Celebrating 5 years this June,  the Shubbak Festival continues its tradition of celebrating the nuances of Arab culture with its largest programme yet! From Friday 28th June until Sunday 14th July, over 150 artists will take on a mixed programme consisting of performance, visual art, music and film. Shubbak, meaning ‘window’ in Arabic offers a range of voices from the Arab region, Europe and the UK. Ahead of this year’s festival, taking place at a variety of respected arts institutions across the capital, Artistic Director Eckhard Thiemann talks about this year’s ambitions programme, the theatre programme at The Gate Theatre and what he’d like for audinces to take away from the festival.

Showing as part of the 5th edition of the Shubbak Festival, Halka is a Moroccan production, created in partnership with The Abu Dhabi Festival, and in association with Crying Out Loud. Created by Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger – the company draw upon the tradition of performing acrobatic tricks on ‘Moroccan beaches and in village squares, creating spectacles for the public with astounding human pyramids, cartwheels and somersaults, always accompanied by music and song’. On Thursday 11th July, the 14 strong troupe will bring this vivacious tradition to the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre.

Courtesy of Camilla Greenwell.

Now more than ever, conversations revolving around mental health are crucial, particularly within men. In a society that has so often taught us to keep quiet, and deal with emotional and psychological issues on our own, we’re now having to reverse that way of thinking in order to better improve well being and have much needed, open conversations. Exploring mental health within his latest dance-theatre piece Elephant in the Room, choreographer and actor Lanre Malaolu talks about his approach towards creating the show, how various organisations including Talawa have supported his work and what audiences can expect from the show.

Your latest show Elephant in the Room will be performed from the 2nd to the 20th April at the Camden People’s Theatre. How are you feeling ahead of the show?

At the end of this month, the UK will supposedly leave the EU – nearly three years post the referendum. What’s been apparent from this significant decision is the vote’s exposure of our divided nation, a division further worsened by the ambiguity of the leaving process. This feeling of ambiguity is defining how we approach the 29th March, we’re left unsure as to how this will truly impact all in the future. A decision that has left many feeling alienated, it’s incredibly important to celebrate the contributions made by international residents within the UK. In a time of division, it’s crucial to acknowledge our rich cultural heritage, one influenced by artists, practitioners and theatremakers globally. Ahead of the debut A Piece of the Continent Festival at the the Tristan Bates Theatre, Theatre Programme Co-Ordinator Will Mytum discusses this exciting new festival in collaboration with Voila! Europe.

Director Amy Leach breathes new life into a classic tale of murder and betrayal with her modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This gender-swapping, intense and emotional performance shows us just how timeless the piece is; throwing it into the 21^stcentury with stunning production elements, atmospheric lighting and adding an ever growing tension through its central relationship between its female Hamlet and her Ophelia.

High hair and high hopes are on offer at the Savoy Theatre with Dolly Parton’s musical hit 9 to 5 that’s landed a place on the West End after its UK and US tour. A rough cut and paste job of the original 80s script, but with camp musical numbers from Parton thrown in to give it added sparkle.

Just recently the internet celebrated its 30th Birthday; a phenomenon that has revolutionised the way in which we share and consume information. No longer are we solely dependent on the voices of mainstream tabloids and broadsheets; we’re now in control of where we consume our information from, whether that be from forums, video sharing sites, blogs or websites. With this growing phenomena of information sharing, we ourselves are capable of airing our perspectives and opinions to a mass audience in a matter of seconds; this now creating space for all sorts of voices to perpetuate their agendas. Ahead of the return of Scotsman’s Fringe First Award 2017 ‘The Believers Are But Brothers’, playwright Javaad Alipoor discusses the show’s addressing of this phenomena. An online world we once celebrated the beginnings of, now a Wild West of opinions ranging from the tame to the absolute inflammatory.

Anne Washburn’s theatrical adaptation of The Twilight Zone does not try to disguise itself from the original TV show’s iconic personality. The play is quirky, creepy, and funny as it fully embraces the over the top nature of its origins which inspired a plethora of recognisable Sci-Fi tropes.

Friends are your family away from home; a network relied up and formed usually within our formative years. Often told secrets our own families are not aware of, friends are a great source of support, impacting positively towards our own mental health and well being. These are probably one of the strongest bonds we’ll form within our lives. Rascal Theatre‘s Galvanise celebrates this notion, the power of the friendship bond particularly during our teenage years.