’s Miracle Theatre.  

An open air performance on our very own ECOS Amphitheatre 

Devised by one of Bristol’s leading theatre makers for family audiences. Soap Soup Theatre combines high quality children’s theatre with the magic of projection mapping, bringing the vibrant illustrations from the book to life. An unmissable theatre experience for the whole family.

Jonas Kaufmann headlines David McVicar’s spectacular staging of Giordano’s epic historical drama, conducted by long-time collaborator Antonio Pappano.

Sadly, Carlos Álvarez has withdrawn from all performances of Andrea Chénier. To accommodate the revised stage schedule, this capture will now be filmed on 05 June 2024, and the role of Carlo Gérard will be performed by Amartuvshin Enkhbat on this date.

A screened production.

Miles Jupp’s new show On I Bang is a tale about surprise, fear, luck, love and qualified medical practitioners.

This is a 100% student led evening of really great plays.

A show full of grief, hope, and a great deal of olives. Based on Ollie Maddigan’s real life story, “The Olive Boy" is a crude, compelling comedy that will leave audiences deciding whether to laugh or cry. Following its month-long SELL OUT run at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Olive Boy tours the UK this spring.

The iconic songs of Sting. The electrifying choreography of Kate Prince. This is a tale of hope.

A screened production.

All Things Musical – an opportunity for all of our musicals enthusiasts to perform a scene a song or a dance from their favourite musical.

Shakespeare’s profound story of love and loss, artfully adapted into a contemporary three-act narrative ballet by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, celebrates its tenth anniversary.

A screened production.

Bratton Silver Band, established in 1859, is a popular local brass ensemble known for its exciting performances. With a repertoire spanning classical to contemporary pieces, the band continues to captivate audiences across Wiltshire.

Five companies which have already won festivals, perform their plays before an adjudicator, Robert Meadows GoDA , providing a varied day of theatre. We never know what to expect but look forward to an exciting and entertaining day.

Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state and created the NHS.

A screened production

Tony and BAFTA Award winner Ralph Fiennes and Olivier Award winner Indira Varma star in a brand-new ‘full-voltage visceral’ production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

A screened production.

Aigul Akmetshina performs the title role in Damiano Michieletto’s sizzling new production of Bizet’s ever-popular opera.

Classical ballet’s most powerful tale of love, treachery and forgiveness returns to the Royal Opera House stage.

When a fading Hollywood action hero finds he has to play King Lear not in Stratford upon Avon but in a sleepy Suffolk village with a cast of well-meaning amateurs, emotions run hilariously high.

Join the wonderful ballet students of Frome’s Tri.Art Dance Academy as they discover The Secret Garden, featuring beautiful dances and storytelling in an adapted version of the classic childrens’ tale.

A Performing Arts Showcase in Act 2 will dazzle audiences!

The Royal Ballet celebrates the breadth of Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s one-act ballets: Danses Concertantes, Different Drummer ​and Requiem.

This magnetic bond still holds after more than 40 years of attempted escapes – John’s lyrical genius and Willy’s outstanding musicianship still loved for their total in-yer-face originality. The contrast between the dead pan humour of Barrett and mad onstage antics of Otway are hilarious to watch. 

Puccini’s devastating tragedy about a young geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer.

Sam Mendes directs Mark Gatiss as John Gielgud and Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton in this fierce and funny new play.

Rebellion is nigh as Selwood Academy presents Matilda Jr, a witty ode to the the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination! The story of a girl and the children she inspires who are out to teach the grown-ups a lesson.

Tom Veck brings charm and warmth to a show where relatable domestic ditties, stories from his peculiar past and the confessions of strangers will have you on the edge of your seat wondering What the Veck is coming next!

For over 25 years now Kiki and Carmelo have been touring their spellbinding acoustic live show across the UK and Europe.

‘Self Love Revolution’ – an evening with sex-positive, sweary, funny and life-empowering speaker Lu

Join Lu on IWD as she takes you with her on her very personal journey to Self Love sharing all the glorious, hilarious, painful, life changing turns; giving you the tools to help you write your own permission slip for life!

Encore performance Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Simon Stephens’ radical new version of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.

As the shipping forecast turns 100 Charlie Connelly’s hilarious, informative celebration brings the broadcast vividly to life. Charlie explores its remarkable history, unlocks its mysteries and tells riproaring stories of his own adventures among the sea areas, ensuring the forecast will never sound the same again.

Presented by award-winning full-mask maestros, Vamos Theatre, Boy on the Roof is the story of a cross-generational friendship between teenager Liam, who has ADHD, and his 91-year-old neighbour, Albert. Performed without words, it has been created through Community Conversations across the UK, gathering people’s experiences of ADHD, loneliness, aging, hearing loss, connection and community.

Frome Writers’ Collective presents an evening of new monologues, brought to life by local actors.

Revisit the renowned classic about teens in love in the 50s. When wholesome good girl Sandy and greaser renegade Danny fall in love over the summer, they never expect to see each other again. But when they both discover that they’re now attending the same high school, social differences challenge their romance.

Half Term Treat!

While playing a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and hides inside. To her astonishment, she finds herself transported to a magical world called Narnia… This film beautifully captures the wonder, courage, and enchantment of C.S. Lewis’s beloved novel.

Torn between her desire of a life of splendour and riches and her devotion to her true love Des Grieux, the feckless and capricious Manon pays the ultimate price.

The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? With the worst track record for penalties in the world, Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt, to take team and country back to the promised land.

This poetic, contemporary new staging of Dvořák’s lyric fairy tale reveals our uneasy relationship with the natural world and humanity’s attempts to own and tame it.