IF YOU LIKE: GIFT

Voicing the Peat Bog by Jo Hellier and Yas Clarke, image by Yas Clarke

Gateshead International Festival of Theatre celebrate their 15^th anniversary this year, and return with a raft of unique and interesting events at venues across Gateshead including The Glasshouse, Gateshead Central Library, Shipley Art Gallery, St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Cafe Under The Spire, Station East and Orbis Community, from Friday 2^nd-Sunday 4^th May.

This year, collaborations between artists in the UK and Canada have culminated in thought-provoking events which cover topics ranging from the climate emergency and environmentalism to mental health, identity and community engagement. The festival has gained a reputation for thinking outside the box, encouraging cross-discipline collaboration and professional development for artists, all while continuing to challenge audiences to engage with performances that wouldn’t otherwise be presented in the North East. Festival founder and director Kate Craddock explains: “GIFT has developed a reputation amongst artists as a place to experiment and test out new ideas in front of a supportive festival community, echoing the Festival’s ethos of exploration, exchange and experimentation and I’m excited to see the programme embraced during its anniversary year.”

IF YOU LIKE

WORKSHOPS

One of the unique things about GIFT is the community spirit fostered through connectivity and mutual support, and this is evidenced in International at FABRIC’s Senior Producer Hannah Slimmon’s practical workshop designed to demystify international touring. There’s also opportunities to learn new skills alongside Newcastle-based Kuchipudi dancer and choreographer Payal Ramchandani, who will teach attendees the basics of the vibrant and expressive South Indian classical dance; the workshop is part of Payal’s solo production Just Enough Madness, which touches on themes of motherhood, mental health and miscarriage grief. Multidisciplinary artist and dance theatre maker Patrick Ziza runs a fun-sounding introduction to dandyism, which encourages free expression, in the How To Become A Dandy In A Day workshop. In Voicing The Peat Bog, resident artists Jo Hellier and Yas Clarke will run a workshop teaching vocal scores in preparation for the performance of their experimental opera, Bog, in which three performers take an ecstatic and erotic journey through the matter that makes up a peat bog.

PERFORMANCE

Canadian interdisciplinary artists Mia & Eric present In A Strange Place, a meditative multi-channel video installation which delves into the future of our forests using improvised and abstract slow-motion choreography performed by 150 foresters, ecologists, activists and conservationists. Magician and theatre artist Vincent Gambini presents Close Up, a unique short performance taking place in a Gateshead cafe in which the line between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred. Teesside artist Scott Turnbull’s surprising and surreal production Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area enters the audience into a world of division, fear and singing sausages. And Hannah Walker’s Nightwalker is a WIP audio experience which explores the night’s strange and beautiful qualities while examining the significance of women’s lives and freedom at night.

GETTING INVOLVED

Canadian artists Maribé – Sors De Ce Corps and Montréal Danse’s Radiomaton is an immersive installation which blends dance and digital arts, encouraging participants to step into a photobooth-like cabin and mimic gestures and speech to explore themes of truth, media influence and the role of the body in perceiving and transmitting information. Manchester-based artist Kate Daley will hand-make a book containing a work of collective fiction during a week at Gateshead Library, with the narrative shaped by responses given to her by people visiting the library. And if your ‘to do’ list keeps getting longer, head along to Work Party For Cheats hosted by Bristol-based artist Rachael Clerke, a communal space which supports attendees to use their skills to resolve unfinished tasks by swapping, stealing and cheating their way to fruition.