Leicester’s Curve has announced the full programme for its inaugural arts festival Inside Out.
The festival, which celebrates “the best up-and-coming talent in the East Midlands”, will include the UK premières of two award-winning plays from India, three pieces by Nottingham writer Michael Pinchbeck which have been inspired by William Shakespeare and Cardboard Citizens’ Glasshouse, which brings Kate Tempest’s work to Curve for the first time.
Suba Das, Curve’s associate director who is curating Inside Out, commented, “We’re delighted to announce the full line-up for our first festival at Curve which will provide a new, annual platform for emerging and established artists in the East Midlands.
“Inside Out brings together more than 150 of the very best regional theatre-makers, musicians and performers who will showcase an exciting mix of new work across all genres, from comedy, contemporary dance and physical theatre to music and spoken word.
“We’re incredibly proud to have been able to support these artists on their journey, and of the extraordinary diversity of a programme which truly reflects one of the most multi-cultural cities in the country.”
Suba Das will direct the two new plays from India, OK Tata Bye Bye by Purva Naresh and The Pereira’s Bakery at 76 Chapel Road by Ayeesha Menon.
These “bold new plays” offer a “provocative and comedic insight into life in town and country in India today, tackling issues of generational conflict, multi-religious communities, urbanisation and prostitution”.
Michael Pinchbeck will present three pieces, brought together as The Trilogy: The Beginning, an interpretation of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, The End, red by a stage direction from A Winter’s Tale, both of which were previously been selected for the British Council Edinburgh Showcase and a new installation piece, The Middle, a riff on Hamlet, first developed at Curve in 2013.
Poet John Berkavitch will present a spoken word/hip hop theatre piece Shame which looks at moments in life when you knew you were doing the wrong thing. It explores the feeling of shame through a combination of narrative, hip-hop, contemporary dance, animation and original music by dance DJs Jamie Woon and Royce Wood Junior.
Studio highlights include Cardboard Citizens’ Glasshouse, the only piece of work in the festival created by non-East Midlands artists.
Glasshouse offers audiences the opportunity to step onstage themselves and, through Cardboard Citizens’ Forum Theatre working practice, influence the course of events for the characters in this tale of a family falling into homelessness.
A new temporary space for free performance will pop up in Curve’s foyer throughout the festival. Created by theatre designer Kate Unwin, the Inside Out Park will play with ideas of indoors and outdoors to create an inspirational space for music and dance performances by companies including the Balbir Singh Dance Company.
Hidden within the Inside Out Park will be a specially commissioned installation created by Curve’s award-winning, Leicester-based associate artists Metro-Boulot-Dodo (MBD). The company specialises in unusual theatre experiences that appear in unexpected places, using modern technology to tell surprising stories.
Curve’s Playwriting Competition, in association with IdeasTap, BBC Writersroom and Writing East Midlands, comes to its conclusion during the festival.
Extracts of new plays created by seven shortlisted East Midlands writers will be performed to a judging panel made up of Neil Macpherson, artistic director of the Finborough Theatre in London; and award-winning playwrights Ishy Din and Dawn King.
The winner will be announced live at the event and will receive a further year’s mentorship, research and development support as well as £1,000 to allow time to create a major new play that speaks to the East Midlands region.
Inside Out runs from Thursday 10 April until Saturday 19 April. Further information can be found at the Curve web site.