An independent festival celebrating the city’s arts scene, Birmingham Fest is to return with dozens of performances over two-and-a-half weeks.
Artists and companies from across the UK will showcase their work. Some use Birmingham Fest as a taster before going to the Edinburgh Fringe, while others use it as a less expensive alternative, especially those in the south of the country.
The 2024 festival will take place at the Blue Orange Theatre, the Crescent Theatre, the Old Joint Stock Theatre and a new venue, Birmingham Black Box on Harford Street, from Wednesday 10 until Sunday 28 July.
Blue Orange Arts will present several shows at the Blue Orange Theatre including Can’t Stop Carrying On, in which an ageing film producer has the chance to resurrect his past cinematic successes by revitalising the Carry On franchise with a new film (Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 July at 7PM); The Hanged Man’s Bride, based on a story by Charles Dickens, a “tale of passion, deceit and the ethereal dance between the realms of life and death”, on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 July at 7PM and Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July at 3PM; and an adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story The Murders in the Rue Morgue on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 July at 7PM.
That Birmingham Theatre Company will stage Another Day In The Life, four new pieces from Birmingham writers based on people with unusual occupations, on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 July at 7PM.
The Rekindled Ensemble will present The Unravelling, a reimagining of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, set during World War I rather than 1830s Germany, on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 July at 8:30PM.
To mark the bicentenary of the first Cadbury’s shop in Bull Street, Birmingham in 1824, Birmingham History Theatre Company will perform A Worker’s Paradise, which will explore and celebrate the Cadbury story through the eyes of four generations of a family who all worked for the company. It can be seen on Wednesday 17 July at 8PM.
Written and performed by the Parky Players—a group of Parkinson’s sufferers and supporters—Shaken Not Stirred is a new variety show raising awareness of Parkinson’s disease. It comprises a “cocktail of fast-moving, irreverent comedy and music, with a sprinkling of James Bond”. It will be at the Blue Orange Theatre on Saturday 20 July at 7PM.
My Chat With Harold Pinter, a new play by Miriam Higgins, will be presented by Leaning House at The Old Joint Stock Theatre on Wednesday 17 July at 8PM.
The full programme is available at the Birmingham Fest web site.