What to see at Incoming Festival

With 20 shows across ten days, the hope is that Incoming Festival offers something for everyone. All tickets are still just £5 and we work hard to make the whole festival as affordable as possible. I feel like a parent being asked to choose a favourite child when someone asks for recommendations, but here are some festival shows that I’m especially looking forward to.

Cosmic Fear, or The Day Brad Pitt Got Paranoia

Empty Deck’s Then Silence was my favourite show at last year’s Incoming, and was shortlisted for the Peter Brook emerging company award. The company specialises in Nordic plays, and I’m very excited to see what Kay Michael and her cast made of this piece from Danish writer Christian Lollike.

Runs 3 July at 7pm. More information and tickets here.

Letters to Windsor House

Any company brave enough to call themselves Sh!t Theatre deserves your fiver, surely? The brilliant Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit are a welcome return for Incoming. Sh!t Theatre presented riotous feminist rant Women’s Hour last year, and now they’re back and tackling the housing crisis. I saw a scratch of their other new show, Dollywould, at Mayfest in Bristol, and they are on fine form. Expect politics, ranting and music.

Runs 27 June at 8.30pm. More information and tickets here.

Ross & Rachel

A huge hit in Edinburgh last year, we’re delighted to have MOTOR and James Fritz’s Ross & Rachel as part of Incoming. It features an absolutely storming performance from Molly Vevers, and was one of my stand-out shows of the Fringe last year. It’s sold out, but those with an eye on Twitter (@incomingfest) might be able to snap up some extra tickets next week…

Runs 28 June at 8.30pm. More information and tickets here.

Snakes and Giants

We’re really delighted to welcome Flanagan Collective to London, for their Incoming debut. This self-confessed "rag-tag" bunch of writers, musicians, makers and performers bring their gorgeous melange of story and music down from Yorkshire, and will be well worth a visit. I was blown away by Beulah in Edinburgh a few years ago, and have been following the company’s work ever since.

Runs 25 June at 7pm. More information and tickets here.

Theseus Beefcake

The name alone is enough to recommend this show! Panic Lab work across performance and contemporary dance, in this case exploring masculinity and friendship. If you’re looking for an exciting young company doing something a bit different, then this is the show for you.

Runs 30 June at 8.30pm. More information and tickets here.

As well as these five picks, we’ve got a new work from Breach Theatre (whose The Beanfield was the toast of Edinburgh last year); a return for Bristol-based Bucket Club with their new show, Fossils; Eurohouse, a collaboration between Antler and Fellswoop looking at the referendum; a new show from Peter Brook award-winners Kandinsky, and PonyBoy Curtis with their show-come-gig. Throw in some more Edinburgh hits and some exciting debuts, and that pretty much fills up the festival.

With Wimbledon looking likely to be a wash-out this year, why not hide from the rain and spend your fiver on exciting new theatre instead of hideously over-priced strawberries? It’s a jam-packed ten days, and we really hope to see you there. I’ll be the one with a G&T in one hand, and a box office report in the other…

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By Eleanor Turney

Incoming Festival runs at the New Diorama Theatre from 24 June to 3 July.