Inside the Press Launch for National Theatre's RIVER STAGE FESTIVAL

The National Theatre's River Stage Festival is back this summer with five weekends of exciting acts, showcasing the great work that is going on in the arts in the UK.

River Stage is London's largest free outdoor arts festival, now in its fourth year. Happening over weekends in July and August, its free outdoor nature attracts people who might not normally attend theatre and gives them access to great performances and events.

On Wednesday, River Stage had their first ever press launch to show some of the acts that are coming this summer. Each organisation that is hosting a weekend presented a taste of their acts. There was also a chance to try out food from the vendors that will be at the weekends this summer, from fancy grilled cheeses to delicious campfire pizza.

The press launch was hosted by Le Gateau Chocolat, a drag performer who has been part of the festival since its first year and will be returning as part of The Glory's weekend. He made his way through the audience and interacted with the crowd, making it a fun informal event.

Le Gateau said he enjoyed hosting because it was "really organic". He added: "If you make it really official, then it's not fun for anyone. But if you actually engage with who's in the room, then it's fun for everyone."

Fran Miller, a project producer at the National Theatre, explained that River Stage is a way to "capture the festival vibe" while sharing diverse work from the arts industry.

She said: "Rufus Norris, our artistic director at the National Theatre, is always so keen that it's about the diversity of what the arts is, making people aware that anything can be for them, and making sure that people just passing on the Southbank are drawn to all the stuff that the arts can be. That's what River Stage is all about."

Miller has been involved with the festival since its first year. Personally, she is looking forward to the return of Drag Life Drawing by The Glory and Sadler's Wells' first time being part of the festival, especially Breakin' Convention.

The Glory, the leading queer performance venue in London, will open the festival for the third year. Their group of drag queens and underground performers hosts events over the weekend of 13 July. Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo did a splendid performance of "I Know Him So Well" from Chess and another performer ended the show with a dazzling "Mein Herr" from Cabaret.

Le Gateau Chocolat praised the festival for allowing drag queens the chance to perform before a large audience, often including families.

He reminisced: "Two years ago, Jonny Woo and I finished the weekend with a family performance of 'A Night at the Musicals' and the entire courtyard, you literally could not move for the hundreds and hundreds of people that were here, including families. I was in a blue bathing suit and I had a baby from the crowd in my arms, singing 'Beauty and the Beast'."

He said that the essence of River Stage is providing diverse acts to people who might not normally get to see them without trying to fulfil quotas. He explained: "Diversity is who I see on my way to work. Without making a fanfare or trying to tick boxes, it just is. I think that's the importance of this kind of festival: to be representative of who we are."

This year, Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo will present "The Sound of Musicals", in which they will do a two-person version of classic show The Sound of Music.

HOME Manchester are returning the weekend of 20 July with an eclectic mix of Northern performers and musicians. The inclusion of a group from outside London highlights that the NT's work is truly national.

At the launch, two performers from The Manchester Project gave samples of their work, which comprises 19 short plays that explore what it means to be from Manchester.

Sadler's Wells is making its River Stage debut the weekend of 27 July, showing a variety of dance styles - including hip hop, ballroom, contemporary, and traditional Indian kathak dance.

The weekend will also have a yoga class and end with a ceilidh by Ceilidh Liberation Front. Breakin' Convention gave an amazing improvised performance, based on audience suggestions for different textures. It involved dancing, beatboxing and rapping.

nonclassical is also making its first appearance at River Stage and will be showing classical, electronic, and experimental music on the weekend of 3 August. Cecilia Bignall, who is involved in multiple performances over the weekend, gave a stunning performance on the cello unlike anything I've ever seen.

She explained: "The older I've got, gradually coming out of music education, I've got more and more interested in electronic and contemporary and more avant-garde music."

Bignall is excited for the opportunity to bring nonclassical's non-traditional classical music to a large audience. She added: "So often, a lot of the nonclassical gigs are inside and they're club nights, and there's quite a regular audience who goes to all of the same things.

"Whereas out here, there's going to be passers-by and lots of people who wouldn't normally come to this kind of thing - and we can introduce them to this electronic-contemporary music."

The festival closes with the National Theatre's own offerings on the weekend of 10 August. They'll have family-focused workshops, a circus show, live music, a free screening of NT Live's recording of Follies, and more. Mrs H and the Sing-along Band performed at the launch and got the crowd clapping along.

Last year, over 40,000 people attended River Stage Festival over the course of the summer. It's an amazing opportunity by the National Theatre to provide a range of performances to the people of London for free. If the launch was indicative of what is to come this summer, then it will be a wonderful experience for all.

River Stage Festival takes place on weekends in July and August and is completely free

Photo Credit: Ellie Kurttz