VIEW Festival 2023

We are delighted to announce VIEW Festival 2023.

VIEW Festival 2023 is an exciting new theatre festival showcasing the work of this year’s MA Creative Producing cohort. The festival celebrates a diverse offering of contemporary and devised work, and alongside the listed events below, also features many engaging events including poetry, music, talks and games.

Audiences will be able to enjoy VIEW Festival both live and online.

Kiss Her Goodbye

4 & 8 July | Written by Yu Wang | Directed by Jen Lim | Produced by Mavis Lin

Is she really my sister? Is she dead? Did she commit suicide? Why did she leave me that message? Who did this to her? Yes, I shall find all the answers. Is this a sympathy between sisters or an undeclared secret? Everything will follow the trajectory of the two sisters’ growth in Chinese families, tracing their complex relationship and finding out who is to blame for the tragedy, based on the death of the elder sister.

Find out more here.

Rain Weaver

4 & 8 July | Workshopped by Yuxuan Liu | Composed by Maggie Yu | Written and produced by Lilli Lehmann | Devised by the Company

Oo has only one purpose in life: rain weaving… and mastering this new melody that keeps haunting her. When her powers get out of control, she is forced to leave everything behind. While Oo hopes to find a new home in a big water-scarce town, she is quickly met with prejudices and fear. Rejected, she embarks to fish the first star, but when the water stress becomes severe, the people realise that the woman they have scorned is the only one who can help them. Should Oo follow her heart or return to aid?

A new devised performance about self-worth, trust and finding a home – inspired by the Tanabata legend.

Find out more here.

Rosaline

5 & 8 July | Written by Imogen Usherwood | Directed by Grainne Robson | Produced by Hannah Jayne Productions

Rosaline is mentioned ten times in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. She doesn’t even get any lines. She doesn’t even appear on the stage. Yet she’s the reason that Romeo turns up to the fateful party that changes – and then cuts short – his life and that of Rosaline’s younger cousin. She’s had enough. Rosaline has lived many lives in many productions – from lowkey school plays to weird avant-garde interpretations – and the line between what’s real, what’s textual, and what isn’t has become blurred. She confides in the audience about everything she knows of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and her part in it, before making a choice about whether she will ever, or can ever, do anything about her place in history’s most tragic love story.

Find out more here.

What is Held

5 & 8 July | Written and produced by Michelle Dabenett | Directed by Yasmin Godo

What is Held is a one woman show about 18-year-old Megan, a working-class girl from a small town in Somerset, as she waits for the results of her pregnancy test. For Megan there are now only two options — two entirely different life paths. Told using equal parts comedy and drama, What is Held explores Megan’s potential futures and what awaits her in each one.

Find out more here.

Shedding

6 & 8 July | By Elle Bogle | Directed by Tara Noonan | Produced by Will Fieldhouse

They say writing it down helps you heal the scars you don’t see, but what if you don’t know why you’re bleeding? It can take writing entire books to find out what your brain can’t put into words and it takes layers of shedded skin to find out what’s underneath. This new original show is for anyone who feels disconnected from their body, is stuck in the same patterns and habits, and has ever felt uncomfortable in their own skin.

Find out more here.

Stick it to Me

6 & 8 July | Written by Francesca Marie Claire | Directed by Ruth Mestel | Produced by Tiffany Tam

After years of teaching teenagers how to have safe sex, when Sam’s third round of IVF fails, the irony is not lost on her. With unprecedented disruptions at school, an obsessive crush on her younger colleague and hormones galore, will Sam’s last chance at IVF finally give her what she’s been dreaming of, or will she lose herself and her relationship in the process?

Find out more here.

From Ten Feet Up

7 & 8 July | Written and Produced by Aransas Haley | Directed by Esalan Gates

Nearing death in a Covid ward and trapped in a series of fractured delusions, ex-Southern Baptist and punk rock fiend, Winona, is plunged into splintering and unreliable memories of her childhood in South Texas and marriage to her millionaire husband, Tim. Fearful of divine punishment for her failings as a Christian and a mother, Winona is forced to confront her religious trauma and the single mistake that may bar her from Salvation.

Find out more here.

12

7 & 8 July | Written by Martha Ifan | Directed by Natalya Micic | Produced by Aled Rosser

Counting from 1-12 is the only thing that will save Mel’s Mother, cure Mouth Cancer and stop the Earth from crashing into the Sun, well according to Mel and their OCD. Mel tries to get through their day-to-day life working as a barista whilst their nosey regular– Marian – insists on being a constant in their life. Until a sudden event forces Mel to confront their endless cycle of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 and makes them doubt everything.

Find out more here.

All performances will be held in the Backstage Theatre.

Book now.