This year’s Brighton Festival promises a host of entertainment for the entire family with a focus on community.
The annual event’s guest director, the DJ, broadcaster and musician Nabihah Iqbal, invites everyone to “gather round” in a celebration of community, collaboration and the joy of shared experiences this year.
For families, a variety of events, from plays and dance to free outdoor theatre, capture this spirit across the city and further afield throughout May.
The world premiere of Galatea
The work of Shakespeare’s contemporary John Lyly, will be brought to life in a radical revival of his early modern play Galatea that fuses ground-breaking research and experimental theatre.
Commissioned by Brighton Festival, this new version of Galatea has been adapted by theatre maker and Sussex local Emma Frankland, in collaboration with Brighton’s Marlborough Productions, landscape theatre company Wildworks and historian Andy Kesson.
Suitable for ages eight and up, it will be presented in Frankland’s hometown of Shoreham at the Adur Recreation Ground from May 5.
With a vibrant cast of LGBTQIA+ and deaf performers, members of the community will be invited to join the performance through a process led by Wildworks, who bring 20 years’ experience of creating work with community participants.
“I’ve been working towards this production for seven years now and I’m really proud to share the results of such a long period of development,” Ms Frankland said.
“This production will be the result of so many brilliant artists, writers and thinkers who have been part of the journey.”
“There are so many reasons to be excited about staging Lyly’s Galatea, which has a claim to being Shakespeare’s favourite play, a work Shakespeare never quite got out of his system which set the scene for what we now think of as Shakespearean comedy,” said Mr Kesson.
Van Gogh Alive
Welcoming back audiences to Brighton Dome’s refurbished Grade I and II listed Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre is the immersive experience Van Gogh Alive, opening on May 12.
The multi-sensory experience explores the life and work of one of the world’s most recognisable artists, Vincent Van Gogh, and has visited more than 80 cities worldwide.
Visitors will be able to explore the sunflower selfie room – a 360° mirrored space complete with hundreds of flowers that has delighted Instagram feeds across the world – and will have access to a Starry Night installation that is brand new for Brighton.
Bakkhai
Following its sell-out Romeo and Juliet in a skate park at Brighton Festival 2022, the East Sussex theatre company for children and young adults ThirdSpace return with a reimagining of Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy that reframes the classic revolt against authority story through a group of youths versus a predatory corporate system.
Suitable for ages 12 and up, Bakkhai is a Brighton Festival Commission and will be performed outside at The Crew Club in Whitehawk on May 13 and 14, using a soundtrack of thumping bass and choral voices and a large cast aged eight to 60.
A Weekend Without Walls
A Weekend Without Walls on May 27 and 28 in locations around Brighton’s city centre and at Crawley’s Queens Square, will continue its series of free, family-friendly outdoor events pushing the boundaries of arts and live performance in public spaces.
Mughal Miniatures
Inspired by the traditional art of Indian and Persian miniature painting, performers in colourful costumes will create a series of pop-up, living pictures that evoke scenes of Indian princely courts and lush gardens with a contemporary twist, on May 27 and 28 in Royal Pavilion Gardens.
Ancient Futures
In a performance blending circus and storytelling with sound system culture and West African folklore, a group of flamboyant Afrinauts will arrive and build an encampment on May 27 and 28 in Jubilee Square. In the evening, the audience is invited to join them for a dance party.
Choogh Choogh
Classical Indian dance and contemporary movement, theatre and play combine to recreate a train journey in India on May 27 and 28 in Queen’s Square. Three artists will weave a travelling tapestry with scarves that become steam, train tracks, windows and even an elephant.
Little Murmur
Little Murmur is a new dance theatre show from British South Asian dancer and choreographer Aakash Odedra, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age and found school very challenging.
Defined by his learning difficulties, not his abilities, dance became his way of communicating.
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Little Murmur is suitable for ages seven and up and uses projections, sounds and a blizzard of paper and confetti to explore the trials and tribulations of living with dyslexia, facing challenges and overcoming the odds.
It will be at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts on May 13 and 14.
Dancer Subhash Viman Gorania said: “We’re excited to meet with the local people of Brighton and to immerse them in our creative world where individual abilities and difficulties can be explored.”
Out of Chaos
Explosive acrobatics collide with primordial physics in this show suitable for ages five and up from award-winning Australian circus company Gravity and Other Myths, from May 9 to 11 at the Dome Concert Hall.
Moby Dick
From May 25 to 27, Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick is brought to life in an adaptation of the story that features seven actors, fifty puppets – including a whale-sized whale – and a drowned orchestra at the Theatre Royal Brighton.
The production from French-Norwegian theatre company Plexus Polaire is suitable for ages six and up.
Young Readers
With events throughout the festival for children of all ages, this year’s Young Readers programme includes appearances from former Children’s Laureate Jacqueline Wilson and writer of the Tom Gates series, Liz Pichon.
Thomas Taylor will introduce readers to the latest instalment of Festergrimm and Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown will celebrate 30 years of the bestselling series.
For younger children, illustrator of the best-selling Giraffes Can't Dance, Guy Parker-Rees will host an arts and crafts session.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
On May 20 and 21 at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez's story is retold for ages eight and up using music, puppetry and video projection.
In a kitchen, in a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find a very old man with enormous wings. After consulting with a neighbour, the couple decide to shelter him in a chicken coop and feed him scraps.
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