BE FESTIVAL 2017 - BE FESTIVAL

Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erich Dietl – BE Visual Artists in Residency 2017-2018 (Germany)

Our European artists in residency for 2017-18, Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erich Dietl will collaborate over a 12 month period to produce work especially for BE FESTIVAL. Stephanie is a visual artist and sociological researcher, with an interest in experiments and improvisation. Klaus is a visual artist with a background…

British Enough? by Kristina Cranfeld and Foolish People (UK)

For those born in the UK, British identity is a loose and changeable concept. For those seeking citizenship from abroad, however, it’s the opposite: being subject to the government’s “Life in the UK” test, there are fixed, itemised cornerstones – which are deemed critical by immigration officials for fitting into…

Raven/Glass By RL Wilson (UK)

In Raven/Glass, R.L. Wilson unravels time and space through the lens of one particular place- via a dual-screen installation. Sunrise and sunset illuminate the ancient and modern myths and histories, of a coastal estuary- through a reflective, reflexive and playful experience, that transcends and subverts notions of borders. Developed during…

The Brave Sons of Elijah Perry LIVE

(Band on Stage 10.30pm) The Brave Sons of Elijah Perry are a band of malingering reprobates – Doc DW, Queasy Joe, and one Tatum Perry – who bring country hollers and raw, rootsy stomps to the listening public via a single microphone and powerful performances. From blues to bluegrass, old-time…

Feedback Cafe & Discussions

Feedback Café is a unique and invaluable opportunity for audiences, artists and arts professionals to engage with other, discuss and look back at the previous evening’s performances over a coffee and a pastry. Taking place on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 12pm in The Hub…

Interval Dinner on the Main Stage

This year we welcome back the chefs and cooks of Marmalade to the festival. Expect plenty of diverse, fresh and locally sourced products with many vegetarian options. Each night of the festival, after the first two shows, audiences, performers and the festival team will dine together on the REP's main…

Free Movement by Elizabeth Hudson (UK)

A sculptural intervention around the site of the REP Theatre, Elizabeth Hudson’s Free Movement sees the audience’s movement disrupted and constrained. The different elements are arranged in a route which charts the borders between the theatre’s public and private spaces; marking the lines between front of house and backstage, or…

ASINGELINE by MAMAZA (Germany)

The idea of a “red line” is often invoked in political debates. In the imminent negotiations over the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU, for example, both sides have laid out the policy lines they won’t cross. Elsewhere, it is often argued by newspapers and politicians of a certain…

Award Winners 2017

BE FESTIVAL 1st Prize (Supported by Birmingham REP) £1500 plus a fully supported two-week creative residency in Birmingham and a performance of the full-length version of the winning show at next year’s festival. Winner: REVOLT ATHENΣ by ODC ENSEMBLE/Vyrsodepseio (Greece) ACT Festival Prize The winning performance will be programmed and…

Jury and Awards 2017

Lucie Mirkova has worked in the dance sector for over 15 years in a variety of roles – as a performer, teacher, choreographer, producer, manager and programmer. Currently she works as Executive Producer at DanceXchange, where she leads on programming regular performance seasons at The Patrick Centre and curates programmes…

Acrobatic Animal Workshop with Animal Religion

Playful, creative and physical, the foundation of acrobatics will be studied with the animal kingdom acting as an inspiration for various teachings around movement and awareness. This includes how to develop strength, elasticity and balance. Based in Catalonia, Animal Religion make work that explores the strangeness of our everyday routines…

It’s All Around You with R.L. Wilson

From the end of your nose to the other end of the globe- inspiration is everywhere to help you create new work. Holistic approaches and new contexts will be explored with participants using image, sound, voice, and text- to develop fresh working methods without even leaving the room. R.L. Wilson…

Let’s Dance: A short laboratory for big movement lovers with Marina Santo

Stimulate your creativity and find freedom using the body - from a contemporary perspective. Dance is a place to meet yourself and other human beings. The workshop will feature exercises connected to body awareness and movement research and is open to everybody, professional or not. This year's BE Next leader,…

How to See: an immersive Guided Walkshop with Ben Waddington

Don’t expect sight-seeing, heritage highlights or gift shop exoduses. This guided workshop will break down the action of seeing, fine-tuning our visual literacy and instilling participants with an understanding of what it means to be an active citizen, observer, visitor and explorer. Ben is the director of Birmingham’s Still Walking…

Theatre of Manifestation in Ritual Art with John Harrigan

Learn about the techniques and combinations of mythology, shamanism, drama therapy and open source collaboration. How does the blurring of 'self' and 'character' provoke powerful experiences for participants and observers of art and performance? Active engagement and participation is vital in both these teachings and this workshop. John Harrigan is…

The Producers: Alchemists of the Impossible with David Micklem

An informal, practical and fun workshop giving participants further information about the UK performing arts scene covering venues, festivals, touring and funding with additional international contexts for contemporary performance. Aimed at artists, practitioners and those with an interest in the UK performing arts scene and international exchange. David Micklem is…

An introduction to site-specific theatre: Consulting the Genius Loci with Andrea Moneta

Explore the value of 'found' spaces and the connected approaches, meanings and contexts that go beyond traditional theatre. Participants will be introduced to the methods of ‘Scenarchitecture’, a design practice to link and engage people and places, public art and performance design. Andrea is an architect and a theatre designer…

Indomador by Animal Religion (Spain) – 50 min

A comical, punchy look at the way we build our identities. A solo performer dresses up in high heels, animal masks and a suit jacket. He occupies different roles, tumbling through handstands, acrobatics and an array of characters. An act of grotesque, contemporary circus, it pokes fun at the rigid…

EARLY IDEAS (UK/Italy) – 90 min

Sat 8 | 12pm | The Door £5 | 90 min After the success and positive feedback from last year’s debut lunchtime scratch session, we present three different ‘works in progress’ plus the winners of last year’s session. At the end, we invite audience members to leave feedback for the…

Networking Lunch Meeting

This year’s go-to networking event at the festival takes place over lunch and offers an invaluable opportunity for artists, promoters and producers to network and mingle. Take time out to introduce yourself to practitioners and industry from across Europe and beyond.

All the Voices by Tante&Tante (UK/Greece/Germany) – 30 min [Part of EARLY IDEAS]

British Enough? [Site Specific Experience] (UK) – 45 min

Dear Provisional Citizen, are you British Enough? You have been selected for testing within the British Enough Testing Zones, an immersive theatrical site-specific experience set in a future where British Citizenship is the ultimate prize. Enter a world where Britishness is manufactured and cultural identity must be won through…

The Sensemaker by Woman’s Move (Switzerland) – 30 min

Contrasting music and spoken word in a chopped-and-spliced soundtrack, The Sensemaker is a story of managing expectations. Smartly dressed, waiting beside the phone, we watch the protagonist of this one-woman show as she’s slowly stretched to her limits. Straining to keep her tightly orchestrated routine in time, panicked looks and…

40.000 centimetri quadrati by Claudia Catarzi (Italy) – 30 min

Paring her movements down to the essential, Claudia Catarzi finds possibilities in a restricted space. This piece’s action takes place in a small, enclosed square, spot-lit in a corner of the stage. Positioned within it, Claudia executes a poised, carefully staged piece of dance; a patient exploration of the boundaries…

Légende by Romain Teule (France/Portugal) – 30 min

A performance lecture on the nature of language, Légende unpicks the different kinds of questions produced by words. Beginning with a fictional language of the birds, Romain Teule’s show probes the different possibilities to be found in words. Living and working between France and Portugal, his show was originally performed…

BE Next (UK) – 15 min

A younger generation find their voice. Working in unison to create a physical theatre performance, this youth theatre initiative sees local 14 to 19 year olds from a range of backgrounds take to the stage. An inclusive project specifically aimed at young people that speak English as an additional language,…

Portraits and Short Stories by Panama Pictures (The Netherlands) – 30 min

Using ropes, trampolines and daring acrobatics, this show explores the relationships binding families and different generations together. Featuring six male performers aged 20 to 60, Portraits and Short Stories is a careful balancing act of shifting dynamics. Unpicking father-and-son relationships, it traces the lines bridging youthful bravado with quiet vulnerability.…

REVOLT ATHENΣ by Odc Ensemble/Vyrsodepseio (Greece) – 30 min

Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures…

Solitudes by Kulunka Teatro (Spain) – 30 min

A story about holding onto the simple and everyday as we grow older. Solitudes traces the protagonist’s struggle with feeling disconnected and misunderstood as he approaches old age. As with Kulunka’s previous work, the cast wear full-masks which show striking, characterful expressions. The play follows the protagonist’s journey to communicate…

Homo Furens by Plan-K / Filipe Lourenço (France) – 30 min

Re-imagining the experience of soldiers’ military training, Homo Furens is about pushing beyond what we thought we were capable of. Drawing inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, this show sees the rigours and extremities of military existence expressed through dance. Led by esteemed choreographer Filipe Lourenço, it expresses soldiers’…

PALMYRA by Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas (UK) – 30 min

Exploring revenge and the politics of destruction, Palmyra prompts us to look beyond the news. Inspired by the destruction of Syria’s historical sites, it’s a political drama that mixes fact and fiction. Musing on what we consider to be barbarian, it’s about questioning civilisation and what lies beneath it. Created…

Everything is OK by Marco D’Agostin (Italy) – 30 min

A one-man show of cultural and sensory overload. Fronted by Italian solo performer Marco D’Agostin, Everything Is OK combines spoken word, music and dance, challenging our ability to compute endless information. Recycling lyrics, postures and movements in different languages, and from vast, disparate corners of popular culture, the show jumps…

PERFORMANCE MUNICIPAL by Vicente Arlandis (Spain) – 30 min

A playful dialogue testing the limits of language. Watching an extended conversation between the show’s two characters, this piece gently probes the way we communicate with one another. Beginning with exchanges of simple noises and sound, the two characters move to phrases which are stated, repeated and re-formed. Speaking a…

What Does Stuff Do? by Robin Boon Dale (UK) – 30 min

Using innovative juggling, physical comedy, and almost-philosophy to guide you through Robin Dale’s mind and body of research. Featuring pouring, ping pong, and a motivational speech delivered by a man in swimming trunks, this is a charmingly rhetorical debut show. Please, suspend for the next 30 minutes any scepticism about…

Betelgez by Ki Omos Kineitai (Greece) – 30 min

A dark, engrossing story of imminent danger, Betelgez is balanced on an unstable equilibrium. A star named Betelgez is on the brink of supernova. A comparison between the explosion of a star and eruptions of social unrest, a collage of short shots of commanding political speeches are broadcast in the…

Aerobics! A Ballet in 3 Acts by Paula Rosolen / Haptic Hide (Germany) – 30 min

Recalling the ‘80s-born trend for aerobics, this show merrily re-imagines the iconic sports and exercise regime. A carefully choreographed dance performance structured across three distinct acts; placing aerobics’ style and approach in a different context, rhythm and form are balanced with a tight precision. Putting new kinds of emphasis on…

Obnimashki by Anna Aristarkhova (Germany) – 30 min

Through evocative, abstract dance, this show draws the connections forged through acknowledging our differences. In many ways, a hug could be considered a shared, universal expression: a simple gesture of empathy or affection, understood no matter where you are. But in Obnimashki, the international performers which make up the show…

My Country Is What The Sea Doesn’t Want by Casa Da Esquina (Portugal) – 30 min

A story of Portuguese immigrants in the UK, we see a generation divided by the harsh reality of their homeland. Based on interviews with individuals who’ve settled in the UK, this is also the personal story of writer-director Ricardo Correia. With the austerity measures implemented in Portugal following 2008’s financial…

Anatomia Publica by Man Drake / Tomeo Vergès (Spain/France) – 60 min

A story of strange, fractured relationships in the aftermath of war. Returning from the army after being presumed dead, a soldier comes home to find his wife remarried. Performed in an intense style that bridges physical theatre and dance, a three-way relationship unfolds. Inspired by autobiographical details and by filmmaker…

Waiting for Schrödinger by Timothy and the Things (Hungary) – 30 min

Translating scientific hypotheses into real-life connections. Referenced in this show’s title, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment where an interpretation of quantum mechanics is applied to human interactions: based around a cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead, it’s a state known as a quantum superposition. This show…

DJ Glyn Phillips presents Global Soundclash

(DJ Set starts at 10pm) DJ Glyn Phillips (WorldBeatUK, Brum Radio) is back behind the decks with another joyous, floor-filling Global Sound Clash set specially designed for BE FESTIVAL! Expect exuberant afro-latin grooves, soul, Balkan beats, funk, hi-life and more. The music of five continents and a thousand islands!

DJ Doobie Ballantyne and Closing Ceremony

(DJ Set starts at 10pm) Keeping the dream alive until the fat lady sings, it’s a hyperdrive DJ set referencing musical motifs from the era of Manhattan 1972 and the less salubrious boozers of Solihull 2017. Wham and Grandmaster Flash records will be in attendance.

Kiriki Club LIVE

(Band on Stage 10.30pm) Kiriki Club combines musical flair and a raw, energetic performance style with the dizzy intimacy of a late night lock-in. With total disregard for borders, the club membership features players from Wales, Portugal, Austria and Birmingham. They harvest the music of their homelands, pluck the noises…

The Paper Moons

(Band on Stage 10.30pm) The Paper Moons play a cocktail of vintage swing and calypso that guarantees to tempt smiles and tapping toes! Let their romance and joyful spirit soak in and quench your thirst for lighter-hearted times! Fronted by Eleanor Dattani on ukulele and vocals, Katie Stevens on vocals,…

Archive 2017

Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erich Dietl – BE Visual Artists in Residency 2017-2018 (Germany)

British Enough? by Kristina Cranfeld and Foolish People (UK)

Raven/Glass By RL Wilson (UK)

The Brave Sons of Elijah Perry LIVE

Feedback Cafe & Discussions

Interval Dinner on the Main Stage

Free Movement by Elizabeth Hudson (UK)

ASINGELINE by MAMAZA (Germany)

Award Winners 2017

Jury and Awards 2017

Acrobatic Animal Workshop with Animal Religion

It’s All Around You with R.L. Wilson

Let’s Dance: A short laboratory for big movement lovers with Marina Santo

How to See: an immersive Guided Walkshop with Ben Waddington

Theatre of Manifestation in Ritual Art with John Harrigan

The Producers: Alchemists of the Impossible with David Micklem

An introduction to site-specific theatre: Consulting the Genius Loci with Andrea Moneta

Indomador by Animal Religion (Spain) – 50 min

EARLY IDEAS (UK/Italy) – 90 min

Networking Lunch Meeting

All the Voices by Tante&Tante (UK/Greece/Germany) – 30 min [Part of EARLY IDEAS]

British Enough? [Site Specific Experience] (UK) – 45 min

The Sensemaker by Woman’s Move (Switzerland) – 30 min

40.000 centimetri quadrati by Claudia Catarzi (Italy) – 30 min

Légende by Romain Teule (France/Portugal) – 30 min

BE Next (UK) – 15 min

Portraits and Short Stories by Panama Pictures (The Netherlands) – 30 min

REVOLT ATHENΣ by Odc Ensemble/Vyrsodepseio (Greece) – 30 min

Solitudes by Kulunka Teatro (Spain) – 30 min

Homo Furens by Plan-K / Filipe Lourenço (France) – 30 min

PALMYRA by Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas (UK) – 30 min

Everything is OK by Marco D’Agostin (Italy) – 30 min

PERFORMANCE MUNICIPAL by Vicente Arlandis (Spain) – 30 min

What Does Stuff Do? by Robin Boon Dale (UK) – 30 min

Betelgez by Ki Omos Kineitai (Greece) – 30 min

Aerobics! A Ballet in 3 Acts by Paula Rosolen / Haptic Hide (Germany) – 30 min

Obnimashki by Anna Aristarkhova (Germany) – 30 min

My Country Is What The Sea Doesn’t Want by Casa Da Esquina (Portugal) – 30 min

Anatomia Publica by Man Drake / Tomeo Vergès (Spain/France) – 60 min

Waiting for Schrödinger by Timothy and the Things (Hungary) – 30 min

DJ Glyn Phillips presents Global Soundclash

DJ Doobie Ballantyne and Closing Ceremony

Kiriki Club LIVE

The Paper Moons