Theatre News

Full line-up announced for Greenwich and Docklands International Festival

The festival will feature performances from South Korea, Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands

The Cutty Sark will play host to Compagnie des Quidams' FierS à Cheval
The Cutty Sark will play host to Compagnie des Quidams' FierS à Cheval
© Paul Hudson (Flickr)

The full line-up for this year's Greenwich and Docklands International Festival has been announced.

The annual outdoor theatre festival, which is entering its 22nd year, will run from 23 June to 8 July at various venues around Greenwich.

French street theatre company Compagnie des Quidams' will open the festival with FierS à Cheval, which will feature nine, luminous, 3.5m high inflatable horses at the Cutty Sark.

Greenwich Fair will return to the top of Greenwich Park Hill with 30 productions, marking 160 years since it was banned and the 20th anniversary of the inscription of Maritime Greenwich on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The programme will feature outdoor productions from South Korea, and a new immersive theatre experience from Belgian company Captain Boomer. The fair will also include Out In The Streets, a series of events marking the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

Dancing City will take over Canary Wharf on 1 July and will see international dance performances including artists from South Korea, the Netherlands, Spain and France. This will be followed by Sense of Unity, a procession of illuminated drummers and giant puppets along Roman Road.

From 6 to 8 July, All Roads Lead to Woolwich will combine theatre, dance and music groups including Avant Garde Dance Company, Rosie Kay Dance Company and Arensky Chamber Orchestra in unusual locations across the district.

Tilted Productions will present promenade performances of Belonging(s) in Thamesmead from 6 to 8 July. The site-responsive piece will explore memory and place in a community undergoing rapid regeneration and transformation.

Previously announced productions include Belgian company De Roovers' UK premiere of their adaptation of Arthur Miller's A View from The Bridge (22 to 25 June); IOU Theatre and their bus journey Rear View (29 June to 2 July); Far From The Norm present Da Native, an exploration of identity and diversity in a post-Brexit Britain (24 and 25 June); Thrill Laboratory's VR Playground (24 and 25 June); Wild N Beats' game show Bingo Lingo; Mark Smith's Deaf Men Dancing in Corazón a Corazón; and Compagnie Off's The Colour of Light (8 July).

The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival runs from 23 June to 8 July in locations across Royal Greenwich, Docklands and Tower Hamlets.