Here & Now Showcase Returns To The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The event will run from Monday 18th - Sunday 24th August.
By: Stephi Wild May. 06, 2025
Here & Now will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 with a programme of the best dance, installation, integrated performance, movement and theatre being created in England right now.
Running from Monday 18th - Sunday 24th August in venues including Dance Base, Pleasance, Traverse Theatre and Zoo Venues, Here & Now 2025 presents four public performances, two industry based performances, and a series of pitch proposals for artists to promote their upcoming work to delegates and international networks.
This year’s showcase of artists bring their backgrounds, lived experiences and expertise together to explore themes of tradition and heritage, revolution and collective deliberation, community building and self discovery.
Public performances include the deeply personal and political Nowhere by actor and activist Khalid Abdalla (The Crown, The Kite Runner, United 93); autobiographical musical epic The Legends of Them by iconic reggae artist and actor Sutara Gayle AKA Lorna Gee; Ad Infinitum's stunning show about death, deafness and ritual Last Rites; and SERAFINE1369’s detailed, meditative, hypnotic dance piece IV.
Nowhere is commissioned and produced by Fuel, The Legends of Them is by Hackney Showroom, Last Rites is co-created by George Mann and Ramesh Meyyappan, and IV is produced by Metal & Water.
Nowhere is commissioned and produced by Fuel, The Legends of Them is by Hackney Showroom, Last Rites by Ad Infinitum is co-created by George Mann and Ramesh Meyyappan, and IV is produced by Metal & Water.
These are presented alongside two performances for delegates that include A CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY, a participatory play concerning the climate emergency by longtime Tim Crouch collaborator Andy Smith and Lynsey O’Sullivan, and Sleight of Hand, an innovative and inventive installation that subverts the format of a touch tour by artist Jo Bannon.
Further industry-oriented offerings come in the form of ‘Then & Now’ - a series of pitches about brand new work from three Here and Now success stories: BULLYACHE, Dan Daw Creative Projects and Sung Im Her.
Funded by Arts Council England, Here & Now is delivered by partners Battersea Arts Centre (London), FABRIC (Birmingham/ Nottingham) and GIFT (Gateshead). The partners work with artists and organisations to platform a geographical spread of England, presenting world-class artists and their tour-ready work to audiences and industry networks across the Edinburgh Festivals.
This year’s programme came from an open call, and was selected by a panel including the showcase partners (BAC, FABRIC and GIFT) and international presenters, alongside representatives from British Council and Unlimited - the arts commissioning body that supports, funds and promotes new work by disabled artists for UK and international audiences.
Talking about the Here & Now programme on behalf of the showcase partners, Festival Director of GIFT Kate Craddock said, ‘Here & Now strives to challenge what performance created in England might look or feel like. As partners, we are proud to present a showcase in the Edinburgh Festivals that features leading artists who push their practice in new directions.
‘This year’s programme represents forms and perspectives that platform personal stories from across England. It brings together lived experiences and personal stories, holding a mirror up to social, economic and political issues that feel pertinent to today.’
Get Broadway News on WhatsApp
Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.
Videos