LAMDA MishMash Festival Kicks Off Next Week

A unique three-day festival in the heart of west London will celebrate self-created work by LAMDA graduates. The festival has been designed to provide a new platform to support alumni in forging their own careers in the creative industries.

LAMDA MishMash Festival will run from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May. Booking now open: https://www.lamda.ac.uk/mishmash-programme

Tickets are £5 per performance slot, consisting of either a full-length 40-minute play, two 20-minute plays (Half & Half) or four 10-minute plays (4x4), Panel talks and workshops scheduled throughout the weekend.

The upcoming MishMash festival has been designed to showcase the true variety of artistry created by LAMDA graduates and their contemporaries, and to give a platform for people to share ideas and skills in an entirely collaborative way. The first festival of its kind sharing newly commissioned work-in-progress pieces, celebrating the self-created work and artistry of LAMDA alumni and their contemporaries.

The festival is being produced by 2017 graduate Emily Carewe, along with 2020 graduate Leanne Henlon as Assistant Producer, the festival is generously supported by the Genesis Foundation's Kickstart Fund.

LAMDA alumni Emily Carewe has long been creating and producing her own work throughout her career. Empowered and emboldened by the sense of control retained over the narrative, and the way in which stories are told is refreshing, especially in an era full of new platforms and access to new audiences. The development of new work is an integral part of LAMDA's curriculum and many of the academy's alumni have gone on to create their own theatre and production companies such as Mischief Theatre.

Emily says "It's been a real saving grace for me. The industry can be really tough, and in a variety of different ways - whether you are getting auditions/work or not. By creating your own work, I really feel you start to get a say over the kinds of stories you are telling, and you get to know what your creative voice is. It has given me so much agency and is the most empowering thing. It's been a useful pathway for me to figuring out what I care about in this industry, what I want to say, who I want to say it with and how I want to say it. It's also just a really great way to remind yourself that you are a creative and an artist, especially when times get tough."

The inaugural MishMash festival will be taking place across three days from Friday 29 April - Sunday 1 May 2022 with several different performance slots (from 15-minute excerpts through to full hour productions and screenings of films) mixed in with workshops and talks, featuring prominent figures within the industry. The performances can encompass any style or genre - from naturalism, through to movement, poetry, cabaret... anything goes!

"I think that being in the world of LAMDA taught me how to appreciate and question work, how to collaborate, how important it is to support the creatives you admire, and the ultimate necessity - how to use time effectively!

I mainly just want to see people I admire sharing work they are proud of. But I also seriously hope that it gives other artists the permission and confidence to go and make something themselves. I also hope that anyone currently at LAMDA or any other drama school - or someone hoping to train in the future - will look at the stuff these amazing people are creating and realise that it's not all about agents and auditions. You can be an actor and a creative completely on your own terms." - Emily Carewe.

Find out more about MishMash Festival and book here

Address: LAMDA, 155 Talgarth Road, London W14 9DA, United Kingdom

Box Office: www.lamda.ac.uk or 020 8834 0500