“There is no such thing as dead matter. Its inertia is merely an outward show, behind which, forms of life untold lie hidden. The range of those forms is endless, their shades and nuances inexhaustible.” Bruno Schulz

The Cinnamon Shop is inspired by the short stories of Bruno Schulz, and shines a light on the collection of memories, how these memories are explored and re-experienced by an individual, and how the quality and vibrance of them is subject to degeneration, distortion and change over time. Drawing reference from neurological conditions such as dementia, where the recall experience and retention of memories is challenged and ultimately destroyed, the piece explores our relationship to the memories that define us using a combination of physical performance, music and text.

Originally created as a commission by The Coronet Theatre, The Cinnamon Shop was first performed in an empty shop unit on Portobello Road just as the lockdown restrictions in the UK were easing in 2021.

Tickets: £8 (£6)

Find out a little more about The Cinnamon Shop and Krēan(t)s in this Q&A

Accompanying the theatre production I, Minnie Lansbury.

Why, one hundred years ago, were Minnie Lansbury and so many of her fellow Poplar councillors sent to prisons?

In 1921 Poplar’s councillors went to gaol rather than cut services and pay, or raise rates on the local poor. The expert panel at this seminar will explore how, why and with what consequences the Poplar Rates Rebellion came about. Including archive clips of film and other historical material, this event will also explain how, one hundred years ago, local government fought back in what was a seminal moment in the fight for a fairer tax system in Britain.

FREE – but pre-booking is essential

A new one act play by Bren Gosling, commissioned by The George Lansbury Memorial Trust about The Poplar Councillor’s Revolt of 1921. The Council refused to levy what they viewed as a grossly unjust rate set by London County Council and as a result were held in contempt. Thirty Councillors, including five women were jailed. Minnie Lansbury was one of them. This is the story of her incarceration and appalling treatment in Holloway prison along with heavily pregnant Cllr. Nellie Cressall, and three other women Councillors.

‘Don’t be afraid of the law…Wherever you see injustice make up your mind what you want to do and go for it! Accept no make believe.’

Running time: Approx 70 mins
Suitable for ages 14+

Tickets: £12 (£10)

Shakespeare’s extraordinary poem Venus and Adonis provides the inspiration for a compelling exploration of erotic power in States of Mind – a contemporary reimagining of the poem by Christopher Hunter.

Written during a plague epidemic that shut London’s theatres, Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare’s first published work and an instant bestseller. The vivid language and youthful vibrancy of the poetry make it an exhilarating and accessible ride. But the romanticism of the riveting narrative conceals disturbing themes of desire, rejection, sexual power, resistance and love.

Produced by Extant, the UK’s leading company of visually impaired artists, States of Mind retains all the richness of Shakespeare’s language as it examines the poem through a 21st century lens. By transforming the story into a clinical and highly charged contemporary setting, it reveals how this early work of Shakespeare’s could have been written for audiences today.

Running time: Approx 90 mins
Suitable for ages 16+

Tickets: £12 (£10)

An Anime-inspired physical theatre piece about Kill, a young man who wakes up in Dead Yard and passes through the Nine Nights when his soul is allowed to roam and exact revenge. The piece takes as its starting point the struggle of a young black man trying to maintain mental stability on a chaotic council estate. Created a Monster explore isolations and physical scores, researching how these rhythmic expressions of vitality can express stagnation, pain and the fragmentation of Kill’s body.

This project derives from an inquiry into the lived experience of a young mixed-race man and his mental struggles facing the racial injustices, hypocrisies and complexities that remain unresolved in his own body and the outer world, a story that is cross-sectioned with the highly-polished, maniacal and brutal physical language, conceits and tropes of anime as a framing research: the resonance of anime for black lives existing within stories of the underdog who work and fight to achieve greatness; the escape from seemingly impossible situations; the presence of legacy and the search for justice in an oftentimes unjust world.

Suitable for ages 14+

Tickets: £8 (£6)

In an era of the so called ‘Great Spreading out’, where everything has fallen apart and keeps spreading, an ever growing distance has been established between people and things. Only water is left in the mid-ground, an ocean of tears, where Alice, a young girl, is floating alone on her mattress, searching for her sister.

FLATLAND, as a parallelism to Alice’s pool of tears (from Alice in Wonderland), works as a metaphor for the emotional flatness and narrow mindedness of the residents of that land. No one is looking up or down, only outwards and onwards, frantically trying to conquest the surrounding void. The lack of multiple dimensions in their everyday lives equals a lack of imagination and memory. Only Alice, led by the love for her sister, is persistently going against the rules of that world, trying to reconnect with her memories and expand her existence by using her imagination.

Drawing on the group’s multicultural identity and inspired in part by Alice in Wonderland and The Little Prince, this new devised piece by BUNKUM takes place in a world where the ‘seen’ mingles with the ‘unseen’, giving space not only to what you touch and consume, but also to what you conceive with your mind. Stimulated by the world of Maths and Physics, Alice in Flatland dwells in a place where imaginary numbers and quanta appear to explain what is unperceivable for our senses. Alice, who might not be able to actually see her sister again, will learn to accept her physical absence and fill the gap by changing perspective.

Through the actor’s physicality, the light and projected fragments of memory, the piece tries to access the subconscious of the characters (looking down – into the water, this ‘pool of tears’) and their imagination (looking up – the sky and the stars). It is left to the audience to take a leap of faith and jump into the unknown, discovering a 3^rd dimension in this flat land.

The Bunkum ensemble, consisting of Aliki Stenou, Irina Kurbanova, Jack Parris and Jonny Aubrey-Bentley, is an international theatre collective working between the UK, Germany and Greece. Bunkum was originally formed in London, whilst the ensemble were completing their Master’s at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Tickets: £8 (£6 concs)

Two friends participate in an experiment that delves deep into their memories. Revelations arise that lead them to see each other, and their own selves, in a new light. A love story.

Tickets: £12 (£10)

An opportunity to see some of London’s brightest talent creating new theatre as part of their RADA New Wave theatre programme. This show will share innovative performance events from the next generation of theatre makers.

Look out for more details in September.

Booking opens soon

Writers Edie Walwyn, Katherine Edwards, Yifan Wu, Frankie Regalia and India Pope will share extracts from their new writing and plans to develop their theatre scripts into full productions for the Bloomsbury Festival 2022. This event will include interviews with the writers and short scenes from their plays.

This event is presented by Bloomsbury Festival in partnership with the Macready Theatre, Rugby and its sponsor Cemex, and Rugby School Department of Theatre & Performing Arts, and in association with RADA and Bloomsbury Radio (at the Bloomsbury Institute).

Part of Bloomsbury Festival’s New Wave programme, a platform for emerging talent.

FREE – but pre-booking is essential

An opportunity to see some of London’s brightest talent creating new theatre as part of their RADA New Wave theatre programme. This show will share innovative performance events from the next generation of theatre makers.

Look out for more details in September.

Booking opens soon