Without Walls’ 2019 outdoor arts programme is the largest ever to tour to festivals across England. Almost forty shows spanning dance, theatre, circus and family-friendly performances will tour to over twenty-seven festivals and outdoor events.
This national network will tour high-quality outdoor performances to new regions, reaching even more audiences for free. The 2019 touring programme includes the premieres of seventeen new shows that are touring to nine Without Walls Artistic Directorate festivals, plus over twenty-one companies taking established works to festivals and events run by eighteen different organisations, all part of a new Touring Network Partnership.
Audiences across England will be able to see the debut of new shows from Apocalyptic Circus; Initiative DKF; Joss Arnott Dance; Justice in Motion; Kapow Dance Theatre Company; Mimbre; Motionhouse; Newtons Ladder; Plunge Boom; Ray Lee; Spitz & Co; Stopgap Dance Company; Talawa Theatre Company; Thingimujig Theatre; Tickertape Parade; Upswing and Wild N Beets at five Without Walls festivals before they embark on nationwide tours.
Furthermore, Eighteen Touring Network Partners (TNP) that have newly joined Without Walls will present Without Walls outdoor arts performances of all scales across the year, increasing their regional profile with exceptional free outdoor arts. These shows have proven adept at reaching those who do not take part in traditional arts activity and will be presented at summer festivals and winter celebrations, extending the festival season to cover ten months of the year. Outdoor performances touring include shows by Luke Jerram, Mind the Gap and Highly Sprung, programmed as part of various 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Moon Landing happening across England; street theatre from Artizani, Wild N Beets and Plunge Boom; meticulous dance from Humanhood and Far from the Norm, acrobatics from Joli Vyann, circus from Gandini Juggling and Hikapee; family-friendly shows from A Bird in the Hand Theatre and Helen Eastman Productions, and more.
Michael Buffong, Artistic Director, Talawa Theatre Company said “In its thirty-three years, The Tide is Talawa Theatre Company’s first-ever show created exclusively for outdoor performance. The Tide takes us out of a traditional theatre space, enabling us to explore the narratives and experiences of migration within The United Kingdom whilst holding a mirror to an evolving British culture. We’re delighted to have this opportunity to develop and tour this piece to outdoor festivals across England, thanks to the support from Without Walls.”
Josephine Burns, Chair, Without Walls said: “Without Walls has spent just over a decade investing in new work and supporting festivals and events across England, and the demand continues to increase. Artists and companies, like Talawa, are excited by the chance to make a new kind of relationship with audiences and the growth in the festival network is powered by people’s enthusiasm for and recognition of the quality of the work they see – there, in their streets, places transformed, no barriers to entry, is the magic of a shared experience.”
The extensive touring programme in 2019 comes at an exciting time for Without Walls, which recently announced the expansion of its network from eighteen to thirty-six festivals – becoming England’s largest network of outdoor festivals. Complementing the nine Artistic Directorate festivals and eighteen Touring Network Partners are eight new Creative Development Network partners – which receive mentoring and development support from Without Walls to support the growth of high-quality outdoor arts performance programmes for the future, and 101, Corn Exchange Newbury’s dedicated creation space for outdoor arts. The momentous growth of the network has been made possible with investment from Arts Council England (ACE), which awarded Without Walls National Portfolio Organisation status 2018 – 2022; fantastic recognition for the value of exceptional outdoor performances – enabling on-going commissioning of radical, surprising and thrilling outdoor work to attract more people to free events in places where they live, work and play.
For more information about the work touring visit the programmes page.
For press enquiries contact Matthew James Belfield, Communications Manager.