A Female-Led Festival Produced and Presented by The Playground Theatre

Creative Producer and Curator: Naomi Sorkin | Producer & GM: Helena Hipolito | Associate Producer: Raminder Kaur | Associate Producer: Myriam Cyr | Chloe Nelkin PR | Marketing Holly-Anne White

Women's Voices: A Celebration (WVAC) is a pioneering & inspiring festival to coincide with International Women's Day. The event brings together a diverse & exceptional group of female artists from multiple art forms- theatre, music, dance & literature, exhibitions, talks, performances & workshops with communities. 

The lineup features a host of remarkable women from various creative disciplines, each distinguished by their unique voices and powerful storytelling.

Directed by Myriam Cyr

Performed by Imogen Stubbs, Kamini Banga, Myriam Cyr & Kristin Winters

A 17th century Nun writes the greatest love letters ever written, providing women with an arena for change, four centuries later a woman from India embarks on her own journey of discovery.

“Madame Ida” 

A film by Lisa Forrell | with Q&A 

(a short film shot in 35mm)

Star of the Ballet Russes opposite Nijinsky, Ida Rubinstein epitomised the Belle Epoque.

With Naomi Sorkin as IDA, Celia Imrie, Maryam D'Abo and Angélique Rivoux

Produced by Parkville Pictures

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“What I Am” 

A Film by Jackie Oudney | with Q&A 

A woman suffers amnesia after an accident at home, embarking on a journey of self-discovery that leads to the reclamation of her agency... but with a twist!

Writer/Director: Jackie Oudney Producer: Victoria Watson Actors: Christine Bottomley, Anita Vetesse, Silvie Furneaux

Celebrating the life of this legendary artist on what would have been her 86th birthday. Screening a rarely seen 1979 documentary ‘Lynn Seymour in a class of her own’ by Karin Altman and accompanied by a panel discussion with those who knew and worked with her.

Creative Producer and Curator: Naomi Sorkin 

A 4 part CBS Limited Series by Tina Andrews

Starring Sam Neil, Carmen Ejogo, Diahann Carroll, Mario Van Peebles

Paris, 1784. Thomas Jefferson was appointed U.S. Ambassador to France. Sally Hemings was his beautiful slave at Monticello. What happens when she escorts his young daughter to Paris where there is no slavery? And what happens when he returns with her to become the third President of the United States?

1986 Academy Award Best Feature Documentary | New 4K Restoration

Unseen for decades, Brigitte Berman’s Oscar-winning documentary about the mercurial bandleader returns to the screen for it's European premiere in a pristine new restoration. An entertaining documentary that is much more than a jazz film - it’s the insightful story of a brilliant and complex individual.

“Beware of what you wish for in your youth, you may be so unfortunate as to get it. I got it and I realized it was not what I wanted.” Artie Shaw

Two artists. He loves power, she loves words. A play about the dynamics of a turbulent marriage, and the tensions between denial and truth.

Set in North London, Alba Arikha's searing new play, Spanish Oranges, is about the unraveling of a marriage. When a journalist comes to interview Fiona about the publication of her long awaited novel, Ivo will attempt to sabotage her career. A play about art, trust, and the fragility of love.

Featuring award-winning composer and pianist Alla Sirenko, the only Ukrainian composer to have her work performed at the Royal Opera House. Alla performs arias, Ukrainian songs and original music with renowned soprano Lyubov Kachala for her British premiere, direct from the Lviv Opera House.

Choreopoem Monologue Play by Carol Leeming MBE FRSA staged reading & Q&A with Anni Domingo

Dread: causing awful terror, horrific, strong feelings of worry, anxiety or differently feelings of awe, of being greatly regarded Who will ask, who will call?

A solo performance, an exploration, using word, sound, music, physical theatre and still digital visuals, to create a liminal space, to explore a little known in reality, a single act of egregious immensity. Will the Cycle Be Unbroken? This choreopoem play, The Dreadful Dance of Ms. Iniquity, inspired by the violent death of George Floyd, #BLM Black Lives Global Movement and written during the Covid 19 Lockdown. It is presented on the 5th year anniversary in 2025 of these tragic and momentous events.

Carol will be interview by Anni on the creation of her choreopoem play and will interview Anni about her first novel Breaking the Maafa Chain based on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta (Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter), taking us on a journey of loss, survival, hope, identity and tradition.

Created and Directed by Kristin Winters | Devised and Performed by Sarah Kent, Gabrielle Moleta, and Kristin Winters | Sound by Florence Hand | Musical Director Gemma Storr | This is a Bound By Theatre Production.

A multi-generational female ensemble combine physical performance, soundscapes, and visceral imagery in a contemporary exploration of St Hildegard of Bingen, 12th century visionary, composer, and poet.

‘it is difficult not to get swept up in this show, which is sometimes exquisitely moving.’ Lou Reviews

Closing the festival is ‘Gloria: A Life’, starring the legendary Stockard Channing as Gloria Steinem.
This staged play is written and directed by Tony, Emmy and multi-award-winning director and playwright Emily Mann who was recently inducted into the ‘American’ Theatre Hall of Fame.

Act II of ‘Gloria: A Life’ is an immersive Talking Circle, engaging with these vital themes of feminism and activism.

The Women's Voices: a celebration's season opens with an exhibition of “ The Divine Feminine” by Aimee Birnbaum

Aimee focuses on the feminine allure in figures such as the mysterious Dark Lady of Shakespeare, Lilith, and the Shekinah, As well as painting goddesses and mythic women Aimee is fascinated by the stand out personalities of pre-war cafe society and its craze for tango and cabaret.

THIS IS A FREE EXHIBITION 

Location: The Playground Theatre

Written by RB8 | Directed by PB Whistle

Three women connected by blood, spanning over three generations. One running. One yearning. One with a calling. Each must go on a journey if they are to find peace and resolution within themselves.

To date, a significant number of children in the DRC are used as combatants, transports, spies, chefs or sexual slaves within the armed groups and militias. The LOST Lombi lifts the lid on the recruitment of child soldiers while exploring identity, the generational trauma of war, the necessity of belonging and the importance of forgiveness.

Director Eve Lamb | Assistant Director Rachel Sweeney |  Dramaturg Mia Dangerfield & Elizabeth Green | Producer Emmett Hughes

with Emmett Hughes - Gemma | Stephanie Christodoulidou - Maeve / The Banshee | Emilia Sullivan - Rosie / Bassline Boggart | Ellie Philpott - The Old Oak Tree / Spore / Snerch

Faever Dream is a dramedy about Bipolar II, sapphic love, rave culture and the desperation to find childlike magic in your adult life; no matter the cost.

The play is in the very early stages of development and welcomes lots of audience feedback! 

Ample Aggression Productions is excited to welcome you into the magical realm of the Rave Fairies. Expect fairy dust, EDM, drag, and lots of ridiculousness.

What does Taylor Swift have in common with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec? What about Auguste Rodinand and Bill T. Jones? They were each inspired by Loïe Fuller, the American inventor and pioneer of modern dance who revolutionized the visual culture of the early 20th century.

Written by Lorraine Liscio & Mryriam Cyr | Directed by Myriam Cyr

Executive Producer Brian Cox 

Composed by Darren Berry

Performed by Nicole Ansari-Cox, Maryam D'Abo, Peter Tate, Robin Kermode & Darren Berry

When Voltaire and Emilie du Chatelet fall in love, sparks fly, a revolution is born and Einstein's quantum theory of light is born. A play about Sex, love, and Science.

With Alba Arikha & Arianna Branca

A combination of reading from Arikha's acclaimed novel 'Two Hours' (Eris Press),  a love story set in 1980's Paris and London, interspersed with Et Tout Ça, a mother/daughter duet of French songs about Paris.

'A literary masterpiece of grace and weight' - The Irish Times

'Alba Arikha takes us magically into the very heart of a woman’s experiences' Edmund White

“The Nightmare” by Clare Davidson & Will Thomas Freeman

“Here I Stand” & "To My Dear Idealist" by Csilla Toldy

‘Dual’ by Maggie Razavi

What's the best business you can establish in Gaza? Hajja Souad knows about business: she has survived decades of war, displacement and oppression through making shrouds for the dead. Compelling, moving, inspired by a real-life character in Gaza, delving deep into the lives of ordinary Palestinians.

“I don’t remember exactly when things with us started to go properly wrong – I just remember suddenly finding myself in it.” The Playground Theatre offers a unique, unmissable opportunity to see this seminal, necessary play by Dennis Kelly and directed by Emily Raymond

Maggie Cole, Harriet Walter and Katharine Dain perform in a musical evening “Jane Austen & Colette: Writers and Musicians” featuring excerpts from the work of these two iconic female authors. 

Music Score: Haydn, Cramer, Gluck, Storace, Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc and Lerner/Loewe.

 ‘Jane Austen/Colette does something close to my heart in that it adds layers of understanding to our appreciation of these two great women of letters. Hearing their music, knowing that I will have the chance to speak their fine words, is a double delight.’ Harriet Walter 

Written by Maria Vigar | Directed by Anastasia Revi | Music composed or arranged by Louis de Bernières

Yearning for love in youth is irresistible - in a foreign land it’s fearsome.