A S the Mercury Theatre Company closed the doors of the bus depot in Magdalen Street for its tenth anniversary show, it opened another set for the group of community actors who took part in it.

Depot, a site-specific production, ran at the former tram shed in Colchester last October, bringing to life a dozen or so of the area’s historical stories and characters.

Although it was predominantly performed by a cast made up of the theatre’s company of actors, more than 50 people outside of the theatre also took part.

It was a similar case with the Mercury’s previous site-specific show, Souterrain, which took place in the former Keddies department store, in Colchester, in 2006.

In that production members of the public formed a special choral group, who went on to perform, as the Souterrain Singers, at a number of public events. With Depot that was taken one step further with a choir and an ensemble chorus.

There must be something about performing in such shows because like the Souterrain Singers, the Depot choir and chorus have decided to continue, currently rehearsing a showcase production which will take place in the Mercury Studio Theatre later this month.

As with all of its community groups, the Mercury is making sure it has all the help it needs to make sure it is a good one.

Rebecca Hall, Mercury company actress and community practitioner, is one of five people who make up the creative team helping the group with its new show.

The others are Depot director Gari Jones, Mercury actress Charlie Morgan, Mercury actor Ignatius Anthony and Matthew Andrews, conductor with the Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra, who is the musical director.

Rebecca says: “We usually do some kind of show around this time of year, normally for Dis:Play (the Mercury’s mixed theatre group for adults with physical and, or, sensory disabilities) and the Adult Theatre Group, but we were inspired by Depot.

“Quite a few people from that show had expressed an interest in doing something else, so we decided to incorporate the lot.”

As it happened a good deal of the community company came from groups such as Dis:Play and the Adult Theatre Group, but Rebecca says it was important to keep it open to anyone who wanted to take part.

She adds: “It may have been inspired by Depot, but it isn’t just for those people who were in it.

“We have about 23 in the cast and roughly about half of them are from Depot. We also have someone who has come up from Youth Theatre.”

That is 19-year-old Andrew Livingstone, who was one of three Youth Theatre actors who was in Depot last year.

“I really enjoyed it,” Andrew says. “It was great to see all the different ages taking part and that has very much been the case with this show.

“It’s a real showcase. We are all doing separate scenes. I’m doing a piece from Hamlet and learning a period dance with Charlie Morgan.

“We also have a lot of creative input. Not everyone likes to do the acting or the dancing so they can, if they want, just stick to the singing.”

That’s certainly why Liz White decided to take part. A member of the Essex University Choir, she sang in Souterrain and, when she heard about Depot, decided to give it a go.

She says: “There’s not many of us from the choir in Depot taking part, but we are singing various bits and playing the recorder. It’s so very different to the normal kind of concerts we sing at, but then that’s why we do it.”

Entitled Hell is Empty and all the Devils are Here, the show is an Elizabethan and Jacobean journey through the murky streets of London, featuring extracts from the plays of such writers as Shakespeare and Marlowe, as well as a few surprises.

Tickets, priced £5, are already sold out, but the company is looking into an extra night on the Friday. To put your name down on the waiting list, call the Mercury box office on 01206 573948.