Departure Lounge 2023, Derby Theatre’s summer festival of “fresh, thrilling and contemporary performance”, is going international.
The line-up of shows includes productions created as part of ConnectUp, an international collective of theatres and arts organisations creating work for young audiences.
Departure Lounge made its first appearance in 2013 and since then, a highlight has been the free industry panel discussion. In 2023, this will focus on Co-Creation: how do artists make work with and for different communities?
The panel will be hosted by Clare Brennan, the Observer’s out-of-London theatre reviewer. Panellists will include Evie Manning, co-artistic director of Common Wealth, a political site-specific theatre company; writers and directors Nathan Powell and Keith Saha; and Derby Theatre’s artistic director and chief executive Sarah Brigham.
Derby Theatre and Teatro Elsinor, Milan will get together for two co-productions, Cross the Line, a piece of theatre for youngsters aged 12 and above which “explores themes around line, limit, border and conflict”; and Nathan Powell’s Pleasant Land for those aged 14 and over, a story of “identity, belonging and growing up”.
Other highlights include A Seat at Our Table by Maison Foo and Derby Creative Arts Network (CAN), a “multi-sensory celebration of food, family and friendship co-created with those seeking sanctuary in Derby”; a rehearsed reading of Bwoy Dem by John Booker, a “punchy, dark and comedic two-hander that deals with themes of race, black masculinity, police brutality and what happens when one man is pushed to breaking point”; and Liberation Squares by Fifth Word, a new play in development by Sonali Bhattacharyya about British Muslim schoolgirls whose adolescence is as complex, infuriating and joyous as any other teenagers but “with the added complications of Islamophobia and cultural erasure”.
Departure Lounge will take place on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 July. Further details are available at the Derby Theatre web site.