A three-day festival celebrating the best in immersive and interactive art opens at Chelsea Theatre tomorrow.
The Not Television Festival is the brainchild of critic Ben Walters, who also produces the quarterly cabaret night Come With Me If You Want To Live at the theatre on the World's End Estate in Kings Road.
Combining theatre, comedy and cabaret, it promises to revel in the unexpected - providing an antidote to the safe, scripted fare on offer at so many other venues.
"The Not Television Festival is a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of the bold new performance work I’m most passionate about - unrehearsable, unpredictable and unrepeatable shows that get you buzzing in places the telly just can't reach," says Walters.
Kicking the festival off tomorrow (Friday, August 29) night will be a selection of acts fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe, hand-picked by Walters.
During the rest of the weekend, you could get your hips swinging at an open air tea dance, help a pair of musicians create a new society or watch as an actor performs an unseen, unrehearsed script for the first time before your eyes.
For more information and to book tickets, visit www.chelseatheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 020 7352 1967.
The full line-up is as follows:
Friday August 29
7:30pm, Edinburgh discovery
We don’t know what this one will be yet! An exciting show handpicked by festival programmer Ben Walters at the Edinburgh Fringe – the only guarantee is it’ll be unlike anything else around.
9pm, Red Bastard
Confrontational clown, inspirational arse-kicker, tomato-rooster hybrid and more. Red Bastard is a face-full of laughs who’ll have you itching in your seat and questioning your priorities.
Saturday August 30
2-5pm, Open air tea dance
Ragroof Theatre host stylish afternoon tea dances for all ages and levels of experience. Come and trip the light fantastic to the sounds of the roaring 20s, 30s and 40s and encounter a recreation of the glamorous heyday of ballroom dance, with a dash of luscious Latin and scintillating swing.
4-8pm, Drawabout
Drawabout will be on hand doing brilliant live drawings depicting and inspired by the life stories of anyone and everyone present – plus live music, great grub and a chance to contribute to the Anxiety Box – a cathartic repository of all the ills of our neurotic society wrapped up in a couple of square feet of cardboard.
4pm, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
Unopened script. Unprepared actor. Unknowing audience. Unforgettable. Iran’s Nassim Soleimanpour can’t leave his home, but his writing can. Watch an amazing performer bring it to life without setting eyes on it ever before – and perhaps hand the reins over to you…The speakers are two of the outstanding talents of the cabaret world: London's Jonny Woo and New York's Lady Rizo. (Days TBC)
4-6pm, Mister Meredith
A Mrs Mills for the new century – presents an irresistible singalong straight from the music hall, the boozer and the charts.
6pm, The Creative Martyrs: Cabapocalypsaret
Welcome to the Armageddon floorshow. What kind of world shall we make next? The Creative Martyrs – think Vladimir and Estragon with a cello and ukulele – invite you to help invent a new form of society in the ruins of a music hall. No pressure.
8pm, Edinburgh discovery
We don’t know what this one will be yet! An exciting show handpicked by festival programmer Ben Walters at the Edinburgh Fringe – the only guarantee is it’ll be unlike anything else around.
10pm, Tomás Ford’s Electric Midnight Cabaret
Using a hefty mixing console, video wizardry, killer tunes, snake hips and a shedload of chutzpah, this euphoric show suggests what might happen if Sweeney Todd threw an electro-punk party in the sex dungeon of the TARDIS en route to nirvana. Key terms: ‘Nothing bad is happening. Forgive this show. You are not alone.’
Sunday August 31
In the afternoon, Drawabout will be on hand doing brilliant live drawings depicting and inspired by the life stories of anyone and everyone present – plus live music, great grub and a chance to contribute to the Anxiety Box – a cathartic repository of all the ills of our neurotic society wrapped up in a couple of square feet of cardboard.
2:30pm, Sunday Assembly
A godless congregation celebrating the wonder of life and joys of community. Join the celebrants of the Sunday Assembly for a new kind of happy hang-out, bringing together shamelessly joyous pop singalongs, a smarter kind of inspirational speaking and, most importantly, a sense of being in it together.
4-6pm, Michael Roulston
Maestro of the cabaret pianoforte Michael Roulston tinkles the ivories, takes requests and embarks on melodic flights of fancy.
4:30pm, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
Unopened script. Unprepared actor. Unknowing audience. Unforgettable. Iran’s Nassim Soleimanpour can’t leave his home, but his writing can. Watch an amazing performer bring it to life without setting eyes on it ever before – and perhaps hand the reins over to you…The speakers are two of the outstanding talents of the cabaret world: London's Jonny Woo and New York's Lady Rizo. (Days TBC)
6:30pm, Miss Behave’s Gameshow
A lo-fi cardboard aesthetic is the perfect backdrop for this new venture from the mistress of the sideshow spectacle. Oodles of charm and innovative oomph go into cleverly designed games that make a benefit of the ubiquity of mobile phones while carrying a satirical sting. There might just be a special guest or two as well.
Ticket information
Single shows: £12/£8 concs
Day tickets for all shows on one day (either Fri or Sat or Sun): £20/£12 concs
Weekend ticket (for all shows on all three days): £35/£25
Day and weekend tickets give access to shows subject to availability
