Women’s Voices: A Celebration of Female-Led Talent

The celebration will feature a variety of artists both established and emerging, including Olivier Award winning Harriet Walter (The Crown, Downton Abbey, Brian and Maggie), the iconic Tony and Emmy Award Winning Stockard Channing (Rizzo in Grease, The West Wing, Six Degrees of Separation) and the recent meticulously restored Winner of the 1986 Academy Award Documentary Feature Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got produced and directed by Brigitte Berman.

Curated by former ballerina and actor Naomi Sorkin, the festival will be an unmissable celebration of creativity and innovation.  All led by powerhouse women from various artistic disciplines designed to showcase the voices and experiences of women throughout history and today.

Naomi Sorkin, Creative Producer and Curator of Women’s Voices: A Celebration, comments, At a time where headline’s refer to violence and abuse against women, it is crucial to champion female creativity and talent shaping the arts today. From classic narratives to cutting-edge work,Women’s Voices at The Playground Theatre will reflect the full range of female experience.

The festival will kick start with The Divine Feminine – a show of paintings by Aimee Birnbaum (Member of the Royal Institute of Painter in Watercolours). Gripping new play The Lost Lombi by RB8 (the female writing duo), tackles generational trauma and dives into the complex lives of three different women struggling against the devastating impacts of war. This play also touches on the issue of child soldiers. Written and directed by Lisa Forrell, the short film Madame Ida brings to life the final poignant moments of dance’s forgotten diva Ida Rubinstein, with one final act of defiance and beauty. Naomi Sorkin as Ida, with Celia Imrie, Maryam D’Abo, and Angélique Rivaux. Hamilton Film FestivalAward Winning What I Am tells the story of a woman suffering from amnesia and her personal journey to reclaiming her sense of self. Written and directed by Jackie Oudney known for her critically acclaimed feature French Film starring Hugh Bonneville and Anne-Marie Duff. Enough by Stef Smith, winner of an Edinburgh Fringe First with Emmet Hughes and Eve Lamb. ‘A terrific and terrifying stage poem… there’s huge lightness, humour and energy in Smith’s writing’ – The Scotsman.

Lynn Seymour: Trailblazing Ballerina, celebrating the life of this legendary artist on what would have been her 86th birthday. Showcasing rarely seen 1979 documentary Lynn Seymour ‘in a class of her own’by Karin Altman and accompanied by a panel discussion with those who knew and worked with her. A British premiere of Obsessed With Light, a documentary about the groundbreaking dancer Loie Fuller whose special effects with light, movement, and fabric are still influencing artists from pop stars to radical theatre makers today. Sally Hemings: An American Scandal by Tina Andrews, for which she won the Writers Guild of America Award. This 4 part CBS series tells the poignant and powerful story of Sally Hemings and explores the journey of this enslaved woman and her long relationship with Thomas Jefferson. Set in 18th-century Paris, the series delves into Sally’s experience and the complications that arise when she accompanies his daughter to a place where slavery does not exist. Starring Sam Neil, Golden Globe Award winner (Jurassic Park, The Piano), Carmen Ejogo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), and Tony Award winner and Emmy Award-nominated Diahann Carroll (Julia, NBC). Tina Andrews will present a post screening Q&A.

MOVING BODIES a play reading about sex, love, and science. When Voltaire and Emilie du Chatelet fall in love, sparks fly, a revolution is born and Einstein’s quantum theory of light is born. Written by Myriam Cyr & Lorraine Liscio, directed by Myriam Cyr, composed by Darren Berry and performed by Nicole Ansari-Cox, Lisa Forrell, Maryam D’Abo and Peter Tate.

Brigitte Berman presents her Oscar-winning feature documentary about the controversial

bandleader Artie Shaw who was one of the most popular stars of the Swing Era, and who

famously broke the colour barrier by hiring legendary Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page and Roy

Eldridge for his bands. The meticulously restored Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got, features a new 4K restoration and a remastered soundtrack supervised by its director Brigitte Berman. This screening is a European premiere, followed by a Q&A with Canadian producer/director Brigitte Berman. Spectacular…An all star roster of interviewees, including the luminaries Mel Tormé and Buddy Rich, contributes to an unfailingly entertaining saga. – Glenn Kenny, The New York Times, 2024

Author and musician Alba Arikha presents Spanish Oranges, a new play directed by Myriam Cyr, about art and the fragilities of love. Following with An Evening of Words and Music a performance from mother and daughter Abla Arikha and Arianna Branca, blending voice and piano. Short Films (II):  Two films by Csilla Toldy. Here I Stand (commissioned by the Executive Office of Northern Ireland as the public artwork to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps) and To My Dear Idealist: a bi-lingual film based on a poem by Lithuanian prodigy Matilda Olkinaite, killed by Lithuanian nazis together with her family in 1941. The film won best cinematography at the European Film Union Gala in 2024. The Nightmare is a film by Clare Davidson and Will Thomas Freeman starring Naomi Sorkin, Adam Clayton-Smith and Emily Benucci. Taking inspiration from the Tale of Genji, a man and his wife are tormented in the astral realm by a spurned ex lover. Ending Short Films II is Dual by Maggie Razavi with Natalie Ava Nasr & Eve Newton-Koubeh. As Sami and Sara sort through the belongings of their recently deceased Syrian grandmother, the two sisters find themselves reckoning with the demons of both their family’s past and their culture’s present displacement.

An Enchanting Evening of Beautiful Musicfeatures award-winning composer and pianist Alla Sirenko, the only Ukrainian composer to have her work performed at the Royal Opera House. Alla performs arias, Ukrainian songs and original music with renowned soprano Lyubov Kachala for her British premiere, direct from the Lviv Opera House. The Shroud Maker by Ahmed Masoud. A moving play from inside modern-day Palestine. Julia Tarnoky plays Hajja Souad, an 80-something Palestinian woman who has survived decades of wars and oppression through making shrouds for the dead. A compelling black comedy that delves deep into the intimate life of ordinary Palestinians.

Offering an exploration of life and identity, the powerful play The Dreadful Dance of Ms Iniquity is performed by author and actor Carol Lemming MBE FRSA followed by a Q&A with Anni Domingo.
Carol will interview Anni about her first novel Breaking the Maafa Chainbased on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta (Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter), taking us on a journey of loss, survival, hope, identity and tradition.

Girls and Boys a poignant play by Dennis Kelly, directed by Emily Raymond and starring Charlyne Francis. A story of love, marriage, and eventually family violence. A female character constructed by a male character, who roots the narrative of the play deeply in the psychology of unfettered masculinity and all its attendant harms and connotations. – West End Wilma. Not Saint Hildegard is a multidisciplinary exploration of the 12th-century visionary, composer and poet, Hildegard of Bingen by talented theatre maker Kristin Winters. This show, devised and performed by Sarah Kent, Gabrielle Moleta and Kristen Winters combines physical performance, soundscapes, and visceral imagery bringing the audience into the life of this extraordinary woman.

Jane Austen & Colette: Writers and Musicians Two of the greatest stylists in their respective languages, both were supremely gifted in describing the intricacies of love and in observing the world around them. Moreover, both were practising musicians – Jane Austen a keen domestic keyboard player and Colette a music hall singer/entertainer. This programme demonstrates just how central music was to their lives and art. Starring Harriet Walter, Maggie Cole and Katharine Dain. Music by Haydn, Cramer, Gluck, Storace, Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc and Lerner/Loewe.

Harriet Walter comments, Jane Austen/Colette does something close to my heart in that it adds layers of understanding to our appreciation of these two great women of letters. Hearing their music, knowing that I will have the chance to speak their fine words, is a double delight.

Closing the festival is Gloria: A Life, starring the legendary Stockard Channing as Gloria Steinem.
This staged play is written and directed by Tony, Emmy and multi-award-winning director and playwright Emily Mann who was recently inducted into the ‘American’ Theatre Hall of Fame. 

Act II of Gloria: A Life is an immersive Talking Circle, engaging with these vital themes of feminism and activism.

Founder and Artistic Director of The Playground Theatre, Peter Tate comments, This will be a key event in the UK’s cultural calendar. ‘This festival will not only amplify women’s voices but also serve as a reminder of how much more needs to be done for women in the arts and life in general. We are proud to present this groundbreaking festival in celebration of women, their stories, and their extraordinary contributions to culture.