A panel discussion focusing on leadership in the arts will be one of the highlights of the sixth Departure Lounge, Derby Theatre’s summer festival of “fresh and thrilling theatre”.
Freelance theatre critic, journalist and blogger Matt Trueman will chair the discussion. The panel comprises Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of London’s Young Vic, Jenny Sealey of theatre company Graeae and Natalie Ibu, artistic director of British African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi.
Performance highlights of Departure Lounge include A Self Help Guide to Being in Love with Jeremy Corbyn by Jess Green and the Mischief Thieves, Major Labia’s Vulva the Revolution, Dante or Die’s User Not Found, a commission in which audience members are handed a smart phone and a pair of headphones to become a fly on the wall and peer into the life of a man facing the dilemma of whether he should delete his online legacy, We Are Ian by In Bed With My Brother, a show which “transports audiences back to 1989 and into the frenzied world of drugs, beats, bucket hats, acid parties and throwing two fingers up to Thatcher”, and Fever Dream’s Wrecked, a site-specific piece in the theatre’s car park where audience members are invited into a stolen car seconds after it has crashed.
Ben Anderson, creative producer of In Good Company, a professional development programme for artists making work in the East Midlands, said, “Departure Lounge continues to challenge, inspire and entertain audiences and artists alike.
“We have a hugely diverse programme on offer once again this year which will animate every corner of Derby Theatre and beyond.
"Departure Lounge exists to present theatre of the most radical nature right in the heart of the country, proving that the Midlands is a vibrant place to shape the future of theatre.”
The festival runs from Thursday 19 until Sunday 22 July.