2019 Programme Launched!

A Compelling, World-Class Festival of Theatre Arrives in Hastings in July

Monday 1st - Sunday 7th July inclusive, Hastings, UK Hastings Theatre Festival will bring the

talents of national and International performance to The Stables Theatre for the first time ever,

cementing Hastings as a destination for powerful, relevant storytelling.

Sponsored by Arts Council England and managed by Hastings Fringe Festival CIC , Hastings Theatre

Festival comprises a week-long programme of curated thought-provoking theatre, from Apphia

Campbell’s globally acclaimed Black is the Colour of My Voice (below) to unique work by

established and emerging companies.

Hastings Theatre Festival will provide an entirely new platform for audiences to explore shifting

social perspectives with challenging and sometimes raw stories about truthfulness, notions of

‘home’, strength and fragility in the human condition, all through excellent theatre. The

programme’s engaging stories will reach out to sometimes overlooked diverse communities that

make up Hastings and the South East, and contribute to the town’s vibrant cultural life.

Among the highlights in its premier year, Apphia Campbell’s play with music inspired by Nina

Simone’s volatile journey from piano prodigy to key spokeswoman at the forefront of the Civil

Rights Movement. Praised by critics in New York, Shanghai and Edinburgh, Campbell’s vocal

performance and compelling portrayal of Nina has been described as “beyond impersonation” by

The Times newspaper.

Other unmissable productions include Those Magnificent Men, the hilarious true story of pilot

Capt. John Alcock and navigator Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown, the truly British daredevils whose flight

non-stop across the Atlantic flew them into the history books and into celebrity cult status (below).

Neil Gore’s Edwardian Magic Show based on England’s first authentic working-class novel The

Ragged Trousered Philanthropists set in a fictional town widely acknowledged to be based on

Hastings.

Yours Ever, Jane a revealing account of Jane Austen’s life weaved from 'Pride and Prejudice' and

letters to her sister some of which were so intimate they were later burnt, told through words,

music and dance.

The first of its kind in Hastings, the Theatre Festival launches amid the area’s growing reputation

as an Incubator Town for world-class and emerging talent and answers a growing demand for

accessible high-quality theatre experiences.

It seeks to provide an aspirational model for performers involved in open access arts festivals such

as Hastings Fringe as well as scope for future performance opportunities. Hastings Theatre

Festival launches Monday 1 July, 2019, tickets on sale at www.hastingstheatrefestival.com/programme