The Traverse theatre announces the Spring 2022 edition of their First Stages Festival, a celebration of storytelling and creativity, with skills development opportunities for creatives at any stage of their career. With all workshops and interactive events being delivered digitally, those keen to explore their creativity are invited to attend from anywhere around the world.
Running from Monday 14th February to Monday 28th March, the 2022 programme includes free events including a new five-part on demand series from playwright Laurie Motherwell onHow to Build Your Voice and weekly writers’ sessions on Zoom led by playwrights James Ley and Uma Nada-Rajah. During these sessions, writers can work alongside one another and support each other’s process; get an exclusive networking workshop with Associate Artist Katherine Nesbitt and writer Michael John O’Neill that gives writers and directors the opportunity to meet and collaborate with one another and enjoy a series of creative prompts, distributed via social media, that can be used by anyone for inspiration.
A range of intimate, interactive workshops will also be presented by a range of artists working in the UK today, including Travis Alabanza, Hannah Lavery, May Sumbwanyambe, Eve Leigh, Oliver Emanuel, Robert Softley, Debris Stevenson and Ellen Bannerman, Produced Moon and Morna Young, who will be offering their insight and expertise on a range of topics while award-winning writer David Ireland will give a rare Q&A for questions about his work, writing and characters.
In person events include readings of six new plays from their 2022 First Stages Writers from six writers who have developed their craft with the Traverse and were selected from the Traverse’s 2020 Open Submissions entrants for personal, creative, and script development with the Traverse’s Literary Manager, Artistic Team, Associate Artists and a company of theatre makers.
Traverse Theatre Literary Manager Eleanor White said, “We were bowled over by the response to First Stages Festival in 2021 and are delighted to be back in 2022 with even more opportunities for creatives around the world to further their knowledge and craft. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with so many important artists pushing the boundaries and expanding the vision of theatre, across our workshops, readings and other events – and we’re very excited for all those who are bound to learn a raft of new skills, ways of thinking, and fresh ideas from engaging with them! Although late winter can feel both literally and metaphorically like the darkest time of year, we hope the creativity on show across the First Stages Festival will provide some much-needed bright spots in the gloom – because where there is creativity, it will always bring light.”
Full programme and booking information is available at
https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/first-stages-festival
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 