Paper Balloon presents The Boy and the Mermaid, Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, tomorrow, 11am and 2pm. £4.95. 01206 500900.

A DOUBLE dose of fun for Easter, the brilliant Paper Balloon are back at the arts centre with a story set on the furthest edge of a wind-battered rock where there sits a small fishing town.

There Dylan lives with his grandma, forbidden from venturing beyond the shore but the terrifying tales told of horrors in the deep only whet his appetite, so he stares at the ocean and dreams.

Based on an original story by Alex Kanefsky, and featuring traditional sea shanties and original songs and music from Darren Clark, this new play explores the fate of one little fishing town, exposed to the mercy of sea monsters, mer-creatures and spectacularly bad town planning.

One Night of Elvis starring Lee Memphis King, Mercury Theatre Colchester, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, tomorrow, 7.30pm. £26. 01206 573948.

HUGELY popular tribute act which has swept across Europe and beyond with its recreation of the King of Rock n Roll primarily in the great man's Vegas Years from 1969 to 1977.

Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker, Matt Buckle, Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, Sunday, doors 7pm. £10, £8 concessions. 01206 500900.

WITH the absence of the Colchester Folk Club on its normal Monday slot because of the Bank Holiday delight in these double BBC Folk Award nominees who infuse ageless stories of love and loss with their exquisite command of a myriad of instruments.

Joining them is the equally impressive local singer/songwriter Matt Buckle.

Tamburlaine, Mercury Studio Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8pm. £13.50 plus concessions. 01206 573948.

THE critically acclaimed Yellow Earth Theatre Company put a modern spin on Christopher Marlowe's thrilling and controversial theatrical masterpiece, which unfortunately is as relevant today as it was back in the 16th Century when he wrote it.

Metamorphosis, Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester, Thursday, 7.30pm. £12, £10 over 65s and £8 students. 01206 366000.

A LONGSTANDING staple of A Level studies, Theatrical Niche bring Steven Berkoff's admired adaptation of Franz Kafka in which a man wakes up to find he has been transformed into a beetle.