10 years of Voila! Europe Theatre Festival… what a journey! Welcome, fellow travellers!
We’re so proud that Voila! Europe is still going strong, bringing together a vibrant community to celebrate the border-busting power of performance. This year, Voila! Europe continues with live digital shows, online watch parties, and on-stage performances. We can’t wait to travel the world with you, from your sofa at home or your seat at The Cockpit.
Independent theatre reflects the emergent and urgent questions of our times. Carving their own path outside of large institutions, artists create work quickly, wait for permission from no one, and answer to no censors.
We are especially proud to present I-DO Lab’s A Visit to the Minotaur, an up-to-the-minute documentary look at the labyrinth of war, performed live online from Ukraine. Tackling the climate emergency with surreal humour, Budapest’s Chance of the Hunter theatre company brings 999 to the Cockpit stage, with the support of the Listz Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre. London’s own Son.Theatre responds to the pandemic with Let Go Home, a meditation on grief told with an innovative live soundscape.
Throughout the programme, you’ll find theatre makers exploring every corner of the human condition, with shows about joy, violence, beauty, space, sex work, wonder, masculinity, old age, family, and cultural identity. As always, the festival showcases the wide variety of styles and techniques that make up “European Theatre:” poetry, puppetry, documentary, autobiography, technology, stunning imagery, innovative movement, clowning, masks, and many inventive uses of music, from folk gig-theatre to improvised vocal looping.
The twelve languages on stage at Voila! Europe this year – Ukrainian, Hungarian, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, Spanish, German, Polish, Irish, Croatian, and of course English – promise to bring new perspectives and ideas to share with audiences in London, and online everywhere.
As philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” That’s why we describe Voila! Europe as a multilingual festival rather than international: languages can leap over borders and cross cultures, challenging preconceptions and spreading ideas faster than you can say, “passport, please.” If you don’t speak all twelve languages, don’t worry; there will be English subtitles when you need them.
We invite you to join us on a theatrical journey, to discover something inspiring and surprising, to enjoy the company of fellow adventurers.
We can’t wait to see you at the festival!
Amy Clare Tasker, Jo Manavopoulou & Dave Wybrow
Read more in the brochure:
