Messy Unity Festival 2020

Young directors, writers and producers have worked intensively to develop their craft, knowledge and industry readiness. Sessions on writing, rehearsal, design, diversity, presentation skills, tax, marketing, directing, networking, working with actors and much more have been led by a wide range of practitioners including Matthew Xia, Kate Waters, Jake Orr, Helen Davies, Sarah Kolawale, Luke Barnes and Jeff James.

Lockdown has required the Messy Unity Festival to move online and we are delighted to present 5 brand new digital works written, directed, edited, performed and created entirely by young people, for young people.

‘Kids these days, they don’t know how good they’ve got it’
Moving from street corner to living room, from bedroom to kitchen, Christmas in July zooms in on the lives of young people not thriving but surviving. In a society divided, we explore the messy unity of what it means to be human.
Age guidance: 15+ (swearing and some mild sexual language)

Creatives
Writers: Victoria Shell & Abigail Hutchison
Director: Tia Elvidge
Dramaturg: Alice Malyon

Cast (playing various roles)
Reuben Gotts, Ophelia Hiebert, Eleanor Hall, Lauren Slater, Emilia Pettit, Charlie Clarke, Ellie Searston, Jake Orpwood Smith.

‘Messy Unity will see you now’
The Macbeths and the Frankensteins, Benvolio, Montague and Dr Faustus. We know their names and how their stories end but what they don’t know is that they’re living in a tragedy, and the one thing they have in common is that they might benefit from a little therapy. A light-hearted and comical piece exploring some of the ‘ifs’ and ‘what could have beens’ of well-known classical characters.

Creatives
Director/Co-writer: Charlie Clarke
Co-writer: Megan Gates
Producer: Florence Avis
Set Designer: Lucy Skinner

Cast
The Therapist: Jak Truswell
Macbeth: Jason Adam
Lady Macbeth: Ellie Searston
Benvolio: Rob Cattanach
Dr Frankenstein: Tia Elvidge
The Monster: Alice Malyon
Dr Faustus: Reuban Gotts
Mephistopheles: Ophelia Hiebert

Femme is an exploration of femininity in all its forms. Featuring drag, physical theatre and comedy, Femme uses themes of power, sexuality and identity to entertain and open minds.
Age guidance: 12+ (some mild swearing)

Creatives
Director: Natalie Patuzzo
Producer: Honor Solbe
Choreographer: Charlie Clarke
Stage Manager: Rachel Macdonald-Hulme
Writer: Abigail Hutchison
Writer: Victoria Shell
Dramaturg: Megan Gates
Dramaturg: Alice Malyon
Dramaturg: Jak Truswell

Cast (playing various roles)
Rob Cattanach, Ophelia Hiebert, Jake Orpwood Smith, Emilia Pettit, Lauren Slater.

With poetry performed by Alice Malyon

Special thanks to Lucy Skinner, David Kerr and Lilly Jordan.

Alice, trapped in her apartment, finds comfort in H, an Artificial Intelligence form who through VR helps her to learn how to swim. The Outside is a Sci-Fi performance that tests the limits of reality. In a world where the outside is uninhabitable where is left to go?
Age guidance 12+ (occasional swearing)

Creatives
Writer/Director: Christina Tsoutsi
Movement Director: Sarah West Valstar
Video Producer: Christina Tsoutsi
Producer: Florence Avis
Set Designer: Lucy Skinner
Music Production: Josh Simpkins and Isaac Walters

Cast
Ellie Searston and Anna Jacques

Special thanks to Jack McNamara, Olwen Davies, Natalya McDonald, Craig Gilbert, Somalia Seaton, Omar Khan and Joe Strickland.

Meet Adam. He would rather be spending his summer travelling but there’s one little obstacle in his way – a global pandemic.

Meet Hannah, a fiercely opinionated, career driven, self-confessed cynic when it comes to love.

So, when Adam and Hannah are set up on a virtual blind date via mutual friends, could there be a lockdown love story on the cards or will it be more of a lockdown loathing? Only time will tell.

Age guidance 12+ (occasional swearing)

Creatives
Writers: Eleanor Hall and Jak Truswell
Directors: Eleanor Hall and Jak Truswell

Cast
Hannah: Eleanor Hall
Adam: Jak Truswell