International flavour to Departure Lounge festival in Derby Theatre

Departure Lounge’s line-up of shows include productions created as part of ConnectUp, an international collective of theatres and arts organisations creating work for young audiences, and performances by the most exciting UK theatre companies and artists.

A delicious cocktail of shows, discussions and events will be served up to artists, audiences, participants and young people at Derby Theatre on July 6 and 7.

Festival highlights include Sorry I Disappeared, part of the Walk this Play series by ThickSkin, an immersive audio walking tour around the city. A Seat at Our Table by Maison Foo and Derby CAN is a multi-sensory celebration of food, family and friendship co-created with global friends seeking sanctuary in Derby.

Cross the Line is a powerful piece of theatre for ages 12+ which explores themes around line, limit, border and conflict, and asks when does a line become a limit and what does that limit mean? Pleasant Land for ages 14+, a story of identity, belonging and growing up along the way, is inspired by work undertaken with teenagers and schools across Derby.

Bwoy Dem by John Booker is a punchy, dark and comedic two-hander that deals with themes of race, black masculinity, police brutality and what happens when one man is pushed to breaking point.

Liberation Squares by Fifth Word, a new play in development by Sonali Bhattacharyya, is about British Muslim schoolsgirls whose adolescence is as complex, infuriating and joyous as any other teenagers, but with the added complications of Islamophobia and cultural erasure.

Delayed Captain by Stephen Raven features songs written on a budget keyboard and beach guitar in its musical re-interpretation of Brian Eno’s classic album, Music for Airports.

House of Life by Sheep Soup is one-part sermon, one-part purge, three parts party, a travelling musical cult collective hosted by the RaveRend, with one mission: to get the audience happy.

And eyes down, look in for Astrology Bingo by Figs in Wigs, the world’s first cosmic game show for astrology lovers, bingo wingers and their sceptic friends!

The festival will include a free industry panel discussion which, for this year will focus on Co-Creation: How do artists make work with and for different communities. The panel will be hosted by Clare Brennan, The Observer’s out-of-London theatre reviewer, director and dramaturg. Panellists will include Sarah Brigham (artistic director and ceo, Derby Theatre); Evie Manning (co-srtistic director of Common Wealth, a political site-specific theatre company); Nathan Powell (director, writer, artistic director of NSDF and associate artist at 20 Stories High) and Keith Saha (artistic director and co-ceo for 20 Stories High, writer and director).

Departure Lounge is organised by In Good Company and Derby Theatre and will celebrate the former’s tenth birthday with a drink and dance on the Friday evening.

Festival tickets (for different shows and discussions) are either free or only £5 per person or £7.50 per person. For more information and to book, visit www.derbytheatre.co.uk, call 01332 593939 or pop into the Derby Theatre box office.