Arcola Theatre Announce Creative/Disruption 19 Festival

Arcola Theatre has announced the return of Creative/Disruption 19; a festival of productions celebrating the people and diversity of East London.

Creative/Disruption 19, which features twelve productions alongside special events including readings and club nights, will take over Arcola from 18 February to 07 April 2019. Women's, LGBTQ+, Turkish, youth, 50+ and mental health groups - assembled and supported by Arcola - will stage original devised work and new takes on classic plays. As far as arts festivals go, it's one of a kind.

Arcola's Participation Manager Bec Martin-Williams said: "Each year, we read articles bemoaning the lack of representation of stories and people on the British stage, and it seems that there's been no change. Women play only 33% of roles (despite making up 51% of the population), mental health issues are still taboo both on stage and in society, older people are often eschewed, queer stories told by queer voices are lacking, and Turkish stories are almost non-existent, despite a high representation in the East London population. Creative/Disruption 19 is a festival of work that includes all these groups and more, celebrating that stories can come from anyone and from anywhere."

Each year Arcola's Participation department creates over 13,000 opportunities for the people of Hackney, East and North East London to participate in the arts.

Arcola's Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen said: "Here at Arcola, we describe ourselves as locally engaged and internationally minded. Diversity and discovery are fundamental to our programming and indeed, Arcola as a whole. Our Participation department is vital in helping us to discover stories from all over the world, told by people from all over the world, right at the heart of a vibrant, multicultural community here in Dalston. Our community groups enable us to welcome a wide range of people to our theatre (many of whom have been working with us since we began in 2000) whose experiences can spark urgent and exciting conversations."

Tickets are £15 (£12 concessions) or less, and are on sale now at arcolatheatre.com.