Birmingham Fest is returning for its 10th year, with artists and companies from across the UK showcasing their work in a two-and-a-half-week programme.
Some artists and companies use the festival as a taster before going to Edinburgh while others use it as a less expensive alternative or to try out a new piece of work.
The festival runs from Friday 14 until Sunday 30 July at the Blue Orange Theatre, the Crescent Theatre and St Paul’s Church.
Among the highlights is Bewdley Town Criers’ presentation of Romeo and Julie by Freddy Just. Julie has shared a home with her Romeo, Jonathan, for almost 10 years, navigating life in their 50s together and reflecting on loves lost and a future which may overturn everything they have known and stand for. It will be at the Blue Orange Theatre on Friday 14 July.
Covering one night in the lives of two suicidal strangers, To Sleep by Matt Fox is a “warm, compassionate and darkly humorous” new play which explores how people deal with difficult human situations. It will be staged at the Crescent Theatre on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 July.
A “fast-paced, candid, darkly comic and gripping play about loyalty, long-held beliefs and how much we ever really know about those we love”, Let's Talk About Philip, written and performed by Helen Wood and Gregor Hunt, features a woman who begins a detective-like quest to discover the hidden story behind her brother’s suicide. It will be at the Crescent Theatre on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 July.
A “miscellany of medical myths and mishaps” will be served up by Buxton Fringe award winners Silver Pine Productions in Laudable Pus (From Galen to Gallstones). Expect “amputation, witchcraft, Werther’s Originals and a flurry of quick costume changes” in the show at the Blue Orange Theatre on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 July.
The full programme is available at the Birmingham Fest web site.