Chester’s most enchanting performance space will open its doors to an exciting array of entertainment for the festive season.
St Mary’s Creative Space in the city centre will play host to evenings of dance, young people’s theatre, cabaret, children’s entertainment and music of all tastes throughout the month of December.
Organisers at the venue have always been keen to reach out to a wealth of organisations and arts groups in the city and enable them to share the building as a hub for arts activity.
Musical highlights this December include The Year Turns Round, an enchanting evening of multi-genre music and song which follow the seasons of the year, Aurora Ensemble, an internationally renowned wind ensemble, and Matt Baker’s Christmas Cracker, a hilarious and uplifting evening of festive songs.
Two of the city’s theatre companies will be showcasing the talents of their young people.
Theatre in the Quarter is producing a magical Christmas double bill entitled The Night Before Christmas which brings together Jigsaw and Rewind Youth Theatres in an original piece of theatre, while Minerva Arts will be presenting a festive afternoon of innovative theatre entitles An Alternative Christmas Stocking.
Meanwhile, visiting professional theatre company PurpleCoat Productions will bring Shakespeare’s classic The Merchant of Venice to the venue and young children will be thrilled with the storytelling adventures of JustSoph who brings Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories to life.
Dance will also be on the menu as the county’s renowned Homegrown Dance Theatre present an evening of spectacular dance.
This will be the second year that Christmas at St Mary’s has taken place.
This year, the season will kick off with the return of Angel Voices, where hundreds of children from across the county gather to share their Christmas music.
Festival organiser Erin Elston said: “Over 600 children will once again fill our magical venue with the sound of Christmas. This year we have been travelling around schools helping them to prepare a wonderful Christmas medley of classic festive treats which they will all perform together on the night. With a good old singalong led by master of ceremonies Matt Baker, the Angel Voices evenings well and truly capture the heart of Christmas.”
Schools co-ordinator Rachael Borman added: “Schools are so busy at this time of year, but more and more schools are keen to take part in these special evenings in this city centre venue. There is something really wonderful about children coming together en masse to sing. And even if you may not know anyone in the performances, we can guarantee your heart will be lifted with their singing.”
St Mary’s Creative Space has recently benefitted from significant upgrades to the infrastructure.
Theatre in the Quarter artistic director Matt Baker said: “With new seating, staging and fabrics, this delightful venue really adds to the offer in our city. Over the past few weeks the place has been packed with a range of people enjoying international cabaret, the best in touring theatre, film, world class musicians, theatre for toddlers and the most enchanting Wizard School.”
He added: “We hope people who have not yet ventured through the doors of this hidden gem will book to see something this Christmas.”
Information on what is happening at St Mary’s can be found on their Facebook page facebook.com/creativemarys, on Twitter @creativemarys, or through their website www.stmaryscreativespace.co.uk .
Tickets are available via ticketsource.co.uk/creativemarys or by calling 07854 550549.
