After 10 years at The Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, the Voila! theatre festival is set to return and will be relaunched on a much larger scale.

From November 4 to 24, the festival will be reborn as a new multi-venue, panlingual festival reflecting a wide range of cultures, histories and aesthetics, with challenge and change at the forefront. Throughout its programming, the Voila! Theatre Festival continues its ethos of welcoming artists and audiences, even as it grows in scope and ambition.

Venues will include Applecart Arts, Barons Court Theatre, Camden People’s Theatre, The Playground Theatre, The Questors Theatre, The Space Theatre, Theatre Deli, Upstairs at the Gatehouse and of course The Cockpit, with the aim of providing a launchpad for early career artists working in theatre, showcasing their work across the capital.

With a focus on programming in as many languages ​​as possible, Voila will feature three weeks of performances, scratch parties, livestreams, workshops and events that will include a wide range of performances from around the world. The programme is panlingual, multidisciplinary and fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

In order to attract as wide an audience as possible, the works are presented in 35 different languages, with half of the works performed in English and at least one other language. This is part of an effort to achieve one of the aims of this collaborative festival model: to enable concert halls to engage more with their local non-English speaking communities, to encourage local people to become more involved in the arts, and to provide a space for social cohesion, support and a gathering to share cultural interests. The full programme is of course fully accessible to English speakers, with subtitles/surtitles provided for works not performed in English.

Here is a small selection of the wide range of work on offer:

· THE COCKPIT: Postdramatic by Thekla Gaiti (winner of the Thessaloniki Fringe Exchange Award) about an urban swimmer searching for the sea and a woman searching for her identity in a fragmented, absurd and ridiculous world. And Stampin in the Graveyard (directed by artist Elisabeth Gunawan, who won the Stage Debut Award for her Voila 2021 show Unforgettable Girl) where we meet Rose – an AI chatbot who gives advice for the end of the world, fuelled by the memories of people whose worlds have already ended.

· THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man – adapted and directed by the award-winning and internationally acclaimed Lithuanian director Saulius Varnas. The play is based on F. Dostoevsky’s short story “A Ridiculous Man” and tells the story of a man who contemplates ending his life, but falls asleep and dreams of a utopian Earth, then decides to preach his dream to the world. The play will be accompanied by a 3-day workshop, a masterclass for theatre makers led by the acclaimed director.

o The Playground will also host a special event – a conference on the social and political responsibility of the theatre artist featuring leading European and British theatre makers, directors and playwrights sharing their ideas on social responsibility and the transformative power of theatre, who will engage in thought-provoking discussions, reflect on the social and political role of theatre makers and explore how we can develop a new universal theatrical language.

· BARON’S COURT THEATRE: Hide, a play about a pregnant woman who fantasizes about her unborn daughter’s future, knowing one thing for sure: that future will be anything but trouble-free. The sea level is rising, the rain is relentless and the earth is drying out. And Gen X Has Left the Chat, where we see a group of parents organising a school party via Whatsapp. Things get complicated when one parent claims that his son is being bullied. Then “someone shares a photo that is clearly intended for another group…” A comedy about screen addiction and generational divides, part of “Flip Through Flanders”; an initiative for the translation of plays from Flemish.

· THEATRE DELI: Sharing is Caring: The European Dream – A London squat is dismantled. What began as a tight-knit multicultural community with dreams of utopian cohabitation is transformed into an open fire zone where no one is safe. This metaphor for Europe examines our political legacy and the challenges of conflict resolution amid polarized identities and increasing diversity. (Sharing is Caring was selected for Theatre Deli’s annual Development Residency program which offers financial support, space to work and create art, and meetings with the organization’s staff to support the project and the artist.)

· APPLECART ARTS: I Didn’t Know I Was Polish – (which debuted at Voila! as part of its Miniatura scratch night); A timely journey through the complexities of identity and heritage, the work offers fast-paced, comedic storytelling and heartbreaking realizations about borders, self-worth, and what it means to come from a place you’ve never been.

· THE QUESTORS THEATRE: Where We Meet – at Questors, an interactive dance performance where the audience can hear the characters’ inner thoughts. Breaking taboos around mental health, the piece creates an empathetic and intimate experience, as the audience walks through the space, using innovative location-based technology.

CAMDEN PEOPLE’S THEATRE: The World of Yesterday – an experimental cabaret exploring the life of Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zwelg, who lived through Europe’s descent into two world wars. Through the use of verbatim theatre and projection, audiences will explore life caught between death and destruction, interwoven with music and tragedy. (Director Anya Ostrovskaia won the 2023 VAULT Festival Innovation Award for her show Theatre of Gulags.)

· THE SPACE THEATRE: Sub Titles Over – October 1st, 2017, 3am. There is a knock at the door. A few hours before the referendum for Catalan independence, two anti-fascist activists hold hands in the dark, waiting for the Spanish police to arrive at any moment… A one-woman show that uses subtitles almost as another character, exploring the potential for control and manipulation of subtitles within monolingual communities.

· UPSTAIRS AT THE DOORMAN: Everyone Has to Be Somewhere – A unique live intermedia performance where time-traveling artists reshape their existence on stage. Two characters caught between the past and the future meet in the present, writing their narrative as a series of dynamic and unpredictable events that transform the trajectory of their lives. (An intergenerational collaboration between emerging Chinese artist Xi Chen and Station House Opera director Julian Maynard Smith who has worked at the intersection of theatre and visual arts since 1980.)

Amy Clare Tasker, Co-Director of Voila! Theatre Festival, says: “We are thrilled to present this new and improved Voila! Theatre Festival. Our aim with Voila! is to connect the outposts, the hubs, the individuals, the avant-gardes and the emerging theatrical energy – wherever it happens, whoever is organising it and whatever language is used.”

Katharina Reinthaller, Co-Director of Voila! Theatre Festival, said: “We are extremely proud of the first year of programming for this new incarnation of Voila! And we are particularly proud to highlight the inclusion of artists and audiences who do not speak English at home and are therefore excluded from cultural life in England, noting that language is a barrier to their engagement with the arts in London. London is home to the richest mosaic of cultures, with around 287 ethnic groups and nationalities residing here, and up to 30% of Londoners speaking a language other than English as their first language. This means that many people have little access to local venues as audiences for work they can relate to in their native language. We are honoured to present a counterbalance to the status quo.”

Cockpit director Dave Wybrow says: “There you have it! and all the theatres involved in this new incarnation of the festival have long focused on building small, independent theatre companies. The loss of VAULT this year, the challenges of Brexit, COVID, rising costs and confused funding priorities have all damaged London’s support for local theatre making.

We want initiatives like Voilà! to demonstrate that there are still ways for dedicated theatre makers to develop their careers with the support of the city’s fringe theatres, helping to breathe new life into the performing arts in London and the creative industries beyond, and providing a springboard for the theatre makers and cultural industry professionals of tomorrow.”

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