News Story
We're thrilled to unveil the lineup for caravan assembly 2024, supporting 15 artists and companies whose work exemplifies the rich and wide-spanning creativity seen in England today.
From outdoor experiences to interactive game theatre, encompassing dance, circus, concept touring, socially engaged work, and a spotlight on strong female voices, caravan assembly 2024 promises an eclectic array of artistic expressions that push boundaries and provoke thought.
Funded by Arts Council England, the assembly serves as a platform for exceptional England based theatre and performing arts, igniting opportunities for international connections and collaboration.
We are delighted to invite you to the caravan assembly for a programme which we feel reflects some of the most thought-provoking and courageous Contemporary Performance being made in England. We have carefully curated our inclusive programme with a mixture of both established and new artists / companies, all responding to our world with a vital and radical energy. Alongside the productions, pitches and talks, there will also be plenty of time to network and continue discussions and provocations. I do hope you can join us.
Peter Glanville, Director / CEO Farnham Maltings
Ground by Trigger [outdoor] [theatre]
Sat 4 - Sun 26 May, 2pm & 7pm (except Mondays), Earthship Brighton
Suitable for ages 14+
Each ingredient has a story to tell. Gather, eat and listen.
Set against the UK’s first Earthship, this unique supper club experience is led by the voices of Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders.
With contributors including Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of best-selling Braiding Sweetgrass, a locally sourced and specially curated 3-course meal reveals the tangled histories of patenting plants.
What does it mean to 'own’ something that has grown and been used for thousands of years? From award-winning creators and producers Trigger (Teabreak, Brighton Festival 2023), this dining experience and live performance seeks to decolonise the food on our plate.
World Premiere. Brighton Festival commission supported by caravan assembly.
You Heard Me by Luca Rutherford [theatre]
Sunday 12 May, 7pm, Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
60mins / suitable for ages 14+
A celebration of refusing to be silenced, of taking up space and of one woman’s power to re-make, re-mould and disrupt.
You Heard Me takes audiences through a moment in Luca’s life that changed everything. In that moment, her voice became the most powerful weapon she had in a fight where she needed it most. Integrating visceral movement, and enveloping sounds and lights, audiences are gifted the chance to experience the messiness of connecting to your own power.
The Rest of Our Lives by Jo Fong and George Orange [dance] [circus]
Sunday 12 May, 8.30pm, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
80mins
Jo is an old dancer, George an old clown, together they have 100 years of life experience. Armed with floor-fillers, raffle tickets and eco-friendly optimism, they negotiate the eclectic, predictable and random decline of middle age.
1884 by Rhianna Ilube & Coney [interactive game theatre]
Monday 13 May 1.30pm & Tuesday 14 May 12.30pm, Brighton Unitarian Church
2hrs 30mins, with interval
Welcome to Wilhelm Street. Make yourself at home! Settle in with your new family and begin to forge new traditions and memories to last a lifetime.
Somewhere nearby, though, there's a very important meeting going on, with very important people making very important decisions about your lives. But you're not invited... nothing to worry about.
Created by theatre-maker Rhianna Ilube and BAFTA-winning game-makers Coney, 1884 is an immersive show inspired by the legacy of the 1884 Berlin Conference, an often-overlooked turning point for the African continent and the world.
A Spectacle of Herself by Laura Murphy and Contra Productions Ltd [theatre] [circus]
Monday 13 May, 7.30pm, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
60mins / suitable for ages 16+
Join Laura on a mission to serve herself up [in]appropriately for your consumption, in a bold, cinematic, acrobatic odyssey through the frontiers of mental health, queerness, rage and the 21st Century space race. Directed by Ursula Martinez, with Laura’s critical and cheeky signature mix of autobiography, lip-sync, video and aerial rope, A Spectacle of Herself navigates the personal and political to seek out new worlds and ways to be seen.
HIGH STEAKS by ELOINA Productions [theatre]
Monday 13 May, 9pm, Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
60mins / suitable for ages 16+
A show about labia, labia-shaming, cosmetic surgery and fundamentally, body lovin’.
Award-winning queer performer, ELOINA, hangs two beef steaks from her labia, butchers them up and sizzles them on a grill. And... her mum is in the show.
Seamlessly melding performance art and comedy clowning, High Steaks discusses rising demands in young people for labiaplasty - plastic surgery to make the labia smaller/more symmetrical. Through live conversations with her mum and recorded interviews with labia-owners, High Steaks is a call for increased visibility of varied vulvas and a celebration of our vulvas in all their shapes and sizes.
Lived Fiction by Stopgap Dance Company [dance]
Tuesday 14 May, 7.30pm, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
90mins, with interval
The manifestation of Stopgap’s twenty-year history, a timely intervention that can shape the future of contemporary dance.
The sensual choreography of Lived Fiction is rendered anew with evocative audio description, exquisite projection art and captioning. The internationally revered company invites you to experience dance from multiple perspectives and share in a future that is rich with the enterprise, potential, and power of diversity.
Expect masterful performances from Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled creatives in the dance work that is deep with compassion for the human condition.
pitching artists
Delegates at the assembly can look forward to hearing about seven projects and new works from these exciting artists and companies on Monday 13 May.
discussions
On Monday 13 May delegates will be able to take a deep dive into the subject of concept touring with Casson & Friends: touring without the mileage.
On Tuesday 14 May we will be hosting EmpowerHER: In conversation with a selection of caravan artists we celebrate female strength and vulnerability on the stage.
We would like to thank the all of those involved in the curatorial panel for their recommendation and helping us shape this years event.
Curatorial panel 2024:
Beth Burgess Executive Producer / Director of Production, Brighton Festival
Ellie Liddell-CreweProgramme Manager, Unlimited
Gabriella TriantafyllisDirector of Programming & Production, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre AE, Greece
Lea Gerschwitz Independent dramaturg, programmer and cultural manager, Germany
Pelin Başaran Head of Programming, Battersea Arts Centre
Peter Glanville CEO, Farnham Maltings
Sally CowlingArtistic Associate and International Programmer, Brighton Dome and Festival
Sarah FranklandInternational Associate, Farnham Maltings
Sud Basu Independent Creative Director, Consultant and Artistic Advisor
Sue Buckmaster Artistic Director, Theatre-Rites
