Northampton's Royal & Derngate’s Generate artist development programme presents a lively festival of events

Following the success of its festivals in 2020 and 2021 year, Royal & Derngate’s artist support programme Generate presents Gen Fest 2022, with a busy programme of events taking place at the theatre.

Dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists this autumn’s Gen Fest will run for a full week from Monday 31 October to Sunday 6 November, with additional performances to follow later in the month on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November.

Over the course of the full week event, artists are invited to attend screenings, scratch performances, Q&A’s, workshops and one to one support opportunities, ending with a networking session.

Work-in-progress performances and sharings include Waking the Witch by theatre company Fur Coat and No Knickers, Darlint Peidi by The Play’s The Thing and What the Stars Saw by Under the Bed Theatre, along with a showcase reading of the best scripts received in 2022 by the initiative Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Lonely.

There will be a community sharing and celebration in the Filmhouse for 60 Miles by Road or Rail, a Generate project that has gone from strength to strength. During the festival, there will also be a chance to have a first look at extracts from a new play by the same team, entitled What is Yet to be Decided..

JMK Directors Workshops will be led by Piers Black and there will be a chance to book one to one advice surgeries on stage management with Royal & Derngate Company Manager Lisa Lewis. Sound installation Every Chance of Rain Today will be running in John Franklins café throughout the Gen Fest week.

Two fully staged productions by Generate-supported artists can be seen on Royal stage later in the month. Othello RE:MX is presented by Century Theatre, on Friday 25 November and with Wild Onion by Orange Skies Theatre on Saturday 26 November.

Royal & Derngate’s artist development programme Generate is committed to supporting the work and the development of artists. Since 2012 the programme has supported over 6000 artists with opportunities including rehearsal and performance space, mentorship, scratch opportunities, masterclasses, funding, networking, placements, ticket offers and special one off events and commissions. The theatre is also delighted to partner with In Good Company to provide further support for emerging and established artists.

Royal & Derngate’s Creative Learning Associate Erica Martin commented: “We are very proud to have developed another great festival with direct input from independent artists and are thrilled to be able to showcase some of the work by those on our Generate Associates Artists programme. We look forward to supporting many more exciting projects and artists with our Generate programme.”

All the Gen Fest events in the weeklong festival are free but places must be booked. For details of the full schedule and how to book, visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk/gen-fest-2022/ or call Box Office on 01604 624811. Tickets for the performances of Othello RE:MX and Wild Onions, which take place in the Royal later in the month, are £5*.

* A charge of £3.50 applies for all transactions of £20 and over. Does not apply to Groups, Members or Disabled Patrons, and is per-transaction, not per-ticket.