The recent tradition has become as essential to the Colchester festive season as mince pies and mulled wine.
This year’s offering, Number 3.141592653589…., promises to deliver the company’s trademark blend of MR James-inspired mystery and utterly irreverent comedy.
Writer and performer Darren Gooding has crafted what he describes as a “curiously circular tale” involving Professor NF Randomson, whose investigation into questionable mathematical practices in the Danish Church leads to the Inn of the Golden Ratio—where reality itself appears to be having an existential crisis.
Since their first Christmas ghost story in 2021, the company has established an annual tradition which audiences eagerly anticipate.
Expect impossible topologies, logical paradoxes, references to Schrödinger’s cat, and — in true I Hear Voices fashion — “festive cobblers and juvenile smut” alongside genuinely clever wordplay and plotting.
Founded by Colchester-based writers Damien Bell and Darren Gooding in 2012, I Hear Voices Theatre Company has carved out a unique niche in East Anglia’s performance scene.
Their love of genre fiction and Spike Milligan-style surrealism shines through in everything they produce, from their popular audio comedy podcasts to their live performances at the Arts Centre.
The genius of the Christmas shows lies in their ability to honour the atmospheric tension of MR James while gleefully subverting it.
Fans of the previous productions — including Poets Day and The Adventures of Bentley Strangetrousers — know just what to expect: sophisticated silliness delivered with genuine theatrical craft.
Joining Darren on stage are Dave Hughes and Sarah Ellen Young, with music by Darren Tansley and Tina Gooding, for a complete evening’s entertainment which celebrates the very best of local theatre — inventive, affordable and thoroughly entertaining.
The show is on Tuesday, December 16 at 7.30pm.
At just £10 (£8 concessions), it’s the perfect excuse to gather friends, pour that large sherry the company recommends, and embrace what’s rapidly becoming Colchester’s quirkiest Christmas tradition.