Bristol Old Vic to Showcase Emerging Talent in New Theatre Series

From 19 - 24 Jan, Bristol Old Vic is opening up it's Studio stage to celebrate theatre in it's earliest stages of development in three distinct events.

On 19 Jan, the multi award-wining theatre company Ad Infinitum brings five established artists from their brand-new development programme "Momentum" to share new ideas in an exciting evening of live performance. With just 10minutes each, these artists will test out bold, innovative and raw ideas in front of a live audience. The artists involved are Devaki Rajendran, Dionne Draper, Namoo Chae Lee, Tom Marshman and Viv Gordon.

This is followed by Bristol Old Vic's own Artists Forum Open Scratch Night, hosted by BOVs Literary Department with the emphasis on opening up the stage to anyone who has an idea they'd like to try out in front of a live audience. Six slots have been allocated by lottery to South West artists and companies including Charlotte Eyres, Totally Unhinged Productions, Kismet, Emma Morgan, Louise Davenport and TransMash Productions. 

For both of these evenings, audiences will have the opportunity to feedback on the work they've seen and help shape the next iteration of these early ideas.

From 23-24 Jan, CRIPtic Arts bring The Acts to the Weston Studio. The Acts is a gathering of four daring new works from some of the UKs most exciting disabled theatre makers.

Caitlin Magnall-Kearns weaves a love story of desire, guilt, and aging with tender humour in The Ache of It.

Kathrine Payne's dark comedy body job follows two lovers as they collide and unravel, exploring the growing phenomenon of lonely deaths in the UK and the tangled realities of shame, labour, and love.

Tatum Swithenbank conjures REALMS, a spell-like journey through folklore, disability, and magick.

SO SHA invites us into Pruu the Pidj, a music-led ritual about survival, softness, and finding home in unlikely places.

In a cultural moment that asks disabled artists to fit into neat boxes, The Acts asks what happens when we refuse. When we choose mess, ritual, pleasure, grief, humour, and grit. When we make art on our own terms.
 

Speaking today, Bristol Old Vic's Literary Producer Tanya Follett, said: 'We begin the year in the best way possible; by joining the creative journey of 15 new ideas from local and national artists. In the spirit of open-ness and curiosity, they will share short extracts of their work-in-progress in front of a live audience on the Weston Studio stage. This testing ground is a crucial and exciting step for artists in the development of new performance works as audience are invited in to help shape what a work might become; we are inviting everyone to come along and be part of it.'