Cast Set For SWALLOW THE LAKE at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester

The Mercury Theatre in Colchester has announced the full cast for the world premiere Mercury Original production of Swallow The Lake by Tassa Deparis. Written in response to the Summer 2024 riots and protests, Swallow The Lake follows Joanna and Joseph as their relocation to a quiet town in Essex resurfaces an old story and shakes the very foundation of their relationship. 

Produced in association with HighTide, Swallow The Lake will by directed by Yasmin Hafesji (A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain – Paines Plough Roundabout and Gate Theatre Camden, Kick – Lyric Hammersmith, Bill Cashmore Award Winner) and will run in the theatre’s Mercury Studio from 2-11 October 2025.

The production will star Lydia Bakelmun (Antigone – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The Ballad of Maria Marten – Eastern Angles) as Joanna, Matthew Jewson (Twelfth Night – Eastern England tour with Castle Park Theatre, Tempest – Watford Palace Theatre) as Joseph, Krupa Pattani (Mr Bates VS The Post Office, Ron’s Gone Wrong) as Indy/Lola, and Liam Bull (Macbeth – Watermill Theatre, The Flood – Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch) as Ricky/Dan/Martin.

“There are things that make me look at you anew.”

Joanna and Joseph have just relocated to a quiet town in Essex with their young children. When they host their first dinner party in their new home, an old story resurfaces - along with a word that never should have been said. What follows is a rupture. A single moment reverberates through years of trust, affection, and silence, shaking the very foundation of their relationship.

In the wreckage, we are pulled back - back to their first meeting, to a shared childhood shaped by army barracks and English hillsides. Together, we march through memory and time, tracing the thread of their connection from innocence through complexity, loyalty, love and all that lies between.

Can a lifelong friendship survive the cracks in the country that raised it?

Joining Deparis and Hafesji on the creative team will be William Hamilton Tighe (Associate Designer for 2025 Mercury Original Flumps at Mercury Theatre) as Designer, Skylar Turnbull Hurd (2024 The Stage Debut Awards Best Designer Nominee for These Demons at Theatre503) as Lighting Designer, and Joe Dines (The Maids – Jermyn Street Theatre and Reading Rep Theatre) as Sound Designer.

The play was developed on the Mercury Playwrights programme in association with Paines Plough’s Tour the Writer programme.