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To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Welcome to Mayfest 2015
It’s an election year, and at the time of writing this, we don’t know who
the next government will be. What we do know, though, is that access
to art and culture is central to a happy, healthy society. Whether you’re
into classical music, theatre, television, performance art, street art,
poetry, The Voice or The Proms, a world where we don’t share our
stories and explore our experiences is a pretty bleak place to be.
So this is the context, and while we haven’t themed our programme in
an overtly political way we can’t look away from the fact that some of
the most exciting artists of our time are handling ‘the political’ in the
most varied and wonderful of ways. From Chris Thorpe and Rachel
Chavkin’s visceral Confirmation, to National Theatre of Scotland’s
Rites, Chris Goode’s STAND and Hofesh Shechter’s white knuckle
Political Mother there are passionate perspectives on how we live and
what we live for running throughout the programme.
This year, we spark a new collaboration with the 4th International
Conference on Public Health and Palliative Care in partnership with
live artist Jo Bannon. Together we have curated a series of projects
that approach death and dying in fascinating and tender ways. Over
the first weekend of the festival, and dotted throughout are a number of
shows and artworks that offer their own perspective on what death
means, how communities can work together to help the dying, and how
art can help tackle an inevitability that is often difficult to discuss.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
And to counter all that death and politics, you can celebrate love in all
its forms with the UK Premiere of Pop-Up Love Party (from Canada’s
Zuppa Theatre), dance for three and a half hours with Dance
Marathon, take some time to exhale with The Secret Slowness of
Movement, and get lost in the music with Of Riders and Running
Horses. And lots lots more... Mayfest is best experienced by jumping
right in and taking a risk on something that feels new for you.
See as many shows as you can by taking advantage of our multi-buy
offers and festival pass, listen in to Mayfest Radio, and join us at our
talks programme to dig a little deeper.
Tweet us @mayfestbristol, join the conversation on our Facebook
page, drop us an email at matthewandkate@mayk.org.uk or find us in
the Blind Tiger during the festival.
We’re looking forward to seeing you, Keep letting us know what you
think.
Kate Yedigaroff & Matthew Austin
Artistic Directors.
Mayfest is produced by MAYK in collaboration with Bristol Old Vic and
organisations across the city. Funded by Arts Council England, Bristol
City Council, Wellcome Trust and Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Mayfest Team
Kate Yedigaroff & Matthew Austin -Artistic Directors
Sarah Bentley - Participation Producer (BBC Performing Arts Fellowship)
Gemma Brooks – Production Manager
Luke Emery – Mayfest Radio Producer
Julie Guerrin – Project Manager
Rebecca Hall – Project Manager
Ashley Peevor – Marketing Officer
Claire Skelcey – Marketing Manager
Charlie Smalley – Producing and Marketing Placement
Bethany West – Producing and Marketing Placement
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Mayfest Radio
Noise, voices, music and a touch of chaos. The sound of Mayfest
2015.
Last year we dipped our toes in the water, this year we’re taking the
plunge. Coming live from the midst of the melee, Mayfest Radio brings
you an audio insight into the artists, the shows and what keeps
the festival whirring.
We’re going all out this time, bringing you daily live broadcasts from
12-5pm, kicking off on 15 May. Tune in at mayfestbristol.co.uk/radio,
where you can find details of the Mayfest Radio app and listen to our
archive.
Turn on, tune in and get involved. Tell us what you think
#mayfestradio
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Arias for an Apocalypse
Micro Commissions
An apocalyptic take on a household
Specially selected and
favourite, hosted by writer and performer
commissioned for Mayfest Radio,
Jessica MacDonald. We’ll be asking
these are brand new sound pieces
festival artists Uninvited Guests, Tim
by The Team and friends,
Crouch & Andy Smith, circumstance,
Klanghaus and some soon-to- be-
bluemouth inc. and Laura Dannequin
announced artists, drawn from a
artists for their tips on pulling through a
national call out for artists who
global disaster and the songs they
want to play with radio.
couldn’t survive without.
Greg Wohead’s Recorded
Harpin on with Harpin
Chats
Idiot Child director and all round
Inspired by the casually chatty podcast,
Nerdist, WTF and the terrific OK Radio,
Greg’s Recorded Chats aim to open up
conversations around artists and
organisations; who people are, what they
bon vivant Anna Harpin sits down
over tea or wine (or sometimes
both at once) for an in depth
armchair chat with artists from the
Mayfest programme.
value and how how they like to work.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Dead Line
Jo Bannon
Thu 14 – Sun 17 May
2pm-5pm and 6pm-9pm
Because we can’t talk to the dead but we can talk to the living. Dead
Line invites you to confront your own mortality, to ask another what you
daren’t even ask yourself. A one to one encounter which will help you
sleep at night.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Dead Line is a publicly sited work which is part- installation, part
theatre performance, for one person at a time. Dead Line is a live
encounter that creates a space to talk openly, or a little more openly,
about our fears, hopes and desires for living and dying.
Jo Bannon is a UK based artist who makes live art and performance.
She has presented work in the UK and Europe and is an In Between
Time associate artist and founding member of Residence.
“Dead Line offers us the opportunity to step away from
the hustle and bustle of just being and to think about
coming to a stop. strangely this experience is immensely
positive and uplifting...a privileged moment I treasure
still.”
Helen Cole, Director, In Between Time
Venue: Bristol Marriott Hotel
Age: 12+
Prices: £7 / £5
Website: jobannon.co.uk
Duration: 20 minutes
Twitter: @missjobannon
Part of the PHPC15 Cultural Programme, supported by the Wellcome
Trust. Commissioned by In Between Time and developed with the
support of Capacity Bristol; a Bristol City Council initiative, and
Residence.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
How To Disappear Completely
The Chop
Thu 14 – Fri 15
7pm
In September of 2000, lighting designer Itai Erdal received a phone call
telling him his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and had nine
months to live. Itai, a recent film-school graduate promptly moved back
to Israel to spend every moment he could with his dying mother. During
that time he shot hours of film and hundreds of pictures, documenting
the final months of her life. In a starkly simple yet deeply profound new
work, Erdal invites us to witness the story about the circumstances
surrounding his mother’s passing. At the heart is Mary Erdal’s vibrant
personality, the strong bond she had with her son and how she faced
her imminent death.
How to Disappear Completely is a personal yet universal story of life,
death and the special tie between a mother and her son.
Itai Erdal is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning lighting
designer.
A new play by Itai Erdal with James Long, Anita Rochon & Emelia
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Symington Fedy. Directed by James Long.
“The ethical, philosophical, and legal questions which
surround the potential act of euthanasia are addressed
by Erdal in a beautifully simple piece of performance... ”
Orna O’Connor, The Public Review
“Erdal has brilliant stage presence and genuine skill for
storytelling, though his honesty sometimes teeters on
uncomfortable.”
Rowena Mcintosh, The List
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Age: 14+
Prices: £12 / £8
Website: thechoptheatre.com
Duration: 60 minutes
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit: Paul Blakemore
Nightwalk
Tom Bailey & Jez Riley French
Thu 14 – Sat 16 May and Thu 21 – Sat 23
May
9pm
What would we hear if, on one night, we could enter into a museum of
sounds – the sounds that have resonated through the site of Leigh
Woods across its history? The echoes of a fire crackling through an
ancient camp, or tidal rhythms above a tropical sea bed, three million
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
years ago? Perhaps the sound of the Earth slowly turning, or the
groaning of oak trees upon arctic tundra?
Following a year-long residency with the National Trust, performance
artist Tom Bailey and sound artist Jez riley French invite audiences to
go with them on a re-exploration of a beloved Bristol landscape,
wandering with field recordings in the dark.
Nightwalk was originally commissioned by Trust New Art and MAYK as
part of Mayfest 2014 for the National Trust Leigh Woods. Following a
hugely popular sell out run, they are delighted to be returning to Leigh
Woods as part of Luke Jerram’s Withdrawn.
“A view of the suspension bridge opened up and
we stood in silence, lost in our own thoughts and
the magic of this wonderful woodland on our
doorstep”
Bristol Culture
Venue: Leigh Woods
Website: www.mechanimal.co.uk
Prices: £10 / £7
Twitter : @MechAnimalCo
Duration: 60 minutes
#nightwalk
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit: French and Mottershead
Afterlife (Woodland)
Sat 16 – Sun 17
2pm – 8pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Afterlife (Woodland) is a contemporary meditation upon our
relationship with death, the body, place, nature and time. It draws on
visceral experiences and insights from forensic anthropology, ecology
and aesthetics.
‘Woodland’ is one of a developing series of audio narratives that invite
listeners to reflect on what happens to their body after death in different
environments - a deciduous woodland, a climate controlled art
museum, an urban waterway, a domestic space – with each narrative
compressing decades into minutes.
French & Mottershead make situations in which people can think again
about who they are, their ties to place, and one another. They use art
as a site of experience, by engaging mind and body with tangible
narratives that disturb and develop the sense of self in our fast evolving
environments.
Co-presented by Mayfest and Situations.
The concept for Afterlife (Woodland) stems from French &
Mottershead’s Understory 1-12, part of Up To Nature, a European
co-production with In Between Time.
Part of the PHPC15 Cultural Programme, supported by the Wellcome
Trust.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Venue: Green Wood Barn,
Leigh Woods
Prices: Free
Age : 12+
Website: frenchmottershead.com
Twitter : @FrenchMotters #afterlife
Duration: 18 minutes - just turn
up
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
This Last Tempest
Uninvited Guests and Fuel
Fri 15 - Sat 16 May
7.30pm
This Last Tempest is a visual spectacle that immerses you in
atmospheric sound. It begins where Shakespeare left off: Ariel and
Caliban are left alone on the enchanted island, as Prospero’s ship sails
over the horizon and out of view.
In the hours that follow, the magician’s former servants, the “savage”
and the “airy spirit” are free to tell their unheard versions of the story.
They use the magic of the words their master taught them to conjure
up their own brave new world, where spirits and monsters are people
and inanimate things are alive. They perform a tempest and, as the
wild waves roar around them, they begin again together.
Part theatre, part gig, this radical take on The Tempest is for both
those who know Shakespeare well and audiences new to the play.
Uninvited Guests are Paul Clarke, Richard Dufty and Jessica
Hoffmann. They create entertaining and provocative performance that
combines high-tech with low tech, the visceral with the virtual.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Funded by Arts Council England. Commissioned by Battersea Arts
Centre and Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal. Developed at the Other
Place at the RSC, and with support from Tobacco Factory Theatres.
“I am trembling, every inch of me vibrating, with how
much I love this show.”
Maddy Costa, Deliq.
“...hypnotic performances and writing that has a rhythm
of Shakespeare but an air of modernity, create an
atmospheric and a magical evening.”
Liverpool50 Blog
Venue: Bristol Old Vic
Prices: £12 / £8
Duration: 75 minutes
Website: uninvited-guests.net
fueltheatre.com
Twitter : @UGuests
#thislasttempest
Age : 12+
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Image credit :Stuart Bowden
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Before Us
Stuart Bowden
15 – 16 May
8pm
Before Us is the story of a creature, the last of an undiscovered
species, facing extinction. It featuring an abnormally exuberant combo
of live music, storytelling and dangerously impressive body
movements. It’s a raucous, surreal, experimental melan-comedy about
death, family and loneliness. Stuart Bowden is the internationally
acclaimed master of lo-fi, offbeat, music-infused storytelling, and the
creator of the multi award winning maker of She Was Probably Not A
Robot, The Beast and Doctor Brown and His Singing Tiger.
Stuart was reared on a farm in Won Wron, Victoria, Australia. He went
to Won Wron Primary School, which was closed in 1995 because there
weren't enough kids. He went on to high school in a bigger place called
Yarram with around 100 times more kids.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
After high school he went to a bigger place called Ballarat to learn
about theatre. Then he went to a much bigger place called Melbourne
to learn more about theatre. He studied acting at the Victorian College
of the Arts. Now he lives in an even bigger place called London. Stuart
makes theatre, comedy and a little bit of music.
“Will make you laugh, cry and ultimately change your life...
Prepare to die happy”
Edinburgh Spotlight.
“There is one show each festival that takes your breath away.
This is it”
Public Review
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Age: 12 +
Website:
Prices: £12 / £8 concessions
http://www.stuartbowden.co/
Running time: 60 minutes
Twitter: @stuartbowden
#beforeus
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Stand
Chris Goode & Company and Oxford
Playhouse
15 –17 May
8pm (Fri and Sat) 4pm (Sun)
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
What makes a person take a stand? Is it the sudden impulse of a
single moment, or one small part of a lifelong commitment?
What makes a person elect to stand up and be counted? And would
you do the same?
Chris Goode & Company and Oxford Playhouse present STAND: real
life stories of courage and conscience from ordinary people who stood
up for something, or someone, they believed in.
Six people who chose to act; and six actors, telling their stories in their
own words. Stories about justice and sustainability, about friendship
and risk, about bravery and kindness. Extraordinary moments from
everyday life. STAND is a moving, inspiring celebration of the power of
people to change their corner of the world.
Chris Goode returns to Mayfest after 2013’s The Forest and the Field,
and 2012’s Open House.
“A theatre-maker of infinite talent and infinite
compassion ... up there with the very best.”
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian on Chris Goode
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Venue: Trinity Centre (Upstairs)
Website:
Prices: £12/£8
Chrisgoodeandcompany.co.uk
Running time: 75 minutes
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/@Chrisgoode
Age: 12 +
andco #STAND
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo Credit: Paul Blakemore
World Premiere
Of Riders and Running Horses
Still House
15 – 18 May
8.30pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Night. We find a space in the margins of the city in which to gather: to start
an ad hoc ceremony, to stamp our feet and shake our limbs, to dance in the
face of an ending.
Of Riders and Running Horses is a stirring and visceral new dance event by
Still House created as a communal animation of urban spaces. Six female
dancers and a live band conjure a new kind of old dance, an insistent
rhythm, a joyful step into what it means to move together. The music is a
rider and we are running horses.
The stars are out. Dancing under the open sky makes a felt difference. It
moves itself differently. And these age-old sediments no longer stick to my
bones, melting in the blood.
Michael Klien Directed by Dan Canham. Created by the company with live
music by Luke Harney (AKA Typesun) and Sam Halmarack.
Through his company Still House, Dan Canham makes visually poetic work
within a variety of forms that includes theatre, dance, short film and audiovisual installation.
“One of the most original talents around.”
Independent
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Venue: A secret location
Prices: £14 / £10
Website: Stillhouse.co.uk
Running time: 60 minutes
Twitter: @stillhouselive
Age: 12 +
#ORAR
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit Darrell Berry
Blackouts: Twilight of the Idols
Dickie Beau
15 – 16 May
9.30pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
In Blackouts: Twilight of the Idols ‘Drag fabulist’ Dickie Beau conjures
the spirits of celebrated Hollywood icons, leading you on a bewitching
adventure as he channels the ghosts of his childhood idols.
Dickie secured exclusive access to audiotapes of Marilyn Monroe's
final interview conducted by journalist Richard Meryman. Published in
LIFE magazine just two days before her death, Blackouts includes
material never before heard in the public domain and sees Dickie
shape-shift through a shadowy soundscape of lost souls in a
sensational trip to the subconscious underworld of his future self;
bringing to life these audio artefacts.
The show marks a significant development for Dickie’s trademark
process of dissecting, then re-membering (literally, putting back
together and embodying), found sound. The resulting piece is a study
of icons in exile from society and themselves, and the haunting
impressions they’ve left behind.
Dickie is a pioneer of playback performance, emerging from the drag
tradition of lip-synching, influencing the practice of a whole new
generation of performance-makers.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“Dickie Beau is the closest this country has to a genuine
medium, an auteur of the airwaves, who can put flesh
onto recorded sound in a manner both gripping and
disturbing.”
This is Cabaret
“Exploiting bravura lighting and projection effects, the
results are funny, compelling and deeply moving, with an
uncanny quality that stems from Beau’s white-face mask
of make-up, the emotional power of the words he selects
and the technical precision of his lip synching”
Time Out
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Website: www.dickiebeau.com
Prices: £12/£8
Twitter: @dickiebeau
Running time: 60 minutes
#blackouts
Age: 14 +
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Kid Carpet and the Noisy Neighbours
Kid Carpet
16 and 17 May
Saturday 2pm & 4pm, Sunday 11am & 2pm
Will we ever get used to living in the new house? Are the neighbours
really feeding cats to their dog? Why do they smell like lemons and cat
wee? Where has Dad mislaid the children this time? Can he be
unarrested before Mum gets home? And why is that car on fire?
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Ed Patrick (aka Kid Carpet), is a Bristol-based theatre maker of
nonsense music and rock’n’roll theatre shows. His funny and moving
new show uses music, puppetry and projection to look at what it’s like
to move into a new house in the city and find your place there.
Out of the egg Productions present Kid Carpet and the Noisy
Neighbours. Conceived and performed by Ed Patrick Written by Paul
Dodgson. Directed by Emma Williams
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Website:
Prices: £7 / £5 concessions
www.theatreroyal.org.uk/theegg
www.kidcarpet.co.uk
Running time: 60 minutes
Twitter: #noisyneighbours
Age: 6 + and families
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit Andy Sewell
Birthday
Sam Winston
15 – 17 May
Birthday is a participatory artwork installation made up of large-scale
drawings commemorating the births and deaths that are happening
everyday.
Members of the public will collaborate and draw circles alongside Sam
Winston to remember people they knew and know, and register their
names in writing.
We use data to quantify the world, yet even on such pertinent themes
of birth and death, once we pass a certain scale the information slips
into either obscurity or trivia.
Birthday is a work that addresses this subject by using drawing and
storytelling to give us a context in which to understand some of these
larger movements in life.
Presentation at Mayfest supported by the Wellcome Trust.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Sam Winston creates sculpture, drawings and books. His work
combines a playful and meticulous assimilation of contemporary
information – statistics, data, computer programming – with canonical
works such as Shakespeare and the dictionary.
Through drawing, cutting, folding and typography,
complex ideas emerge in new work that seems clear,
logical and completely necessary amidst the saturation
of financial and media text that is around us and often
impossible to process.”
Chris McCabe
Venue: TBC
Age: All ages
Prices: Free
Website: Samwinston.com
Running time: None
Twitter: @mrsamwinston
#birthday
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit : Nikesh Shukla
Salt In The Sugar Jar
Nikesh Shukla
16 - 18 May, 20 - 24 May
7.30pm
Sunday 17 May and Sunday 24 May
3pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Nikesh Shukla is a Bristol based writer of fiction and television. This is
his first work for theatre. His debut novel, Coconut Unlimited was
shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and his most recent novel
Meatspace is out now and according to The Guardian ‘Like Douglas
Coupland’s Generation X, this novel captures a cultural moment’. The
Time Machine, the novella on which Salt in the Sugar Jar is based won
Best Novella at the Sabotage Awards.
Ashok and his mum are catering for a family gathering. In amongst the
flour and spices on the worktop, Ashok listens to the story of her first
home in Yemen.
After his mother’s death, Ashok finds her samosas in the back of the
freezer. The taste and smell of this long-forgotten food inspires Ashok
to try and learn how to cook like his mum used to. And tonight, a year
after her death, he cooks us all a meal, to help remember her.
Staged in an Easton house, Salt in the Sugar Jar combines the
preparing, cooking and sharing of food with a funny and touching
reflection on memory, family and grief.
Salt in the Sugar Jar is commissioned by MAYK and Theatre Bristol,
with additional support from Asian Arts Agency. Supported using public
funding through Arts Council Engand.
‘Shukla can be disarmingly open’
Max Liu, The Independent
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Age : All ages
Venue: Location revealed upon
booking
Website: http://www.nikeshPrices: £12/£8
shukla.com/
Running time: 60 minutes
Twitter : @nikeshshukla
(TBC)
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Rites
National Theatre of Scotland and Contact
Tue 19* - Sat 23 May, 7.30pm
Women-only matinee Thu 21 May 12.30pm
Matinee Sat 23 May 2.30pm
BSL interpreted Thu 21 May, 7.30pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
A co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland and
Contact, supported by the Scottish Refugee Council and Dignity Alert
Research Forum.
Rites is a powerful and provocative new production exploring the deeprooted cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
This ritual of enforced cutting has been performed for centuries and
millions of girls worldwide, often as young as five years old, are still
subjected to it. The reasons are complicated. It depends who you are,
and it depends what you’ve been taught. Some things are simple
though: FGM is still happening across the world. FGM is happening in
the UK, here and now.
Rites is based on recent interviews and true stories from girls affected
across the UK; mothers who feel under pressure to continue the
practice, and the experiences of midwives, lawyers, police officers,
teachers and health workers trying to effect change in communities.
The show weaves different perspectives into a multi- voiced production
exploring the complexities, misconceptions and challenges involved in
trying to change, what is to many, a fundamental rite of passage.
National Theatre Scotland return to Mayfest following 2012’s smash hit
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart.
Created by Cora Bissett and Yusra Warsama Directed by Cora Bissett
(Road Kill, Glasgow Girls) Sound Design/Composer Patricia Panther
(Glasgow Girls) Video Designer Kim Beveridge (Road Kill).
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“There is no counting the ways in which Cora Bissett’s
production shatters, disturbs and challenges us”
The Scotsman on ‘Road Kill ’
“More vibrantly alive than any piece of theatre I’ve seen
in Scotland for years.”
The Herald (on the National Theatre of Scotland ’s production The
Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart)
Venue: Tobacco Factory
Theatres
Age : 14+
Website :
Prices: £14 / £10 (Tues 19 all
preview tickets £10)
nationaltheatrescotland.com
Twitter : @NTSonline #RITES
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Dance Marathon
bluemouth inc.
Tue 19 - Thu 21 May
7pm
In Dance Marathon, there’s only one rule: keep moving your feet.
Award-winning Canadian theatre collective bluemouth inc. bring their
worldwide smash hit Dance Marathon to Mayfest. It’s theatre, it’s a
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
party, it’s a dance contest and it’s completely exhilarating.
Based on the 1930s Depression-era American dance marathons, you
are invited to dance the night away under the watchful eye of the
referee on roller-skates, the ticking clock and accompanied by live
music from our very own Dance Marathon house band.
In a three-hour endurance contest, compete with your fellow dancers to
be crowned Dance Marathon champion. Those with two left feet can
simply sit back and enjoy the fancy footwork.
bluemouth inc. create immersive site-specific performances that marry
choreography, text, original live music, and film.
Dance Marathon was originally produced in partnership with
Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Canada, through Harbourfront
Centre’s national commissioning programme, Fresh Ground new
works.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“To say that dance marathon breaks down the fourth
wall – the imaginary wall that separates the audience
from the performance in a traditional theatre – is an
understatement. It eliminates it.”
Vancouver Sun
Venue: The Trinity Centre
Prices: £17 / £13
Duration: 3 hours plus intervals
Age : All ages, and for anyone
between 14-90 who likes to
dance
Website: bluemouthinc.com
Twitter : @bluemouthinc
#dancemarathon
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Image Credit: Gabriele Zucca
Political Mother
Choreography & Music: Hofesh Shechter
Performed by: Hofesh Shechter Company
Tue 19 - Wed 20 May, 7.30pm
Wed 20 May, 7.30pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Pulsating live music, extraordinary ensemble sequences and cinematic
editing make Political Mother a dance experience like no other.
Performed by Shechter’s internationally acclaimed dancers, and
accompanied by his visceral score featuring a band of live drummers
and electric guitarists, Political Mother promises to draw audiences to
Shechter’s world. Astonishing unisons, percussive grooves and raw,
honest physicality mark him as one of the most exciting artists to
emerge in recent years.
Since exploding onto the dance scene, Shechter and his young and
talented dance company have established themselves as a leading
force in the UK dance scene. Nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts
Award in 2011, Political Mother brims with Shechter’s emotional and
gritty complexity.
Hofesh Shechter Company make their explosive Bristol debut with this
critically acclaimed dance work.
Political Mother is commissioned by Brighton Dome and Festival,
Sadler’s Wells and Movimentos – Festwochen der Autostadt in
Wolfsburg. The work is co-commissioned by Biennale de la Danse de
Lyon, Théâtre de la Ville, Romaeuropa and Mercat de les Flors.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“Part dance show, part Heavy-rock gig, hofesh
Shechter’s first ever Full-length work is an Audio-visual
marvel.”
Telegraph
“A work of galvanising challenging power”
The Guardian
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Age : 14+
Prices: £16 - £5
Website: hofesh.co.uk
Booking: 0117 987 7877
Twitter : @HofeshCo
Duration: 70 minutes
#politicalmother
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo Credit: circumstance
A Folded Path
circumstance
Tue 19 – Sat 23 May
8.30pm
A Folded Path is a pedestrian speaker symphony, a soundtrack for the
city, carried through the streets by you, experienced by everyone it
passes. Comprising of thirty custom-built, location-sensitive portable
loudspeakers, each playing a different element of originally composed
music. One might be playing a voice, another a sweeping violin or
glistening electronic tone. The work creates a stunning and evocative
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
cinematic layer over the city streets.
The audience, divided into groups, takes a different route through the
city, coming together at certain points to create moments of harmony
and resonance between them.
circumstance make intimate in-ear stories, subtlemobs, pedestrian
symphonies, science fiction theatre, music, and books that go beyond
the page. They work with the narrative of experience, the politics of
public space, sound and mobile technology. Supported by Watershed.
“This carefully choreographed meander of the streets
made for a bewitching evening, the haunting music a
brand new city soundtrack”
Bristol Culture
Venue: Watershed (meeting
point)
Duration: 45 – 50 minutes
Prices: £10 / £
Website:
wearecircumstance.com
Twitter : #afoldedpath
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
•
Image Credit: Alex Bradle
Surtitle
Alex Bradley & Bill Leslie with Jon Beedell
Tue 19 May
8pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Where am I? SURTITLE is not about...’oooh the lovely stage, the cast,
what an outstanding design, you really must let me know what you’re
doing next. And how is your real work going?’
SURTITLE is about a few things....the unknown, light and shade, bigbold words, communicating... but most of all it’s about you and me and
I’m really not too sure about you.
No disrespect but we’re not starting on the best of terms. You out there
in the dark and me with my arse on the line...
But me writing this might, just might mean you’ll take a punt. So for
your information... Alex is going to be walking backwards and forwards.
He does this really very well.
You can relax. Bill is probably not going to come as he is in Hollywood
shooting something super special with Oliver Stone.
Jon will be sitting still. He’s a total expert at this. We’re all looking
forward to it.
Alex Bradley is a Bristol based artist making small to large-scale works
in sound and light. He has toured internationally with group works and
solo projects. Alex is an In Between Time Associate Artist.
Bill Leslie was a founder of the seminal performance group These
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Horses which made many theatre and installation works nationally and
internationally.
Jon Beedell of Bristol based company Desperate Men regularly tours
the UK and Europe.
“By making the interaction effortless and invisible, their
work is infused with a sense of magic”
A Younger Theatre on Alex Bradley’s Field Test
Venue: Circomedia, Portland
Square
Duration: 40 minutes
Age :
16 +
Prices: £10 / £7
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit: Katherine Leedale
What happens to the hope at the end of the
evening
Tim Crouch and Andy Smith
Wed 20 - Thu 21 May
8pm
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
I want to start a revolution here. What happens to the hope at the end
of the evening is the latest collaboration between long-term friends and
award-winning theatre makers Tim Crouch and Andy Smith.
It is a story about this evening, one evening and every evening; a story
of two men meeting in the middle of their lives, and at the outer edges
of their friendship. As they strive for common ground – as they fight
and fail - as the wine is drunk and the world falls apart - the possibility
of the theatre as a place for community and change comes alive. From
the creators of An Oak Tree, The Author and Adler and Gibb comes
this spirited, funny and thought-provoking play about finding oneself
and finding togetherness.
Written and performed by Tim Crouch and Andy Smith.
Directed by Karl James.
An Almeida Festival 2013 Commission supported by Live at LICA.
“(A) brilliant piece of collaborative writing by two master
makers...”
The Scotsman
“Wonderful, original, powerful theatre.”
A Younger Theatre
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“it’s like a lo-fi my dinner with Andre... has an emotional
charge under its cool surface... propelled by a sense of
investigation into friendship, performance and identity. i
found it quietly thrilling.”
The Times
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Age : 15+
Prices: £12 / £8
Website :
Duration: 70 minutes
timcrouchtheatre.co.uk
Twitter: @timcrouch1964
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Wrecking Ball
Action Hero: work-in-progress
Wed 20 May
9.30pm
Wrecking Ball is a new piece by Action Hero, and is presented tonight as an
early work- in-progress. The piece is a text to be read by an audience and
two performers, and they’re telling a story about a male photographer and a
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
female celebrity. It’s a conversation about consent, authorship and putting
words in other people’s mouths, about what it really means to say ‘yes’.
Wrecking Ball began as an experiment at Counterpulse in San Francisco as
part of a Forest Fringe residency, working with the writer and director
Andrea Hart.
Commissioned by the Spring Festivals Commission 2015: Sprint, Watch
Out, Mayfest, Pulse and Latitude Festival. Developed with the support of
the National Theatre Studio, greenhouse, The Point, Eastleigh and The
West End Centre. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery
through Arts Council England. With special thanks to Andrea Hart.
Action Hero is the collaboration between Bristol based artists Gemma
Paintin and James Stenhouse. They make live art and performance that
seeks to use audiences as collaborators and co-conspirators.
“See why this maverick company, with its engaging diy
aesthetic, is attracting so much attention”
The Guardian
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Age : 14 +
Prices: £5
Website : actionhero.org.uk
Duration: 40 minutes
Twitter: @actionherolive
#wreckingball
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Secret Slowness of Movement
Laura Dannequin
Thu 21 May, 1pm - 6pm
“These arms of mine, they are burning Burning from wanting
you, these arms of mine. They are wanting, wanting to hold
you. And if you would let them hold you, Oh how grateful I will
be”
Otis Redding
The Secret Slowness of Movement is an invitation to slow dance, or slow be.
A refuge for quiet contemplation, a dance floor for anonymous embodied
slowness.
Bring a lover, friend or nemesis, or come alone. And together let us surrender
to the secret slowness.
Drop in at any time.
Laura Dannequin is a French-born Bristol based artist working predominantly
in and with movement. She is currently touring her solo Hardy Animal and is
associate director at Still House.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“Basically the most fun I’ve had in ages.” “invented new dance
moves. Joyous.”
Dance Dark Dance participants
Venue: Fyfe Hall (The Trinity
Centre)
Age : All welcome
Website : lauradannequin.co.uk
Prices: Free
Duration: 5 hours ( stay as long as
you want )
Photo credit dan canham
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Lippy
Dead Centre
Fri 22 May, 7.30pm Sat 23 May,
2.30pm and 7.30pm
Fifteen years ago in a small Irish town, four women decided to die. Over 40
days they prepared themselves for the end, destroying every trace of their
existence. They left nothing behind. So this is not their story. We’ve just put
words in their mouths. Dead Centre’s award-winning production brings
together fragments of tragic true events in a haunting and unforgettable way.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Created by Bush Moukarzel and Dead Centre Cameo playwright Mark O’
Halloran, winner of the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Production 2013.
Dead Centre was formed In 2012 in Dublin by Moukarzel, Adam Welsh and
Ben Kidd. They have made Souvenir (Dublin, London, New York), (S) Quark!
(Dublin, Russia) And Lippy. Their next work will premiere In Dublin In 2015
“Pushes at the limits of theatre”
Rowena Mcintosh, The List
“Extraordinary”
Time Out The Times
2014 Edinburgh Fringe first award winner
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Age : 14+
Prices: £16 - £5
Website : deadcentre.org
Duration: 90 minutes
@deadcentre #lippy
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
This is How We Die
Christopher Brett Bailey
Fri 22 - Sun 24 May
8pm
A motor-mouthed collage of spoken word and storytelling. Tales of paranoia,
young love and ultra-violence. From the desk of Christopher Brett Bailey
comes a spiraling odyssey of pitch-black humour and nightmarish prose.
With echoes of Lenny Bruce, William Burroughs, beat poetry and B-movies,
This Is How We Die is a prime slice of surrealist trash, an Americana death
trip and a dizzying exorcism for a world convinced it is dying...
Winner Of The Arches Brick Award 2014
Christopher Brett Bailey is a performer, writer and musician. He is the author
of two shows: THIS IS HOW WE DIE, and notorious “punk opera” The
Inconsiderate Aberrations of Billy the Kid. Supported by Arts Council England.
Commissioned by Ovalhouse, and made with support from the Basement,
Cambridge Junction and Norwich Arts Centre.
Part of the PHPC15 Cultural Programme, supported by the Wellcome Trust.
“Blisteringly Brilliant”
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Scotsman
“An absurd road movie of the soul cut with a razor wit &
bubbling paranoia”
The Guardian
Venue: Circomedia, Portland
Square
Age : 16+
Website :
Prices: £12 / £8
Duration: 70 minutes
christopherbrettbailey.com
@ct_bailey #thisishowwedie
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit Armin Friess
Warwick Arts Centre and China Plate Present
Confirmation
Written and performed by Chris Thorpe
Developed with and Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Fri 22 – Sun 24 May
8pm, 3pm Sat matinee
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
If you pinned me against a wall, I’d probably admit to being a liberal. Of
course, pinning me against a wall is exactly what I’d expect from someone like
you.
Confirmation is a show about the gulfs we can’t talk across, and about the
way we choose to see only the evidence that proves we’re right. In an election
year, where new voices have appeared in mainstream UK politics, Chris
Thorpe and The TEAM Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin examine the
phenomenon of confirmation bias through an honourable dialogue, real and
imagined, with political extremism.
To find out how we believe what we believe, and how we can end up so far
apart.
Fringe First award winner – 2014
China Plate is an independent theatre studio that works with artists, venues,
festivals and funders to make original, exciting theatre that plays with form
and has narrative at its heart.
Commissioned by Northern Stage and Battersea Arts Centre.
“Makes the brain both hurt and buzz”
The Guardian
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“Rachel Chavkin’s fast-moving, kinetic production offers us an
absolutely compelling performance from a man who is fast
becoming one of the most powerful performers in the UK”
The Scotsman
“Thorpe and director Rachel Chavkin energetically take a
liberal fringe audience to the edge of the abyss of belief and
hang them over the side in a conversation for our times.”
The Independent
Website: chinaplatetheatre.com
Venue: Bristol Old Vic Studio
Prices: £12 / £8
Twitter : @youroldchina
@piglungs #confirmation
Duration: 80 minutes
Age : 14 +
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Photo credit Catherine Hoffmann
A Place In The Sun
Tom Marshman
Sat 23 – Sun 24 May, 5pm
2pm - 5pm (Sun only)
Pull up a sun-lounger and enjoy your place in the sun. This all-inclusive
holiday experience offers the complete package of wrath, greed, sloth, pride,
lust, envy and gluttony, around the glorious pool. Tom Marshman went on a
holiday and viewed it through the filter of the seven deadly sins. From
lounging by the pool, to hedonistic nights out and all-you-can-eat buffets, in
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
his quest for ‘a place in the sun’ he discovered a world riddled with prejudice
and xenophobia.
A Place in the Sun explores the pleasure and pain, the highs and lows of allinclusive holidays.
Plus, take a break from your everyday life at Tom’s unique vacation club, a
day-time installation where you can share your holiday stories over a cocktail
or a cup of tea while relaxing on a sun lounger. Share your stories and
experiences of holidays on Tom’s interactive online platform:
www.tommarshman.com/aplaceinthesun/
Tom Marshman actively encourages dialogue with his audiences and
participants, aiming to create a safe space to share thoughts and
experiences. The results give very evocative and authentic glimpses into the
everyday.
Venue: Southbank Club
Age : 14+
Prices: £10 / £7
Website: tommarshman.com
Duration: 60 minutes
Twitter : @TommyMarshman
#PlaceSun
“One of the most exciting things about Marshman’s work is
his ability to pick a seemingly small subject and peel back the
layers to expose something unexpectedly profound.”
The Big Issue
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Hurtling
Greg Wohead
Sat 23 – Sun 24 May,
11.30am - 6pm
I have a message for you from the past.
Ok, it’s a message from this morning, so it may be the recent past. But it’s still
the past.
This is an invitation to remember a previous version of yourself, to imagine a
future version and to wonder who that makes you now. Hurtling is an outdoor
performance for one with a cassette player and headphones that is re-made
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
for each location in which it’s performed. It’s a glimpse of a fleeting moment
as it zooms past; an attempt to grasp at a slippery present.
Supported by Bristol Old Vic Ferment, The Yard and Hatch. A previous
version of Hurtling was supported by Waleslab, National Theatre Wales’ artist
development initiative.
“One of the best experiences I’ve had at this year’s fringe.”
The Guardian
Venue: Meet at Bristol Old Vic Box
Office
Age : 16 +
Website : gregwohead.com
Prices: £5
Twitter: @gregwohead #hurtling
Duration: Short one-on-one piece ,
advance booking essential
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Backseat of My Car (and Other Safe Places)
Greg Wohead
Sat 23 - Sun 24 May
7pm - 10pm
An interactive true storytelling piece for one audience member at a time that
takes place in a parked car. It’s about being a teenager and those moments
when you’re on the verge of something exciting.
It’s just me and you, and it kinda feels like something could happen.
Greg Wohead is a London-based writer, performer and live artist originally
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
from Texas. He has shown and developed work in the UK and internationally,
including with Battersea Arts Centre, Contact, Bristol Old Vic Ferment, MC
Amsterdam, and The Yard, London, where he’s an Artistic Associate.
“A truly intimate one- on-one coming of age journey”
Venue: Redcliffe Parade Car Park
Age : 16 +
Prices: £5
Website : gregwohead.com
Duration: Short one-on-one piece,
Twitter: @gregwohead
advance booking essential
#backseatofcar
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
UK Premiere
Pop – Up Love Party
Zuppa Theatre
Sat 23 – Sun 24 May
7.30pm
Pop-Up Love Party is a philosophical feast, a multisensory contemplation of
love and desire supplemented with a seven-course snack menu by Michelinstarred New York chef Daniel Burns.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
After making shows about dying family members, war, and the end of the
world, Zuppa decided to make a show that rattled and buzzed with joy.
Pursuing the thrill of late night conversation, flirtation and intellectual
illumination, Pop-Up Love Party is a riff on Plato’s Symposium – a classical
text about a drinking game and the surprising nature of erotic love.
The challenge is this: which of the Zuppa performers can best sway hearts
and minds? Who can capture the essence of Plato’s ancient words and make
arguments so vivid and current that they get you in the mind, in the guts, and
in the pants. Using a variety of theatrical devices and the power of
contemporary cuisine, the Zuppas will stop at nothing to seize the day in this
celebration of mind, body and love in the 21st century.
Zuppa Theatre Co. are an ensemble of artists based in Halifax, Canada. They
thrive on the play between the imagined and the real, and use visceral
experience to enhance or illuminate aspects of the everyday.
“Going to see a Zuppa show is like being a child playing makebelieve: anything is possible and profound observations arrive
like fireflies in the dark.”
The Chronicle Herald, Halifax
Venue: The Kitchen, Silver Street
Age : 18+
Prices: £25, including seven-
Website: zuppatheatre.com
course snack menu
Duration: 90 minutes
Twitter : @zuppatheatre
#PopUpLoveParty
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
UK Premiere
Fashion Machine
Theatre SKAM
Sat 23 – Sun 24 May
Would you let a child make you over? Well, now is your chance. Step inside
the Fashion Machine with this unique combination of performance, art and
design, where teams of local kids interview selected audience members who
then give up the clothes on their backs. The kids then have 55 minutes to
stitch, cut, sew, accessorize, and turn the brave audience members’ outfits
into new works of wearable fashion art. Live close-ups of the kids at work fill
one wall in a giant projected slideshow. The audience circles a Dr. Seussian
workshop space as the kids go wild. The climax is a fashion show where the
patrons don the new duds and walk the catwalk.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
\Interviews with the kids at the end of the night see them discussing the
creative choices that inspired chopped-off sleeves, altered necklines and
blinged-out accoutrements.
Get there early to pick up an “I’m In” sticker, and you may be lucky enough to
have your clothes redesigned (but remember, it’s permanent!). If you just want
to watch the spectacle, grab a chicken sticker and the kids will keep their
hands off.
“Theatre as it should be. Current, confrontational and
provocative.”
Victoria News Group
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
“Whatever theatre Skam touches seems to turn to theatrical
gold.”
NOW Magazine, Canada
Venue: Check website for details
Age : All ages
Prices: £7 / £5
Website: skam.ca
Duration: 2.5 hours
Twitter : @theatreskam
#fashionmachine
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Mayfest at the Wardrobe Theatre
We join forces once again with The Wardrobe Theatre to present a week of
fresh new performance from emerging artists and companies. This is an
opportunity to experience exciting new voices in intimate surroundings.
Previous Mayfest at The Wardrobe Theatre artists include Hannah Sullivan
(Echo Beach) and Verity Standen (Mmm Hmmm).
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Nothing
Barrel Organ
Mon 18 - Tue 19 May
8pm / £5
Nothing is more than a series of monologues. It is about – among other things
– cupcakes, action films, crap television, shitting, sex, buses and stalking.
It is about alienation and being young. Nothing is a game for performer and
audience, but it is also a serious interrogation of the structures within which
we live.
“Fresh and necessary”
The Guardian
barrelorgantheatre.co.uk
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Hours Before We Wait
Tremolo Theatre
Wed 20 - Thu 21 May, 8pm / £5
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
It’s 2091: We have the technology to control our dreams, we are never off the
grid, and we are humans 2.0. But we still sometimes eat cereal to avoid
shopping and finding love is still a nightmare. A sharp dystopian comedy
about dreaming, conspiracy and not letting anyone inside your head.
Particles
Josh Coates
Fri 22 May – 8pm
Sat 23 May – 5pm
£5
Particles is a humorous, playful one-man performance about apathy and
retracing the decisions that create who we are. A story about a man
who faces decisions that will affect everything. With each retelling, a different
path is chosen and the story expands into a glorious cacophony of love and
chaos.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Mayfest 2015
Opening Party
Bristol Old Vic Thu 14 May, 9pm until late Free (no need to
book)
Our free opening party at Bristol Old Vic is the perfect way to kick-start your
festival. Drop in for live music, drinking, dancing and a few surprises. You
should probably take the Friday off work, to be honest.
Mayfest Café
The Kitchen, Silver Street Thu 14 - Sun 24 May,
10am-5pm (1pm-5pm on Sun)
We’re teaming up with The Kitchen on Silver Street (also venue for Pop-Up
Love Party) to host this year’s Mayfest café. Serving delicious food and drink
all day, this is the place to go to get all the festival news at our Mayfest info
desk, and where you can meet, chat and re-charge throughout the festival.
thestationkitchen.co.uk
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Blind Tiger
Bristol Old Vic Basement Fri 15 - Sat 24 May
(Closed on Mon 18 May) 9.30pm until late Free (no need to
book)
The Blind Tiger is Mayfest’s late-night speakeasy cabaret bar. Kick off your
shoes after a long day at the festival, enjoy some relaxed entertainment, meet
like-minded souls and sup a cocktail or four. And if you’ve got a little
something you’d like to share on the Blind Tiger stage, simply email
julie@mayk.org.uk, or sign up on the night. Anything can happen, and it
usually does.
The Blind Tiger Cub
Bristol Old Vic Basement Sat 16
1pm-2pm & 3pm-4pm, Sun 17
Sat 23 and Sun 24 May, 1pm-4pm
Free (no need to book)
Our speakeasy open-mic cabaret reimagined for little people. If you’re older
than four, but not yet a grown-up, come down into the tiger’s den and do a
turn. You can just come and hang out, but it’s much more fun to join in. The
Blind Tiger Cub is a relaxed environment where children will entertain and be
entertained. Refreshments available. Sense of humour essential.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Get More From Mayfest
“Art is our democratic birthright ... don’t let anybody tell you
it’s not for you”
Jeanette Winterson
Sine the beginning of the year, we have been hosting a BBC Performing Arts
Fellow, Sarah Bentley. The fellowships are an opportunity for an emerging
arts professional to create a new project with an established organisation.
Sarah has been working with us on finding new ways to reach broader
audiences and to deepen engagement with the festival, whether that’s
through workshops, podcasts, talks, parties or events.
Sarah says, “Participating is not about being an expert; it isn’t about being
amazing, it’s about doing something that makes you smile; makes you think
for a moment that the world could be a different place. Like trying to dance for
two hours without stopping and laughing about it afterwards, or willingly giving
your clothes to a ten year old so they can feel like a fashion designer. Arts
and culture is an invaluable part of our society and we are all welcome to be
part of it.”
As Arthur O’Shaughnessy beautifully said: “We are the music makers. And we
are the dreamers of dreams.” To find out what Sarah has been up to and to
explore all the ways you can get more from Mayfest, visit our website at www.mayfestbristol.co.uk where there will be full details and Sarah’s blog.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Breakfast Talks
Join us for coffee and croissants at the Mayfest Café to chew over some
issues at our Breakfast Talks, designed to stimulate, inspire and provoke. Full
details of speakers will be announced on our website. If you would like to
attend, email rsvp@mayk.org.uk
All breakfast talks will be held in our café at The Kitchen on Silver Street.
Resilient Communities: How can the arts help make conversations about
death easier? Fri 15 May, 11am
What Does it Mean to Participate?
Sat 16 May
11am
The Future of Funding
Fri 22 May
11am
Presenting the Real
Sat 23 May
11am
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Rife Reports
Rife Magazine is a digital platform for the young people of Bristol made
entirely by the young people of Bristol. It’s a collaboration between Bristol
Youth Links and Watershed. It features blogs, vlogs, listicles, articles, gifs and
opinion from content creators under 24. This year, Rife will be unleashing their
journalists on the festival with some exclusively-created content.
www.rifemagazine.co.uk
Mayfest Soap Box
Mayfest Soap Box is an opportunity for young people to get a burning issue
off their chest, to talk about what matters to them. The Soap Box will be
popping up at venues and sites throughout the festival.
See www.mayfestbristol.co.uk
Post Show Discussions
French & Mottershead: Afterlife (Woodland), 17 May, 3pm
National Theatre of Scotland: Rites, 20 May 7.30pm and 21 May 12.30pm
Tim Crouch and Andy Smith: What happens to the hope at the end of the
evening, 21 May
Christopher Brett Bailey: This is How We Die, 23 May
Chris Thorpe: Confirmation, 23 May
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Thank You
Ali Robertsonandall at Tobacco Factory Theatres
Anna Pollard at Wellcome Trust
Annie Warburton
Arthur Tibbs
Ben Silvey at The Kitchen
Clare Reddington and all at the Pervasive Media Studio
David Hendy
Dick Penny
Emma Edwards
Emma Stenning,
Tom Morris, Jonathan Harper and all at Bristol Old Vic
Esther Mars at Bristol Walking Festival
Gary Hills
Interval
Jack Gibbon at Antlers Gallery
Jaswinder and Holly at Asian Arts Agency
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Jess Newton at Southbank Club Jonathan at NCP
Jon Dovey
Jon Opie and Shonagh Manson at Jerwood Charitable Foundation
Julian Abel and Liz Rees
Lottie Donovan
Martin Booth at Bristol 247
Matt Whittle, Jesse Meadows and all at The Wardrobe Theatre
Miriam O’Keefe at BBC Performing Arts Fund
Mr Cox
Nikki Morgan at Forestry Commission
Phil Gibby, Nick Green and Phil Hindson at Arts Council England
Rebecca Fitzgerald and Joe Mapson at Circomedia
Rhiannon Jones at Trinity
Roger East
Ruth Gooding at the National Trust
Sarah Jane Murray
Tanuja Amarasuriya, Katie Keeler, Emma Jane Benning and Sarah Kingswell
at Theatre Bristol
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
The Orca Design Co.
The team at St Nicholas Market
Tom Wainwright
And to all of you, too many to mention, who make a difference to what we do.
Mayfest is produced by MAYK in collaboration with Bristol Old Vic and
organisations across the city. Funded by Arts Council England, Bristol City
Council, Wellcome Trust and Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
Funders
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Partners
Venues, Booking & Ticket Deals
Bristol Old Vic
Book tickets for all shows except The Wardrobe Theatre
0117 987 7877
bristololdvic.org.uk
King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED
All credit card bookings (phone / online / in person at the box office) are
subject to £1.50 booking fee
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Tobacco Factory Theatres
Book tickets for Rites and The Wardrobe Theatre
0117 902 0344
tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Raleigh Road, Bristol, BS3 1TF
No booking fees
Circomedia
Portland Square, Bristol, BS2 8SJ
The Trinity Centre
Trinity Road, Bristol, BS2 ONW
Bristol 2015 Lab
Anchor Road Bristol BS1 5TX
Leigh Woods
Leigh Woods, Bristol, BS8 3PZ
Bristol Marriott Hotel
City Centre
2 Lower Castle Street, Old Market, Bristol BS1 3AD
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Redcliffe Parade Car Park
Redcliffe Parade BS1 6SW
Southbank Club
Dean Lane, Bristol, BS3 IDB
The Kitchen
The Station Silver Street, Bristol, BS1 2AG
The Wardrobe Theatre
Above The White Bear 113 St Michael’s Hill High Kingsdown Bristol
BS2 8BS
thewardrobetheatre.com
Watershed (meeting
point)
1 Canon’s Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Mayfest 4-for-3
See more of Mayfest! Book four shows for the price of three. Cheapest free.
Mayfest Festival Pass
See as many shows as you can in the Mayfest programme for £130.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877
Groups
Club together with friends and save money: buy ten tickets (for the same
show) and get the 11th ticket free.
Please contact Bristol Old Vic Box Office for further information on all ticket
deals.
Offers apply to all shows except shows at The Wardrobe Theatre. All offers
subject to availability. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
To book: mayfestbristol.co.uk 0117 987 7877