New Earth Theatre has announced Twisted Roots Festival as a brand-new initiative for the company, dedicated to showcasing new work from its 30th Anniversary Seedfund Artists Incubator programme. Platforming innovation and celebrating British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) heritage, Twisted Roots Festival takes a fresh approach to promoting ESEA culture as a living, vivid and ever-transforming tapestry.
The Festival will take place across four nights in September - at the Bush Theatre from 3 to 4 September, and Sheffield Theatres from 9 to 10 September. It will feature work-in-progress pieces developed by artists from the company’s year-long Incubator, whose performances fuse western theatre styles with ESEA artforms including Filipino dance, Rakugo comedy and Chinese street puppetry.
Ailin Conant, New Earth Theatre’s Artistic Director, said today, “Twisted Roots was created in direct response to feedback from our artists that they feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when bringing their diaspora cultures into their work. They are usually invited to "integrate" into existing British theatre which is stripped of BESEA cultural specificity on the one hand, or to present fetishised and archaic ideas of ESEA "authenticity” which deny their contemporary lived experience as Britons on the other. Through Twisted Roots, our incredible artists are bringing 10 exciting new projects grounded in experimentation, innovation, and celebration of our multifaceted cultures as BESEA heritage artists.”
The Seedfund Artists Incubator is a collaboration between New Earth Theatre and seven partner venues - Camden People’s Theatre, New Diorama Theatre, Pleasance Theatre, Mercury Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Contact Manchester and Theatre in the Mill - which supports a cohort of BESEA artists with £2000 cash funding, in-kind rehearsal space, mentorship and industry support to help develop their creative practice.
Tickets are now on-sale for the Twisted Roots Festival at both venues.
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Trainspotting the Musical Wales Millennium Centre (1/25-1/30) |
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G4 Christmas 2026 - Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory (11/07-11/07) |
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James McMurtry + BettySoo at Union Chapel - London Union Chapel (10/13-10/13) |
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Disney''s Frozen the Musical Marriott Theater - Lincolnshire IL (11/04-1/03) |
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Paul Merton & Suki Webster''s Improv Show Harrogate Theatre (10/02-10/02) |
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G4 Christmas 2026 - Edinburgh Usher Hall The Usher Hall (12/28-12/28) |
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Friday Comedy Club London | Covent Garden, July 2026 Comedy Carnival Covent Garden (7/24-7/24) |
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Title Goes Here Gazelle Theatre (8/17-8/30) PHOTOS |
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First Five: Candice Carty-Williams Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall (7/15-7/15) |
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The Go-Between St George’s Theatre (8/20-8/20) |