Shortlisted from a total of 187 short films, Invincible has made its mark, as it currently awaits the results of the final nominee list, to be announced on Tuesday 23rd January. One of 14 nominees currently in the ‘Live Action Short Film’ category, the film delicately depicts the tale of a young man yearning for his freedom, and the drastic levels he will go to in order to achieve it. This is a piece created in memory of Marc-Antoine Bernier, recounting the last 48 hours of the 14-year-old boy’s life on a desperate quest for freedom. Ahead of this year’s announcement, Vincent tells us more about exploring this powerful story further, what the film’s journey has entailed so far and what audiences can expect from the film.

Hi Vincent, your film Invincible has made this year’s Academy Award shortlist in the ‘Live Action Short Film’ category. How are you feeling?

Continue reading

The Bush Theatre, London has today announced that their latest script submissions window will run from 16 January until 5 February.

The Bush is internationally famed for developing the very best of the UK’s leading writers, often through cold submissions or its talent development programmes, which open routes into theatre to people who didn’t previously have access. The theatre has been supporting writers for over 50 years and has most recently helped launch the careers of Ambreen Razia (The Diary of a Hounslow Girl), Sophie Wu (Ramona Tells Jim), Ella Road (The Phlebotomist), and Temi Wilkey (The High Table).

Continue reading

Devoted & Disgruntled (D&D), Improbable Theatre’s annual nationwide three-day event where challenges in theatre and the arts are discussed, will take place this March in Leeds. Now in its eighteenth year, anyone who is passionate about the arts from audiences to artists, CEOs to Front of House staff and grassroots groups to seasoned professionals is encouraged to attend. This will be the first in-person three-day event in five years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

D&D uses Open Space technology which, aims to keep participants highly engaged by allowing them full control over their experience through organising their own agenda. Anyone can raise any particular issues or challenges at the start of the day, which are then discussed at breakout sessions where findings are later logged and reviewed. Attendees are free to come and go as they please and can sit in on any session they wish. On the final day of the event, reports are read out to the wider group and more sessions are held to discuss next steps and actions. All reports are saved to the D&D website and can be accessed by anyone at any time.

Continue reading

The power of music to unite is undeniable – melodies, rhythms and lyrics connecting all to the human experience – whether music serves as markers of important life events, beacons of hope, support systems during times of heartbreak, there’s a playlist I’m sure we’ve all got curated ready to take on the day. Tapping into this deeply moving facet of our daily lives, Immersive Everywhere bring their Olivier Award nominated production of The Choir of Man to the Arts Theatre stage – a much welcomed, uplifting opener to the year!

Continue reading

Continue reading

WhatsOnStage today announces that Melanie La Barrie and Bonnie Langford will host the 24^thAnnual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major theatre prize-giving decided by the theatregoers themselves. Voting for the winners of the awards closes today.

Taking place on Sunday 11 February 2024 for the first time at The London Palladium, the evening will see winners crowned across a range of categories. Theatregoers will also enjoy a host of exclusive live performances, which will be announced soon, from top stage talent, accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra. The event, co-produced with creative directors Alex Parker and Damian Sandys, is currently on sale.

Continue reading

The funeral of a loved one can be that life changing event that brings together long lost relatives and friends who otherwise wouldn’t have connected, or through time have lost contact. A time to say final goodbyes, the confrontation of life and death is stark. Exploring what these interactions look like, Blue Pear Productions’ Drop Dead reunites six souls all brought together to rehearse the funeral of Mr Bebach, an enigmatic wealthy extraordinaire. What ensues is an absurd encounter, one filled with plenty of comical twists and turns.

Continue reading

New cultural podcast brings together interesting voices from across the arts
10th January sees the launch of an exciting new cultural podcast set to bring together interesting voices from all across the arts for important and fun conversations – The Pink Podcast, hosted by Chloé Nelkin, will release an episode fortnightly with 2-3 guests joining this intimate conversation.
The podcast will discuss anything and everything under the arts umbrella providing the
opportunity to hear from some fascinating and leading figures in a conversational way. Each episode will end with Head First – a section called looking at mental health and what each guest is doing to take care of themselves in this frenetic world.

Episode one focuses on the arts in 2024 with guests Sofi Berenger and Sanjit Chudha. As both an in-house and independent producer, Sofi champions new and exciting work from all backgrounds. She is Executive Producer and acting Chief Executive at the King’s Head Theatre, which has just opened the doors of its brand-new venue. Sanjit has just closed the door on a phenomenal tenure at the Museum of the Home where he was Director of Audiences. Prior to that Sanjit led the rebranding and comms at Talawa Theatre Company where he ensured Audience Development and Digital strategies were always at the heart of Talawa’s work.

Continue reading

Following our initial Mindfulness Workshops organised in celebration of our 10th year, Megan Mattravers returns to deliver free online workshops on Sunday 7th January 2024 via Instagram Live with the idea of concluding the year on a positive note and seeing in the new year with good intentions. Timings are the same as before, 1pm/1:30pm with sessions lasting 30 minutes in total.

Our initial workshops included mindful writing – an exercise encouraging us to stay rooted in the present moment and pay attention to our 5 senses, and a body scan – an exercise again keeping us in the present moment (this is a scan of the body mentally, bringing awareness to any tensions within the body) and cultivating calmness. There were opportunities to share thoughts and feelings if you wanted to throughout, with participants feeling mentally energised for the week ahead.

Continue reading