A Punk Theatre Movement has announced its Premiere 1-day Mini-Festival! Featuring an exciting and dynamic range of workshops, talks, art installations, new writing, cabaret, live music and more! The festival will take place on 6th September at The Fox and Firkin, Lewisham.
The full schedule can be found here.
Live performances will come from acclaimed and nationally renowned artists such as Grace Church, Frisky Arts & Milk and Blood Theatre as well as a huge range of artists from across the UK. You can expect everything from puppet making to discussions on race and diversity in the arts, from prawn cabaret to acrobatics.
This event is the first of its kind as it is completely co-led and co defined by a new growing movement of artists, coming together to shout for a more positive, collaborative, diverse and fair future for the arts.
A Punk Theatre Movement said, “As COVID-19 hit, the UK theatre industry collapsed overnight and we were left looking out at a bleak scene of cancellations, venue closures and job losses. At best, our futures looked uncertain; at worst, we feared for our careers, we lost our income and we had no safety net. In this bleak moment, surprisingly at Frisky Arts, we felt energised and excited for the future. COVID was not ultimately to blame for the deep issues within UK theatre, it just was a cold hard truth drug that shined a light on them. Now more than ever, is the moment for us to radicalise the theatre industry, to use the past few months as a catalyst for change. To call out the elitist structures, the inaccessible nature of UK theatre; to place power into the hands of independent artists. In doing so, we want to create supportive, collaborative communities, run and defined by the artists themselves.”
The team published an article, Unconventional Theatre in Unconventional Spaces: A Punk Theatre Movement, calling for action, thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds, from across the UK and arts sectors have subscribed to the community and are at this moment uniting, demanding a reset for the industry.
A Punk Theatre Movement went on to say, “This is the first of its kind and more will follow. Our long term goal is to uproot the hierarchies of the industry, the inaccessible nature of the fringe, festivals, the meagre opportunities and the territorial, nepotistic approach to space within the arts. In doing so we will find positive solutions, growing the movement as a catalyst for long term change.”
The core artistic team is formed by critically acclaimed artists across the UK and includes: Frisky Arts, Camille Dawson, Serena Ramsey, Milk and Blood Theatre, Grace Church, Stumble Trip, Freddie Van Der Velde, Eifion Ap Cadno, Rebecca White and Chalk Line Theatre.
