An artistic explosion of theatre features the best in new writing at Cambridge Junction
Theatre festival Hotbed returns from 6 to 7 July, promising a weekend of hot-off-the-press writing from both established and up-and-coming talent. Produced in partnership by Cambridge Junction and Menagerie Theatre Company, the event was founded in 2002 with the goal of showcasing fresh new writing for the stage. This year’s line-up will include two works by internationally acclaimed Irish theatre company Fishamble: their Olivier Award-winning production of Silent, and the stunning new Underneath. The latter, a brave, bleak portrait of a homeless man who’s lost everything, examines the lives of those who survive on the fringes of society and asks: is beauty really only skin deep?
Maria Montague, one of Menagerie’s young writers, is welcomed back to the festival with Maklena, a dynamic adaptation of the original 1933 Ukranian play of the same name. Using puppetry and the original score, the production tells the story of a 13-year-old girl who fixates on a fairy-tale vision of the Soviet Union.
Also set to be a highlight is the Activate project’s performance, produced by Patrick Morris, the co-artistic director of Menagerie, in conjunction with Coleridge Community College. The Museum of Maps uncovers stories of Cambridge that have not yet been heard, blending biography with fantasy to create a unique performance installation. Audiences will have the chance to meet the map-makers and life-dreamers, whose original work is inspired by artists they have worked with in the past year of the Activate project.
From a reading of a new play by Bruntwood Award-winning writer Janice Okoh, to workshops with Fraser Grace and James McDermott, there’s plenty more to seek out – check out the Junction’s website for full event listings.
