Supported by Arts Council England, our third festival will once again shine a light on inspirational women from theatre and the arts. Our event aims to empower women from within our industry and put them centre stage to celebrate female talent, our creative contributions to the arts, and highlight our achievements.
Our four-day festival is jampacked with inspirational figures, new plays, conversation, discussions and so much more. We still have more work to do and aspects to confirm, but we can tell you the exciting line up so far:
Wednesday 16th
Champagne reception and keynote speech with Winsome Pinnock. Performances written by Rosemary Hill and Suzette Coon, plus a Q&A panel with Lynda Rooke (Equity President and Chair), Winsome Pinnock (playwright), Polly Kemp (Director of ERA 50:50 and Women in Theatre Lab), Jenny Sealey OBE (Artistic Director at Graeae), Jennifer Tuckett (Director of Women in Theatre Lab) and Suzette Coon (playwright).
Thursday 17th
Performances written by Emma Burnell, Sian Rowland, Tam Gilbert and Subika Anwar Khan, plus Q&A panel Subika Anwar Khan (playwright), Judith Jacob (actor), Emma Burnell (playwright) and Sian Rowland (playwright), Tam Gilbert (playwright)
Friday 18th
Performances written by Carly Halse and Lisa Stenhouse, Chloe Wade and Q&A with Chloe Todd Fordham (award-winning playwright) Carly Halse (playwright), and Lisa Stenhouse (playwright) and Rosemary Hill ( Artistic Director of The Play’s The Thing)
Saturday 19th
A talk with Lesley Gannon from The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. Performances from MK College/Haste, Suzette Coon, and Rosemary Hill. A Q&A panel with Rosemary Hill (The Play’s The Thing) Carly Halse (playwright) and Sian Rowland (playwright) and Chloe Wade (playwright) plus a closing speech from Suzette Coon.
We are incredibly proud to host this festival for the third time in our home city at the wonderful MK Gallery, which gives a platform to these highly inspirational women.