Departure Lounge Festival 2022

THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY Thursday 14 Saturday 16 July

Departure Lounge 2022 is ready for boarding Produced by In Good Company, Departure Lounge is THE arts festival for ground-breaking work in the heart of the country. Now in its tenth year, every corner of Derby Theatre will be transformed and brought to life through festival-style spaces, exciting performances, workshops and discussion.

This year, we have a compelling mix of the best of the Midlands blended with some of the UK’s most exciting artists and companies, sharings and works-in-progress.

We are committed to supporting and playing host to a range of work from both small and large, award-winning independent touring companies.

We’re really looking forward to welcoming you to this year’s festival….all of it in-person. It’s the perfect theatrical vacation….and at a great price!

Trust us, at Departure Lounge, you will always be in good company!

Tickets Performances only £7.50 or 2 for ONLY £10 with See two Departure Lounge shows for ONLY £10 Look out for this sticker

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Panel Discussion and other selected events: FREE Workshops: ONLY £5

THU 14 JULY

FRI 15

10am

10- 10.30am Vital Xposure Workshop

11am

12pm

12 - 1.30pm Panel Discussion

1pm

2pm

1.30pm Boogie Booth 3pm

2 - 3pm Networking Lunch 4pm

5pm

5.30pm Boogie Booth 6pm

4.30 - 6pm Fat Blokes 7pm

8pm

7.30 - 8pm The Endling

9pm

10pm

11pm

9 - 10.30pm Fat Blokes

Festival at a Glance

9 - 10pm Ambivalence

Garden Stage

JULY

SAT 16 JULY 11 - 12.30pm Pigfoot Theatre Workshop 10.30am onwards Perverts Podcast

11.30am onwards Perverts Podcast 2 - 3.30pm Scratch Triple Bill

1pm Boogie Booth

1.30 - 3pm Jake Orr Producing Workshop 3.30pm Boogie Booth

3 - 4.25pm Beginner’s Guide

4 - 5pm UTOPIAN (ts&cs apply) 5 - 6pm Beginner’s Guide Workshop

7.30 - 8.30pm Bonfire

7.30 - 8.30pm Flappy

9 - 10pm Cocoa Butter Club

Studio

Derbados

Community Hub

Upper Foyer

STUDIO

The Endling

by Strange Futures Visually beautiful and “laugh-out loud funny”, Strange Futures use off-beat humour and “powerful physicality” (The Scotsman, 2019) to discuss the environmental crisis and species extinction in “this thoughtful and refreshingly nonaccusatory show” (London Theatre1).

Based on research with environmental organisations, this quirky two-hander offers “Incredibly slick execution, clever script and a savagely relevant concept powered by two phenomenal performances” (Artistic Director, Lion & Unicorn), as it explores the interconnectedness of human existence with the lives and deaths of other species.

An Endling is the name for the last individual of a species.

Do you remember Turgi, the last Polynesian Tree Snail who died in a plastic box in London Zoo? No? But what if it was you - if you were the last individual of the human species, The Endling?

R&D supported by ACE Project Grants, with a physical vocabulary workshopped with Julian Spooner (Rhum and Clay).

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Thu 14 July 7.30pm - 8pm £7.50

GARDEN STAGE

Fat Blokes

by Scottee & Friends Ltd. Fat Blokes is the cult, award-winning, sell-out, sort of dance show about trying to fit into a world that says you’re too fat.

Produced by Scottee & Friends Ltd.

Made by five fat friends who have never done this sort of thing before, in collaboration with Lea Anderson, Fat Blokes subjects you to our pent-up aggression, love for riot grrrl and our ability to burp on command.

Fat Blokes is supported using funding from Arts Council England.

Prepare to fall in love with us.

This is fat rebellion.

Co-commissioned by Southbank Centre and Home, Manchester Part of

2 shows for

“Angry, lovable and tender show...an act of theatrical consciousness-raising”  The Guardian “A poignant, unsentimental exploration of fat queer masculinity…

Excellently interweaves dance and personal memories.”  The Stage “Well crafted, heartfelt and honest”  The Scotsman “A staggeringly clever blend of body politics, sexy dance moves and illuminating autobiography… Let the revolution begin!”  Attitude

£10

Thu 14 July 9pm - 10.30pm Fri 15 July 4.30pm - 6pm £7.50

COMMUNITY HUB Vital Xposure Workshop

Shooting the Elephant An Intersectional Approach to Inclusive Narrative with Simon Startin The moment disabled people step on to a stage or screen they are stitched up. A toxic combination of societal narratives and the very mechanics of story itself lead to a fixation on cliché and simplistic perspectives. It’s being going on since the birth of civilization.

This workshop will explore deeper intersectional representations for disabled theatre making and how together we can undo the stitch up.

R&D supported by ACE Project Grants, with a physical vocabulary workshopped with Julian Spooner (Rhum and Clay).

Fri 15 July 10 am - 10.30am £5

DERBADOS

by Jodie Cole Dance Expect great tunes, potential dad dancing and definite strutting of your funky stuff!

Will you jump onto the Disco Dot and show us what you’ve got? Boogie Booth is an outdoor live performance and dance experience. Visitors will meet our resident Boogie Boothers, Phantom Mercury & Dorothy, experts in the bum wiggle and the shoulder shimmy! They will take you on a spectacular tour through the world of dance from Jazz, to Hip-Hop, to Ballet, to Contemporary dance, all within the magical Boogie Booth.

Boogie Booth features original music, popular music, professional dance theatre, and accessible dance participation.

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Fri 15 July 1.30pm & 5.30pm Sat 16 July 1pm & 3.30pm £7.50

COMMUNITY HUB

by Milk Presents Milk Presents will land a listening post at Departure Lounge for audiences to enjoy The Perverts Podcast, an audio cabaret recorded with a live audience at the legendary Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London, produced by She Wants a Dog. Join host Leo Skilbeck for onstage glamour and backstage goss reclaiming the queer history once considered perverted, with scandalous archival artifacts, expert historians and glittering artists.

The Perverts Podcast features: George Bourgeois, Jacob Bloomfield, Ginger Johnson, Mzz Kim, E-J Scott, ShayShay, Annie Siddons, Leo Skilbeck and Campbell X.

Sound Design: Iain Armstrong Theme Tune: Seriol Davies Support from Derby Theatre and Arts Council England

Fri 15 July 11.30am onwards Sat 16 July 10.30am onwards FREE

George Bourgeois

ShayShay

Writer and performer George Bourgeois is one half of acclaimed musicsatire duo Bourgeois & Maurice.

ShayShay (they/them) is a Japanese/ Irish non-binary writer, director, performer and co-founder of ‘The Bitten Peach,’ a gender-diverse PanAsian artist collective. ShayShay’s work spans across theatre, queer cabaret and shows for children and families with a mission to represent and empower queer audiences, specifically trans folk & queer Asians.

Born from the alternative cabaret and clubland scene of mid-00s London, B&M have gone on to tour the world with their brand of highly acerbic, ultra-contemporary cabaret.

Outside of B&M George has worked as a voice actor for TV, toured with Clod Ensemble and is currently developing a new show about the world’s greatest flop musicals.

Annie Siddons Annie is a writer and performer from London. She works in comedy, stage and screen.

Jacob Bloomfield Jacob Bloomfield is a Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent.

Jacob is currently in the process of completing his first book, Drag. A British History, and is also working on a separate book project about the career and legacy of musician Little Richard.

Ginger Johnson Ginger Johnson is a writer, performer and theatre maker with a sweet tooth for the ridiculous.

Newcastle’s answer to Elaine Stritch, Johnson cut her teeth on the altdrag and cabaret scenes of East London, where her unique blend of camp laughs and bareknuckle confessional have earned her a reputation for being a risk-taking performer with a big heart and an\ even bigger mouth.

Mzz Kim Mzz Kimberley AKA Kim Tatum is an actor and singer. Kim is also the founding Director of LIFE. In 2020, Kim was the first trans woman to present the first LGBT+ award for the ‘Black British Theatre Awards’ for Sky television. Kim made the 2020 and 2021 LGBT Power List.

Current projects include: Wild Country by Edith Tankus (co-creator); Some Old Street

by Bunny (co-writer, dramaturg) Momo for the Unicorn Theatre (writer) How (not) to Live in Suburbia (TV, in development), How (not) to Fight a Family Curse (theatre, Soho/Royal Court, in development).

Recent projects include: Dennis of Penge (writer/performer Ovalhouse/Albany); The Home by Christopher Green (performer/collaborator); Ant and Hop at Unicorn Theatre - writer - Dear Elizabeth (Gate Theatre - performer); All Of Me by Caroline Horton (dramaturg/collaborator); Babylon Beyond Borders (Bush Theatre - dramaturg/writer); All’s Well that Ends Well (Globe Theatre - dramaturg/writer); How (not) to Live in Suburbia - Edinburgh then touring then Soho Theatre - writer/performer. Her comedy persona Karima Kay has just started gigging in London.

Leo Skilbeck Leo Skilbeck is a writer/director/ creator for stage and screen and the artistic director of Milk Presents.

Their work spans a decade of queer performance making, and they are co-creator of Trans Filth and Joy, a large-scale cabaret made with Trans Creative in Manchester. For theatre their work includes cabaret Chekhov, The Bear/The Proposal (Young Vic), drag king play JOAN (winner of Off West End Award, Fringe First Award), and Associate Director on Fun Home (Young Vic).

Campbell X. E-J Scott E-J Scott is a curator, cultural producer and academic and was awarded the UK’s Museum Activist Award 2020/21. He is the founder of the museumoftransology.com and the British Digital Art Network (Tate/ Paul Mellor Research Centre). He is Stage 2 and 3 Leader of the BA (Hons) Culture, Curation & Criticism at Central St Martins.

Campbell X is a writer/director who directed the award-winning queer urban romantic comedy feature film Stud Life, which was voted by The Guardian as one of the top 10 Black British feature films ever made.

Campbell’s latest film, Still We Thrive is a call for Black joy in the face of images of Black trauma affecting our mental health.

GARDEN STAGE Panel Discussion

Survival, resilience, wellbeing and self-care Chaired by Lyn Gardner Theatre and theatre-makers have faced unprecedented challenges during the last two years. It has been a difficult time, scarring for many. A significant danger for theatre is that we will quickly slip back into the old ways of doing things, the old career patterns, the old gatekeeping, the old ideas of what theatre is and where it happens, and the old power relationships. There’s evidence we’re already doing it.

But it’s not too late.

How can we use what we have learned as individuals and institutions about community, survival, resilience, wellbeing, unity and defiance to face the many challenges ahead, including growing poverty, inequality and climate emergency. In the process, how will we transform ourselves as a sector so that theatre and artists can genuinely respond to community need and stand up for themselves and others.

An optimistic conversation about using theatre and all the tools we have available to make things better for all.

Panellists include: Sarah Brigham Sameena Hussain Nickie Miles-Wildin Scottee

Fri 15 July 12pm - 1.30pm FREE

COMMUNITY HUB Workshop

Producing with Kindness The Artist/Producer Relationship with Jake Orr Led by Nottingham based freelance Producer Jake Orr, this workshop will explore the relationship between producers and artists and provide tangible steps for how to create a meaningful producer relationship and how you might go about finding the producer of your dreams.

Web: www.jakeorr.co.uk

As part of this workshop Jake will talk about his producing manifesto and how through centering kindness as a practice for producing can yield beautiful results. You can read Jake’s producing manifesto on his website here.

This workshop is suitable for artists and producers alike, and will give you an opportunity to consider what your needs are as an artist/producer and how to get the best out of a producing relationship. Bring your own ideas, have a cuppa and let’s get producing productively.

Fri 15 July 1.30pm - 3pm £5

STUDIO

A Beginner’s Guide to Widowhood

by Omar Khan Suria has lost her husband. (She hasn’t misplaced him or anything - he’s dead).

Join her and the kids in Turkey, on what will become “the worst holiday ever.” A trip fraught with new challenges: navigating bad advice, sympathetic head tilts... and the ‘W’ word.

But the turbulent dynamics of a newly fractured family aren’t the kind of baggage you can just stow away neatly in an overhead compartment...

A Beginner’s Guide to Widowhood is a one-woman (workin-progress) show exploring the experiences of young, widowed women, loss, and why we don’t talk about death.

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Fri 15 July 3pm - 4.25pm £7.50

COMMUNITY HUB Workshop

Making of A Beginner’s Guide to Widowhood

by Omar Khan Join director and facilitator, Omar Khan as he hosts an open discussion exploring the process of making A Beginner’s Guide to Widowhood, and how we, as theatre makers, can work towards holding a rehearsal room that promotes openness and collaboration.

Fri 15 July 5pm - 6pm £5

STUDIO

Flappy

by Holly Clark This is a show about me, Holly, a dyspraxic living in this neurotypical world. Expect some joy, some frustration, and rather a lot of exaggerated arm movements. You may even find out what Dyspraxia actually is, well for me anyway.

Flappy is an autobiographical show developed and performed by Holly Clark. It explores what Dyspraxia is and what it means to be Holly, the challenges of living in a society that disables, as well as acceptance and celebration of being dyspraxic, neurodivergent and disabled.

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Fri 15 July 7.30pm - 8.30pm £7.50

GARDEN STAGE

Ambivalence

by Farrell Cox Making decisions can be difficult. Especially if the decision is to stay alive.

Ambivalence tells the autobiographical story of a woman’s journey as we are invited to hear her unsaid thoughts through pages of her diary. The audience can expect stunning aerial acrobatics and movement depicting her emotional journey as she flies over a stark white bathtub.

The piece charts her journey from rock bottom to top of the world questioning: what is worth living for?

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Fri 15 July 9pm - 10pm £7.50

COMMUNITY HUB Workshop

Pigfoot Theatre A leading UK carbon-neutral theatre company Concerned about the climate crisis? Interested in making theatre which doesn’t damage the planet?

Join Pigfoot – a multi award-winning carbon-neutral theatre company – for a practical workshop for any theatre-maker keen to create theatre about the climate crisis, without a carbon footprint. We’ll explore practical exercises to bring climate themes into your work and sustainable practices into your process – from discovering your digital carbon footprint and creating a cyclical design process, to powering your show by bicycle!We’ll also explore devising exercises designed to make new work about the climate crisis.

Pigfoot Theatre is the first carbon-neutral theatre company in the UK. We make multi award-winning theatre about the climate and ecological crisis. Our work ‘practises what it preaches’ (The Sunday Times on Pigfoot) and protests within an industry which, in London alone, has a carbon footprint of 50,000 tonnes a year. Our bike-powered family comedy How To Save A Rock has toured with English Touring Theatre to Northern Stage and Theatre By The Lake, with Battersea Arts Centre & Found in Music, and with support from Slung Low to the Albany, Camden People’s Theatre and more. Our new show HOT IN HERE (a carbon-neutral dance party), commissioned by Camden People’s Theatre, will be touring around the UK this autumn.

Sat 16 July 11am - 12.30pm £5

STUDIO

Triple Bill of Scratch Performances

5 Years

by Rebecca Gadbsy Yasmin believes her imperfect body is at the root of her unhappiness. She has agreed to undergo a radical procedure – making a momentous exchange for the perfect body. As the first participant she must first allow the assembled press to quiz her about her decision.

As Yasmin moves closer to treatment, she begins to ask deep-reaching questions not just of herself but about where our ideas of beauty come from and how much power we really hold over our bodies.

5 Years is an unendingly relevant comedy – drama about bodies, the mental and physical havoc we inflict upon ourselves in order to make them ‘acceptable’, and how far one woman is prepared to go to achieve perfection.

Hayley Davis’ honest, at times uncomfortable, play tells a powerful story about the damage caused by the relentless quest for beauty.

Part of

2 shows for

Triple Bill £10 of Scratch Performances Sat 16 July 2pm - 3.30pm See all three triple bill shows for £7.50

STUDIO

Triple Bill of Scratch Performances

by Rebecca Muir Retro Feva 80s is a music jukebox show inspired by Top of the Pop’s 80’s featuring a community cast of local performers.

The show will be made from stories and memories from community members as part of co-creation by using music, visual art, and dance to portray themes of empowerment, self-expression, and boldness of the 80’s era.

Part of

2 shows for

Triple Bill £10 of Scratch Performances Sat 16 July 2pm - 3.30pm See all three triple bill shows for £7.50

STUDIO

Triple Bill of Scratch Performances

ace

by Emma Bourke asexual - the lack of sexual attraction to others Exploring the world of sexuality through the eyes of someone who literally does not give a f*ck.

Emma is asexual. The majority of the world’s population, unfortunately, are not. Navigating her way through a world that revolves around sex has become a full-time occupation. So much so, she had to write a show about it.

“Imagine a world where everyone speaks the same language apart from you.”

An estimated 1% of the world population is asexual. Most grow up with feelings of confusion, enhanced by the hyper sex-focused media and promiscuity of young adult life. There’s High School Musical, GibberEnglish and ballet dancing inside a vagina as Emma revisits her first attempts at kissing and… more than kissing. ace had its first public showing as a Micro Commission (known as ACE) at SHOUT at home Festival 2020.

Part of

2 shows for

Triple Bill £10 of Scratch Performances Sat 16 July 2pm - 3.30pm See all three triple bill shows for £7.50

GARDEN STAGE

UTOPIAN (ts&cs apply)

by Symoné presented by Scissor Kick UTOPIAN (ts&cs apply) is a surrealistic circus pop-culture queer positive experience. And it’s absolute trash. Joined by their accomplice, Symoné takes you on an expedition inspired by raves and power play, with a big pink pole, 6-inch skates and gender nonconformity.

Join the world of psychedelic pilgrimage. You’ll be safe with us.

WARNING: This show may or may not contain autobiographical references about cults.

“If you love a buzzing club atmosphere, amazing visuals and exceptional circus skills - this is for you. Symoné is totally bewitching and manages to be both in your face, loud, exciting, but also striking and emotive. It’ll likely leave you provoked, but utterly entertained.” Ema Boswood, Cambridge Junction Age guidance: 16+ | Trigger Warning: Sexual content, nudity, drug references and language.

Conceived and created by: Symoné (they/them) Presented and produced by: Stephanie for Scissor Kick Directed by: Louise Orwin (she/her) Movement Direction by: Yami Lofvenberg (she/her) Dramaturgy by: Louisa Robbin (they/them) Part of

2 shows for

£10

Sat 16 July 4pm - 5pm £7.50

STUDIO

Bonfire (Work-in-Progress)

by Simon Marshall Leon’s gone live. Stood in his Nana’s lounge, wearing his favourite knitwear, blasting the Sugababes, Leon’s determined to confront the demons of his past; both digital and physical.

Bonfire follows a young gay man from Derbyshire’s journey through adolescence. Like Easy A meets It’s A Sin, Leon stitches together a narrative of his family, friends and secrets, hurtling us back to the dial-up internet era and forward again, as he learns to celebrate his future.

“I really remember when I was 9 walking with my Nana, I saw a bull try and mount another bull and looking back I think that might be the closest we’ve ever had to a gay love story round here.”

Through pop music, movement and playful storytelling, Bonfire is a monologue-megamix written by Derby Theatre Associate Artist Simon Marshall on reclaiming queer identity and resisting shame.

The piece is inspired by Bernardo’s 2016 Not on the Radar report and consultation with Derbyshire LGBT+.

Trigger Warning: contains references to online grooming, homophobic language and grief.

Image Design by: Lexi Clare

Part of

2 shows for

£10

Sat 16 July 7.30pm - 8.30pm £7.50

GARDEN STAGE

The Cocoa Butter Club The Cocoa Butter Club presents a one-off Queer Cabaret celebrating everything from neo-burlesque and poetry, to drag, hoops and voguing.

So, lotion up, baby, because as they bring you a night bold enough to have you screaming ‘yaaaaas queen, smell like cocoa butter up in hurr!’

Part of

Trust the trailblazers of decolonising and moisturising cabaret to be a part of your super summer.

2 shows for

£10

Sat 16 July 9pm - 10pm £7.50

Access Information Everyone is welcome at Derby Theatre. We believe that this building is for everyone, and we strive to do all we can to ensure you have an enjoyable and comfortable visit.

During Departure Lounge, we have events happening in the Garden Stage in the Main House, Studio, Foyer and outside spaces.

If you are unsure how to access these spaces, please do speak to our front of house team.

BSL Performances

Captioned Performances

The Endling: Thu 14 July, 7.30pm

Ambivalence: Fri 15 July, 9pm

Panel Discussion: Fri 15 July, 12pm

Fat Blokes: Fri 15 July, 4.30pm

A Beginner's Guide to Widowhood: Fri 15 July, 3pm

Utopian: Sat 16 July, 4pm The Cocoa Butter Club: Sat 16th July, 9pm

Fat Blokes: Fri 15 July, 4.30pm Flappy: Fri 15 July, 7.30pm Ambivalence: Fri 15 July, 9pm Utopian: Sat 16 July, 4pm Bonfire: Sat 16 July, 7.30pm The Cocoa Butter Club: Sat 16 July 9pm All workshops are being BSL interpreted.

Step-Free Access If you require step-free access, please do let our Box Office team know at the point of booking, or speak to a member of our front of house team on the day.

All events in Departure Lounge 2022 have step-free access but some routes do require assistance from a member of our team.

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