Blueprint Festival Comes to Queen's Theatre Hornchurch in September

Queen's Theatre Hornchurch has announced the full programme for its extraordinary fortnight of new and unusual theatre. Blueprint: a festival of new ideas runs at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch from 12 to 24 September 2022.

Mathew Russell, Chief Executive of Queen's Theatre Hornchurch said: "We're delighted to be confirming the full programme for Blueprint. The conversations we've been having with some brilliant artists about the festival over recent weeks have been so inspiring and we can't wait ‎for you to experience theatre at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch in some entirely different ways. Some of the work is designed for small numbers, so book now to avoid disappointment. Although they'll be plenty of opportunities to discover some things nearer the time too."

The full programme is:

A Different Class by Kenny Emson

Tag's out with the lads on his last night before he leaves to go to university. The car crawl in Southend. But the empty seat in the car where his mate Luke should be sitting in is playing on his mind. That and the fact they've agreed to an illegal race at midnight against a Cowboy in a Honda Civic.

An exploration of mental health, masculinity and working-class culture. With a drum and bass soundtrack that will blow the doors off the theatre - literally!

In addition, during Blueprint, Kenny Emson will be offering two free writing workshops.

Centre Stage

Join us for our very first ever Centre Stage event, showcasing the greatest of Essex/East London deaf/disabled and neuro-divergent talent in an evening of fun, community, and raffle prizes! We will have a headliner performance, food and drinks.

Final Farewell by Sudha Bhuchar

Final Farewell is a moving theatrical experience that captures the voices of individuals and a little black pug in four poignant audio stories from Tara Theatre. Each of these stories has been carefully crafted by writer Sudha Bhuchar, who has spoken and listened in depth to real people's memories and accounts of their loved ones who were lost during Covid-19.

As you wander with friends and other community members, you'll hear the imagined voices and stories of Shahin, Baby Han, Ann and Oberon in a truly immersive and unique experience. At the conclusion of the experience, we will gather at the tree installation where you will be able to take some time to reflect on your own memories of loved ones and commemorate their lives.

Food For Thought

A series of three micro plays from commissioned playwrights all from the Global Majority. Each play will feature two actors and after the performance there will be an open discussion with the audience. This is an opportunity to encourage new local talent and voices into the theatre we do not get to hear often.

Frostiana: A Sensory Experience by Kate Lovell

Take a trip back in time to London's Little Ice Age when the Thames froze over, and Frost Fayres celebrated this once in an eon phenomenon. Join us in an icy grotto hidden within Queen's Theatre Hornchurch for a frosty feast for the senses.

In This Smoking Chaos by Laura Ann Price

Experience the power of design-led performance with a profound exploration of life over 31 scenes. Audiences are invited to follow a solitary figure that shifts through time and space. In This Smoking Chaos combines both the physical and dynamic digital space with raw and intuitive forms of emotion. In This Smoking Chaos is a durational piece performed as one continuous transition - there will be no definitive beginning or end.

Rice and Peas

The first major production for Blouse & Skirt! is Rice & Peas - a three-course, three-act immersive dining experience. Come and celebrate the ten-year anniversary of local family restaurant, Fig & Oil, being open - and allow each course to transport you back in time to discover the heartache and courage it took so many to start a new life in Great Britain. Grenada, 1948. Figgy and Edith enjoy a meal the evening before Figgy boards The Empire Windrush, both blissfully unaware they will not see each other for two years. But when Edith arrives in London two years later, she carries a secret that threatens to tear apart their dreams of the Motherland. All of the food is prepared by Executive Chef, Jon Bentham. (Former head chef for Gary Rhodes).

Shakespeare-On-Sea by Mawa Theatre Company

A digital project by Mawa Theatre Company, exploring Shakespeare's maritime imagination through the gaze of Black female artists in Essex.

The Empty Chair by Joe Lichtenstein

A personal theatrical experience for two audience members. Participants will be taken to a secret location within the theatre for an intimate otherworldly performance that's punctuated by live music.

This Story Is True For Most Of Us by David Shearing

An invitation to join us at the table, to dine in a climate of food, art, and activism. Over the course of five mini tasting moments, this intimate setting allows us to see ourselves, each other, and our environment from a whole new perspective. This Story Is True For Most Of Us is part guided audio and part shared experience - it offers a space to consume some of the most challenging climate questions of our time, staged in a magical reflective setting. This design-led project is led by artist David Shearing with the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch Environmental Responsibility Group. Together we propose a toast to a new future...

Through The Ages by the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch Technical Team

Travel through the ages and celebrate the remarkable history of Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, with spectacular visuals bringing those memories back to life. Presented alongside a musical medley inspired by our previous shows, with lighting to light up the skies. Join us on the green as the sun goes down to witness this visual feast created by our very own creative Technical Team.

Wake Up People by John Webber

John Webber's Wake Up People, commissioned by Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, is a funny and ultimately heart-breaking look at how obsessions can tear apart a family already under pressure. Using stories from interviews, attending events and watching far too many YouTube videos, John's play, set in Thurrock, will be presented by actors as a script-in-hand performance with video and sound projections to thrillingly show how the internet is enabling a new pandemic - conspiracy theories - to sweep through local communities.

In additional to the public programme, Queen's Theatre Hornchurch will be hosting Boost!, a free residential training and developmental lab designed to upskill artists and choreographers/devisers working in contemporary dance or contemporary circus interested in extending their work to the outdoors/or developing their understanding of the outdoor touring sector.

With plenty of discussions and after parties to attend where there's an opportunity to talk about what has been seen, and meet the makers of the work, festivalgoers won't want to miss out on this thrilling festival of theatrical discoveries!

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