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 work-in-progress 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.
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!
As part of Origins Festival: Celebrating New Work, watch brand new work-in-progress performances by our hand-picked Hippodrome Origin Artists. Each performance will have a British sign Language interpreter.
Money for Nothing is a thrilling new piece of writing from Grace Barrington. A working men’s club in Yardley struggles to stay afloat during the early years of 2010s austerity. When the situation turns dire, some members get involved in a risky moneymaking scheme with fateful consequences.
From the co-founder of Verve Poetry Press, Amerah Saleh, comes a piece that gives space to the complexities of grief, Untitled. Layla is trying to write a play about her mother’s passing. She has one hour to perfectly express both her grief and her joyful memories of the woman who shaped her. If only her three aunties would let her write in peace…
As Poetic As It Sounds is an exciting new piece of dance theatre from Nathan Sebastian Lafayette, a Birmingham-based multidisciplinary artist. The piece explores what it means to be an artist, from the comic to the infuriating, the administrative to the sublime.
Louis Wharton’s new work, Hurts So Good, plays on themes of queer storytelling with a bold and inventive process. In the late 1980s the police conducted Operation Spanner, prosecuting 16 men for consensual sadomasochism. As Louis gets pulled into a web of research, he’s confronted by queer legacy, ethical dilemmas and some very evasive librarians.
Fresh off the back of his short film debuting on BBC comes Zakariye’s Pretend like it’s Calm. This brand-new one-man stage play is a poetic exploration of grief, family and unlikely friendships.
The body I see is also mine by Tina Hofman is a journey through memory, rave and connection where new writing, movement and images collide in a bass-driven search for what is real.
Earth Secrets is the award-winning Elizabeth O’Connor’s first venture into playwrighting, having had her novel WHALE FALL chosen as one of the Observer’s ten best debut novels of 2024. Two neighbouring families dispute over a bordering fence, a rose bush, and a lost dog. Meanwhile, the birds are falling out of the sky.
Jaz Morrison’s new piece MID spotlights themes of social space, community, culture-building, and storytelling. Birmingham at the end of the world. Dee and Haddy’s local community centre is being demolished. If they can’t stop it, they can at least stop the Poet Laureate from artwashing it.
As part of Origins Festival: Celebrating New Work, there will be workshops and knowledge sharing throughout the week. Join us and hone your creative skills with some of the best creative talent across the midlands. All festival events listed below are free! Spaces are limited so book your spot now to avoid disappointment.
Tue 12 May – 11am – 4.45pm
Join In Good Company, the Midlands leading artist development network, for a one to one mentoring session. In these 30 minute chats you can discuss your new project idea, get advice on where to get and how to get funding, or discuss your career and next steps. This time is for you! Once you’ve booked your slot, please send the New Work team an email on creatives@birminghamhippodrome.com including the areas you’d like to discuss.
Tue 12 May – 6pm – 9pm
Join In Good Company and Birmingham Hippodrome for a night of new fresh work from artists in the Midlands. One free ticket gets you access to a night of new work and the possibility of seeing the beginning of the next big thing. This is an evening of asking audiences to feed directly into the development of this work, so grab a ticket and have a chance of shaping new work.
Wed 13 May – 4pm – 6pm
Join actor, writer, and cultural producer Cherrelle Skeete for an insightful practical workshop into embodying text and exploring character. This workshop is open to all but particularly suited for actors and performers.
Thu 14 May – 2pm – 4pm
A practical writing workshop for new and established theatre-makers to create characters and scenes from lived experiences.
This free two-hour workshop will safely access and unleash your mind to excavate characters and events from memory and mash them together to produce an exciting starting point.
Fri 15 May – 10.30am – 12pm
Join us for a free Creatives Networking Breakfast on Friday 15 May to create connections and chat to fellow creatives. This will be a relaxed space to come together and meet the New Work & Artist Development team, as well as industry guests from the Midlands.
Fri 15 May – 3pm – 5pm
Join Paines Plough’s Co-Artistic Director Katie Posner as she leads a free session on her approach to directing new writing, providing a valuable insight in how a play makes its way from the page to the stage.
Sat 16 May – 2pm – 5pm
What does it mean to be an artist at this time? To devote our efforts to the process of creation through noise, fear and scarcity. Yet, our art is a necessary act of revolution. In this free Artist Manifesto workshop, we’ll connect with our bodies, clarify our values and declare the intention and direction of our practice. Your art is worthy of a north star.
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.