Adrian Nation, Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, today, 7.30pm. £13 plus discounts. 01206 573948.

THE singer/songwriter from here, who is doing rather well over there, makes a very welcome return to the Mercury before heading off back to Canada to resume his musical conquest across of the North American country.

Messy by Olly Medicott, Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester, until tomorrow, 7.45pm. £10, £8 concessions. 01206 366000.

IT'S a rare treat to catch any new piece of theatre work, let alone a brand new musical, so make sure you get along to see the head of music at the Colchester Royal Grammar's tale of different lives and loves set to the backdrop of a pub karaoke night.

Compagnie Animotion: Watch your Feet! And your hands! Workshop and War of the Buttons show, Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, tomorrow, 12pm (workshop), 2pm (show). £4.95 or £8 for workshop and show. 01206 500900.

A DOUBLE dose of fun from one of the country's brightest young children's theatre companies. Start the day off with games and fun exercises to get you chatting by using your hands and your faces before settling down to tale of squabbles, scuffles - and buttons.

International Festival of Women Making Theatre to Inspire Change, Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, tomorrow, conference 11am to 6pm, performance 7.30pm. £10 day/£10 evening plus discounts. 01206 573948.

AN inspiring day of theatre-making featuring, among many others, Coronation Street's Shelley King and Essex University playwright Elizabeth Kuti. The day rounds off with a unique performance of a world-wide project that engages the young with the old.

An Evening with Pam Ayres, Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, Sunday, 5pm. £25. 01206 573948.

LONGSTANDING supporter of the Mercury, and possibly the nation's most favourite poet, Pam Ayres is coming back to Colchester for this special fundraising night of precise comic timing, rhyming genius and general loveliness. Not to be missed.