Brighton Festival offers premieres and new commissions

World premieres from acclaimed theatre innovators dreamthinkspeak and choreographer Charlotte Spencer join UK premieres from contemporary circus company Circa and a new Brighton Festival Commission from the legendary Hofesh Shechter Dance Company at this year’s Brighton Festival, running May 7-29.

Andrew Comben, CEO of Brighton Dome and Festival, said: “The world premiere of Unchain Me is a major new site-specific Brighton Festival Commission from the critically acclaimed dreamthinkspeak. This thought-provoking multi-media performance is directed by the company’s artistic director, Tristan Sharps – also a guest co-director for this year’s Brighton Festival. Inspired by Dostoevsky’s novel The Possessed, in which a provincial town descends into chaos, the action takes place across a range of locations in and around Brighton.

“Audiences will be invited to join a ‘secret cell of activists’ united by their idealism and hunger for a fairer society. They will interact with the performance via a specially designed app with headphones, while triggering film and audio sequences. Due to phenomenal public demand, Brighton Festival have confirmed Unchain Me will now extend its run until June 12.

“Written in the Body is a world premiere from choreographer and artistic director Charlotte Spencer exploring memory and touch and consent. Following a previous focus on performances in unusual spaces and outdoors, this Brighton Festival Commission on May 24 and 25 marks Spencer’s first traditional theatrical work in more than a decade. The dance duet - sometimes joyful, sometimes confrontational - explores pregnancy, birth and motherhood and the impact of touch post-Covid and following the #MeToo movement.

“In an exciting UK premiere, acrobats from Australia’s exhilarating Circa ensemble will bring Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring to the stage in Sacre, from May 23-28. Blurring the boundaries between movement, dance, theatre and circus, this highly dramatic production from Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz confronts humanity’s inter-connectivity, inherent sexual desire and relationship with divinity. Hailed as ‘circus for fans of contemporary dance’, Sacre pulsates with tension and is infused with dark humour.

“Former Brighton Festival guest director Hofesh Shechter returns with Double Murder, a Brighton Festival Commission on May 7 and 8. Presenting two distinctly contrasting piece for our times, this thrilling double bill probes modern society’s indifference to violence in Clowns; alongside the antidote of human tenderness and hope in The Fix; all explored though Shechter’s achingly beautiful, cinematic lens. Shechter also composed the score for this work, performed by a company of dancers described as ‘a breed unlike any other’.

“Gina Moxley and Pan Pan bring the English premiere of the award-winning production of The Patient Gloria to Brighton Festival from May 11-14. A punky mash-up of re-enactment, actual footage and lived experience, The Patient Gloria is based on psychotherapy experiment of Dr Everitt Shostrum, the man behind The Gloria Films of 1965. Highlighting the casual exploitation of women’s lives, The Patient Gloria is a ‘waywardly funny’ and gloriously ballsy meditation on therapy, misogyny and female desire.

“Extraordinary Bodies new show Human emerged from the pandemic when the D/deaf, disabled, and non-disabled performers began sharing stories around the meaning and uncertainty of being human. Combining circus, live music and film this hopeful, intimate and funny performance on May 25 relives childhood memories and life-changing moments through an innovative trapeze performance combining a wheelchair, floor work on hands and aerial dance duets.

“Also returning to Brighton is Emma Rice, whose company Wise Children will stage their acclaimed musical production of Wuthering Heights from May 17-21. Set against a backdrop of the Yorkshire Moors, Emily Brontë’s epic story of love, revenge and redemption is transformed into a powerful, uniquely theatrical and musical experience, with Rice's trademark playfulness.”

Brighton Festival is celebrating a return to full-capacity audiences in 2022 with an extensive international programme of more than 150 events taking place across Sussex from May 7-29.

For the first time this year, Brighton Festival welcomes two guest co-directors, Syrian architect and author Marwa Al-Sabouni and Tristan Sharps, artistic director of Brighton-based theatre makers dreamthinkspeak. Marwa and Tristan have chosen the theme of Rebuilding as the inspiration for this year’s programme, exploring it from two different yet complementary perspectives.

Additional highlights from this year’s Brighton Festival include:

Windmill Young Actors: Romeo & Juliet (21-22 May)

The award-winning youth ensemble, led by Artistic Director and Brighton Dome In-House Artist, Tanushka Marah, convene a sixty-strong cast to tell the classic tale of young people torn apart by clan and class. Actors, singers, dancers and spoken-word poets bring a fresh approach to this interactive retelling of Romeo and Juliet staged in Hollingdean Playground and Skatepark.

Quarantine: 12 Last Songs (22 May)

(co-presented with Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and caravan assembly)

12 Last Songs is about work and how we spend our time. With no actors, this live exhibition of people is an epic performance that casts the steady rhythms of life on a carnival scale. Over 12 hours, from midday to midnight, workers will perform paid shifts, creating a fleeting portrait of society. With just one ticket audiences will be encouraged to come and go, returning to observe this slice of life from Manchester’s own theatre innovators Quarantine.

Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists: Till We Win (25 May)

In a sleepy rural town, a group of young outsiders live under a dark cloud. Till We Win tells the story of people whose voices are often not heard making a big change to save the place they love. This devised performance from Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists - the training performing arts company for disabled and non-disabled 16 to 30-year-olds - combines anarchic theatre, circus, dance and original music.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men: As You Like It (26-28 May)

Returning to Brighton Festival, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men invite audiences to join them outdoors in the enchanting surroundings of local haven St Nicholas Rest Garden for the UK premiere of their take on Shakespeare’s joyous, celebratory and life-affirming comedy, As You Like It. True to the time of The Bard, this all-male cast take us through the antics of Rosalind, her friend Celia, the noble Orlando, and the usurped Duke Senior as they all wrestle with what it really means to be yourself.

Explore the full programme at brightonfestival.org

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