TWO of the town's most promising young musical theatre performers are appearing in a unique show at the Headgate Theatre next week.

Emily Bate and Will Mugford are very familiar faces on the Colchester theatre scene having both played leads in shows such as Legally Blonde and Carousel for CO2.

With the town's acclaimed Mad Hatter troupe, Emily has played Hope Gladwell in Urinetown, while Will recently directed and appeared in their production of Alan Bennett's The History Boys.

Now the pair are appearing in The Last Five Years, an usual musical in that it features just two performers who play Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress.

Written by Jason Robert Brown and first premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001, the story explores a five-year relationship in which Cathy's story is told in reverse chronological order while Jamie's is told in chronological order. The characters do not directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.

It is being produced by Eastern Edge Theatre Company who are making their Colchester debut with the show.

Eastern Edge is a youth led theatre company created last year by Charlie Pittman following the success of his original musical Bridge Over Oblivion, which enjoyed a sold out run at the New Wolsey Studio.

To date the company have produced three productions, including two shows at the Spa Pavilion (Showtunes at the Spa and Guys and Dolls) and a play at The Avenue Theatre (The Two Gentlemen of Verona).

Charlie says: "This will be the second Eastern Edge show that Will has performed in after a stand-out performance in Guys and Dolls as Nicely-Nicely Johnson earlier this year so we're really looking forward to working with him again.

"Emily is set to continue her training at the London School of Musical Theatre so it has also been a fantastic experience to work with her before she moves to London."

Charlie himself is currently at the Evolution Foundation College in Colchester after which will be training in musical theatre at Arts Educational Schools in London. His co-director, Stephen Bell has been a part of the company since it started as a performer but has always taken an interest in directing and so is helping Charlie out on this production.

The Last Five Years runs at the Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester from May 18 to 20 at 7.45pm each night plus a Saturday Matinee at 2.30pm.

Tickets are £12, available from www.headgatetheatre.co.uk or by calling 01206 366000.