New Ipswich Arts Festival IN THE WORKS Launched With 30 Events Across 8 Venues in May
In the Works will bring together some of the region's most influential cultural organisations alongside independent artists and companies.
Ipswich is set to unveil a new arts festival (over 30 events across 8 venues) celebrating bold new work, fresh voices, and next‑generation creativity. In the Works will bring together some of the region's most influential cultural organisations alongside independent artists and companies to premiere original productions and showcase exceptional talent through performances, music, comedy, workshops, talks and creative experiences across the town.
Running from 11 – 27 May, In the Works proudly features new works put together by New Wolsey Theatre, Brighten the Corners, Eastern Angles, SPILL Festival + THINK TANK, King Street Cinema, Gifted Melon Comedy and Suffolk Community Libraries organisations nationally recognised for championing innovation, independent artists and artistic excellence.
From theatre-makers and filmmakers to musicians, comedians and writers, the programme offers audiences a vibrant mix of premieres, works‑in‑progress, experiments, and one‑off events. It puts new talent front and centre, platforming artists from across the UK while spotlighting the extraordinary creativity right here in the East of England.
“Audiences deserve the chance to experience the newest and most exciting work being made right now. In the Works celebrates the brilliant work organisations across Ipswich already do individually to support new artists and ideas, but by coming together we can concentrate that ambition over two weeks in May and make a bold statement about what we can achieve here. It's a collective endeavour to take that energy to the max - showcasing the best of UK and international culture while championing the exceptional talent in our town and region and making Ipswich a destination for discovering new work.” — Douglas Rintoul, Chief Executive / Artistic Director, New Wolsey Theatre and Chair of We Are Ipswich
Festival Highlights
New Wolsey Theatre
A dynamic programme of new writing and boundary‑pushing performance from some of the UK's most exciting theatremakers. Featuring Edinburgh Fringe hits, daring new voices, and the latest play by award winning Ipswich writer Martha Loader, our programme is thoughtful, funny and brilliantly subversive - a sharp snapshot of contemporary theatre.
SPILL
Call in at SPILL's Transactionland, a thoroughly unusual high-street retail emporium. Transactionland is a response to a collective fear of talking about the economy - both ‘The Economy', and the many other economies small and large we interact with every day. It aims to be a brave space for exploring alternatives and having some tongue-and-cheek fun with Very Serious Stuff.
Hosted by artist-turned-shopkeeper Rachael Clerke, it rejects the idea that economics is not for everyone. From Thurs 21 – Sun 24 May, you're invited to shop 'til you drop at a TBC Ipswich location, alongside a packed programme of conversations, workshops, performances and more, with visiting artists working the tills.
King Street Cinema
King Street Cinema's festival highlights an exciting mix of bold storytelling from across the UK and beyond. Audiences can enjoy Drawn From Life, a vivid collection of animated shorts that celebrate everyday lives with inventive artistry, alongside Our Land, a timely documentary exploring the UK's ‘Right to Roam' movement. The visually breathtaking Shepherd and the Bear offers a poignant tale of tradition and nature in the French Pyrenees, while Sundance award‑winner DJ Ahmet follows a young boy in rural North Macedonia finding freedom through music. Together, these films create a rich, compelling snapshot of contemporary filmmaking.
Brighten the Corners
Brighten the Corners brings together music, storytelling and intimate performance in a programme defined by warmth, experimentation and surprise. Styrofoam Winos offers a music‑led evening of folk‑infused songs and personal stories that feel like late‑night confessions. Brown Spirits blends layered sound, delicate vocals and sharp lyricism to explore identity and desire with subtle emotional depth. ICHI fuses poetry, beat‑driven music and theatrical presence in a hybrid performance that questions belonging, language and the tales we carry. Together, these shows create a vibrant space for audiences who love discovery and new forms of musical performance.
Eastern Angles
Eastern Angles continues its commitment to championing homegrown talent and premiering new writing through its popular Play, Pizza, Pint Night programme, serving audiences an engaging evening of fresh work from the Eastern Angles Playwrights Club and Emma Zadow's play Marsh Kin.
The programme highlights work in development, including Madhav Sharma's play I Am Not Ian McKellen. Casson and Friends bring us Shed Stories, which blends theatre, documentary, and dance, this project celebrate Men's Sheds and the communities around them. Together, this champions bold new writing and socially engaged performance across the diverse communities of the Eastern Angles Centre.
Suffolk Community Libraries (Ipswich Library – Booked Programme)
Ipswich Library will host an intimate series of gigs curated by the Creative Communities young producers' programme, Booked, featuring emerging local musicians and writers-in-residence from the Bound/Unbound poetry collective -all within the atmospheric setting of the historic library.
Gifted Melon Comedy
Gifted Melon injects a burst of comedy energy into the festival with a riotous stand‑up nights upstairs at The Thomas Wolsey Pub. Experinece live comedy where six comics, from rising newcomers to established acts testing fresh material, deliver big laughs for just £6. The programme also features a secret TV headliner at The Freston Boot, promising late‑night surprises, new comic voices and the kind of social, electric atmosphere that only live comedy can create. It's a perfect invitation to discover fresh talent and enjoy comedy at its most immediate and unpredictable.
With theatre, film, live music, comedy, spoken word, interactive workshops and unique cultural encounters across multiple venues, In the Works celebrates the bold, the brave and the brilliantly unexpected.
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