Collective Arts Community Trust has announced the full programme for Collective Fringe 2026, an artist‑led festival running from Wednesday 21 January to Sunday 25 January 2026 at Collective Acting Studio, Hornsey Road Baths, London.
Rooted in equity, collaboration and community, the festival showcases new work from Global Majority artists, disabled artists and creatives from underrepresented backgrounds. Across five days, audiences will encounter the next generation of theatre‑makers developing urgent and dynamic new writing.
The festival opens on 21 January with a Scratch Night featuring 20‑minute excerpts from six emerging playwrights and companies. Featured work includes Darrel Draper’s Wet Cement, Léona McClay’s The Breach, Sam Zelaya’s Stick and Poke, Rachelle Grubb’s The Nøkken, Rachel Smart’s It Takes Two, and Tusk Theatre with Wood Arrow Productions’ Breatheazy.
Launching the main programme from 22 January is Richard Adetunji’s Ego’s Killing the Mandem, presented in partnership with Trybe House Theatre. This poetic drama places audiences inside a courtroom where EGO is on trial, shifting between legal proceedings and the streets of South London to examine grief, masculinity and systemic bias.
The line‑up also includes Asylum King by Paz Koloman Kaiba, a darkly funny detective thriller investigating the death of an asylum seeker in a privately run accommodation centre. It interrogates institutional neglect and complicity within the UK asylum system.
Jules Chan’s English Ako follows Boy, a young British Filipino migrant navigating identity and belonging through movement‑led storytelling. The piece explores the pressures of assimilation while celebrating dual heritage.
Completing the programme is Rukhsati, a two‑hander by Saqib Deshmukh set in a South London wedding hall. Two former lovers reconnect in a disused women’s toilet as memories and unresolved tensions resurface, creating a tender, humorous portrayal of love, faith and family expectations.
Assistant Producer Prashant Tailor said:
It’s a real joy to welcome four powerhouse productions that collectively speak to the world we’re living in in 2026. Each distinct work in Collective Fringe will spark conversation in abundance, while championing and honouring the unique communities they explore. I couldn’t be prouder of what these teams have accomplished.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
