As part of the Birmingham Hippodrome Origins programme, eight brilliant Birmingham Artists have been in residence with the Hippodrome’s New Work department for 18 months, each developing a new piece.
From 11 – 16 May, join us for a week of all things New Work, showcasing new performances from our first Origins cohort of resident creatives. With workshops, double-bills and more, there’s plenty of exciting events to get involved in.
Follow us on socials to keep up to date as festival information is released!
Origins Festival is brought to you by our New Work & Artist Development team.
Are you an artist, producer or creative in the West Midlands? Sign up for FREE to our Hippodrome Creatives community where you can benefit from free last minute rehearsal space, space to work and meet in the Artists’ Lounge, regular Creatives socials, support sessions and workshops, as well as ticket offers to shows on our main stage and in the Patrick Studio!
Hippodrome Origins is an 18-month artist development programme for creatives in the West Midlands who make theatre.
We welcomed our first cohort in November 2024, and they will be sharing new work in May 2026. Get to know the artists below.
Amerah Saleh is a spoken word artist born and bred from Birmingham. Her Muslim Yemeni roots give her space to get lost and found on multiple occasions between identity. She is the Co-Founder of Verve Poetry Press.
Elizabeth O’Connor is a Birmingham-based writer. Her short stories have appeared in The White Review and Granta, and she was the 2020 winner of the White Review Short Story Prize.
Grace is a dramaturg and playwright based in Birmingham. She enjoys working on plays that embrace complexity, test form and ask questions that get under our skin.
Jaz is an artist-curator and writer who cares about community repair and culture-building.
Louis is a freelance theatre maker, based in the West Midlands. His creative practice seeks to combine queer storytelling with bold and inventive contemporary theatre processes.
Nathan Sebastian Lafayette is a Birmingham based multidisciplinary artist working within the realms of dance, music production and film.
Tina Hofman: I am a theatre artist, creative producer/collaborator and an academic who emigrated to UK as a young person, and has spent 25 years being “in-between”: living, working, relating to different geographical and made-up spaces.
Zakariye is a poet, performer, playwright and filmmaker from Birmingham.