Mercury Theatre Colchester has announced initial casting for the world premiere of The Manningtree Witches, a new play by award-winning Mercury Playwright Ava Pickett.
Adapted from A.K. Blakemore’s acclaimed novel, the gripping historical drama explores fear, control, and what happens when women’s voices are silenced. Set in 1643 Essex, the play follows 17-year-old Rebecca West and tells the true story of England’s first Witchfinder General, bringing the women he condemned out of the shadows of history and into the spotlight.
The cast includes Lucy Mangan (Playfight, Macbeth) as Rebecca West, Sam Mitchell (To Kill a Mockingbird, My Beautiful Laundrette) as Matthew Hopkins, Gina Isaac (Julius Caesar, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) as Anne ‘The Beldam’ West, and Mercury Theatre Associate Artist Chileya Mwampulo (Treasure Island, Teechers) as Judith Moone.
Isaac was an Associate Artist at Mercury Theatre from 2012 to 2022, while Mwampulo is a current Associate Artist and Mercury Playwright.
The Manningtree Witches will run from 28 February to 14 March 2026 on Mercury Theatre’s main stage. This marks the first Mercury Original to premiere on the venue’s main stage and is presented in association with Frantic Assembly, supported by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, and developed with the National Theatre’s Generate programme.
Natasha Rickman, Artistic Director of Mercury Theatre, will direct the production, with Frantic Assembly’s Artistic Director Scott Graham as Movement Director. The creative team also includes Designer Sara Perks, Lighting Designer Lucía Sánchez Roldán, and Composer Nicola T Chang.
Ava Pickett said:
“The Manningtree Witches is a blisteringly beautiful gut punch of a novel and it’s my privilege to bring the voices of Rebecca and these women, so vivid in A.K Blakemore’s book and too often pushed into the shadows of history, onto the Mercury stage; and to do it in Colchester, where these women were held and where I spent a huge portion of my own life growing up is even more meaningful. It’s a local story but it is also a timeless one and I can’t wait for it to be a part of Natasha Rickman’s first season.”
Natasha Rickman added:
“The Manningtree Witches sees the extraordinary Ava Pickett adapting local writer A.K Blakemore’s phenomenal novel, bringing the local history of silenced Essex women to life on our stage – we promise an epic piece of vibrant, urgent storytelling full of joy as well as drama, from our professional cast who are also joined by local community performers.”
Further casting will be announced soon, and the production will feature a community chorus of local performers.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
