Departure Lounge Festival 2026

In Good Company and Derby Theatre

DEPARTURE LOUNGE FESTIVAL

THU 2 - SAT 4 JULY

Welcome to

DEPARTURE LOUNGE FESTIVAL 2026

We’re back with another absolute belter of a festival for you, the gorgeous ar tists of the Midlands and beyond!

This year’s programme is packed out with the hottest new shows, works-in-progress, discussions, installations and the most unscary networking you can think of. We’ ve put more thought and resources into making the festival as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, thanks to suppor t from Quiplash CIC and you, the ar tistic community, who’ ve helped us to improve our offer.

Kicking things off with our signature scratch night , followed by an opening par ty, join us for a free bevvy and a dance on Thursday night!

Beyond this, highlights include the Industry Panel Discussion, shouting about the graft and the joys of community focused work; Philosophy of the World, inspired by the best/ worst band of all time; and Zoo Indigo’s The Conditional Citizen (Don’t You Want Me, Baby?)

We’ ve got international performance from Switzerland with LOVE** WORK by Arnold & Koarov Travelling Theatre Co, and Edinburgh fringe previews with Puss in Boots: A Working Class Fairy Tale by Selina Mosinski (aka Charity Shop Sue), and Daniel McVey’s cosy cosmic horror, A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola.

Fresh new Midlands-made work includes Mess by Laura Goulden, and Auka Productions’ Hot Pot by Hongwei Bao.

Top it all off with some brilliant workshops from none other than Common/Wealth and Punchdrunk Enrichment and we ’ ve got ourselves a festival!

See you there!

Jen Sullivan

Executive Producer, In Good Company

Each pass gives you all-access to every show and discussion on your chosen day(s) – no need to book individual events. Just show your pass and take your seat!

What’s included:

• Entry to all performances/events on your pass day(s)

• Guaranteed seat at every show

• Plus a reserved space for the Industry Panel Discussion and Welcome Lunch (for Friday and full festival pass holders)

• Plus a reserved space for FROM SCRATCH at the festival launch on Thursday (for full Festival Pass holders)

Workshops are not included in any pass.

Buy once. See it all. Your seat is secured for the whole day – hassle-free.

ACCESS AT A GLANCE

Welcome to Departure Lounge Festival 2026. Please find below a quick and easy guide to everything you need to know at the festival. Here’s what’s on offer to help everyone have the best time at the festival:

Derby Theatre has step free access and wheelchair accessible routes to all festival spaces. You can find out more about different routes here.

A Quiet Space is available during the entire festival. It is found on the ground floor down the corridor between Box Office and the Cafe.

Trained Front of House and Festival staff are on hand throughout the festival as sighted guides and general access support. Staff will be identifiable by a uniform, or you can ask the box office for support.

There are male, female, and accessible toilets on both floors of the venue. There are male and female toilets next to the studio.

There are a number of BSL interpreted, audio described, and captioned performances throughout the festival.

There will be Audio Described Introductions for Hot Pot and A Foot is not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola. This introduction is a pre-show, prerecorded introduction on headsets that gives Visually Impaired audiences the information they need to enjoy the show without audio description.

Creative Audio Description (LOVE**WORK and Conditional Citizen)

Full audio described performed by actors, delivered to headsets.

The Lightbulb Moment has an audio narrative delivered by headphones, and a detailed description of the action in the animation can be given to audience members beforehand, or after they’ve experienced the work. A Large text format version of the text is available on request.

from scratch!

In Good Company presents

FROM SCRATCH!

THU 2 JULY, 7PM STUDIO

Kick off the festival with FROM SCRATCH!

A scratch night showcasing brand new performances made right here in the Midlands. This night is a chance to see the freshest new works, and feed directly back to the performances to help shape them into the next big thing. We’ve got work-in-progress performances from Strange Futures, Natallie Bellingham, Steve Conlin, and more Midlands artists. One ticket gets you a chance to see multiple works-in-progress, and to start off the festival right! Join us after for a free dance party reception to meet and mingle with artists and organisations across the region.

TICKETS

In Good Company presents

FREE

INDUSTRY PANEL DISCUSSION

FRI 3 JULY, 10.30AM GARDEN

STAGE

Join us for our highly anticipated Panel Discussion — a staple of the Departure Lounge Festival.

This free event brings together freelancers, artists, organisations and companies to explore the biggest issues shaping the theatre industry today.

This year’s theme is Unity & Community; celebrating community focused practices, and exploring better support for artists who actively create meaningful experiences for communities.

Tickets are free, but spaces fill fast so book yours early to avoid missing out. Join us after for a networking lunch in the Upper Foyer directly after, free with your ticket.

A work-in-progress by Laura

Goulden

MESS

FRI 3 JULY, 1.45PM

STUDIO

A work-in-progress premier of a new play by Laura Goulden supported by In Good Company Take Off Writers Award 2024. Family ties make the messiest knots; watch family dynamics unfold in British Sign Language.

Years on from their parents’ divorce, adult siblings are still picking up the pieces of their divided family.

Can they thrive in their lives, careers and relationships when their example of family is dysfunctional and toxic?

Feeling held back by broken roots, can a Deaf brother and hearing sister navigate shared trauma, misremembered childhood and half remembered arguments? Whilst she reflects and wallows on what might’ve been, he parties to avoid difficult conversations. How can they ever find common ground when they had such different upbringings? Themes include belonging, identity and family. Comparison vs expectation. How does a divorced past affect a future?

See Intimate sibling conversations performed in BSL (British Sign Language) with live English translation delivered to headphones (for those that need it).

TICKETS

£12

AGE GUIDANCE

13+

ADVISORIES

Contains mild swearing, and themes of divorce and Deaf discrimination

DOING IT YOURSELF WORKSHOP

FRI 3 JULY, 3PM • REHEARSAL ROOM

This workshop will offer a brief introduction to a range of practical exercises to enable you to work with others to create political theatre and make social change. The exercises will give you an insight into Common/Wealth, how we make original theatre about the here and now, and with people who may not have been part of any theatre-making process before.

We’ll share our DIY origins, why the company exists, and how we highlight social injustices through making high quality award-winning theatre. Suitable for people new to theatre, experienced theatremakers, activists and community organisers.

at igc@derby.ac.uk

Selina Mosinski presents

PUSS IN BOOTS

A WORKING-CLASS FAIRYTALE

FRI 3 JULY, 6.45PM

STUDIO

Before she was viral cult icon Charity Shop Sue, Selina Mosinski was Randy Cain: an 18-year-old stripper from Derby with a big mouth, bigger dreams, and no intention of staying small town.

Hitchhiking to London, she slips off-course into a Midlands “titty bar” adorned with a baroque human-sized birdcage stage, buzzing strip lights that judge you, stag parties dressed as Papa Smurf – and Garry, a sleazy casting man who swears he can make her a star.

Part confessional memoir, part riotous character comedy, this is a surreal plunge into Britain’s strip-club boom, 00s ladette culture, and the strange comfort of Sylvia Young – Randy’s guardian angel, who keeps dragging her back towards the light.

A darkly funny, glitter-stained confession about how far we’ll go in the name of fame and fortune.

Puss in Boots: A Working-Class Fairytale is an Edinburgh work in progress.

TICKETS

£12

AGE GUIDANCE

18+

ADVISORIES

Contains very strong language & scenes of a sexual nature.

In Bed With My Brother presents

PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD

FRI 3 JULY, 8.30PM

GARDEN STAGE

This is our PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD – inspired by the best worst band of all time, The Shaggs. It’s named after their album. PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD (1969). The best worst album of all time.

Part tribute act, part feminist reclamation, part fever dream, PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is about power, patriarchy, band t-shirts, daddy issues and three sisters, who didn’t want to be a band but it was their destiny.

It’s also about who gets to decide if you’re good or shit. But it’s mainly about dads.

Featuring questionable mime, high-intensity dance sequences, cheap wigs, jump scares and a well trained actor.

We’ll play the band. You play the audience. It’ll be perfect. Load up on guns, bring your friends. But please, no smoking in the auditorium. Oh, and lastly, whatever you do, please don’t tell Tom Cruise about the show. He currently holds the rights to the Shaggs’ story. And we haven’t paid him.

(Free soda on admission)

Winner of The Scotsman Fringe First Award 2025

Winner of Fest And Skinny Magazine’s Bestie Award 2025

The Stage’s Fringe Five 2025 – Theatre Makers Who Made The Biggest Impact

TICKETS

£14

AGE GUIDANCE

16+

ADVISORIES

Contains loud music, haze, flashing & strobe lights, scenes of violence & fake blood, strong language, nudity, the use of herbal cigarettes and sensitive themes including patriarchal control & abuse.

Punchdrunk Enrichment presents

PUNCHDRUNK ENRICHMENT WORKSHOP

SAT 4 JULY, 9.30AM

• REHEARSAL ROOM

Join Steve McCourt, Artistic Director of Punchdrunk Enrichment, as he shares key insights into the company’s signature approach to creating immersive theatre.

In this participatory session, you’ll learn how Punchdrunk Enrichment creates narratives that place the audience as the protagonists of the story, use design as a storytelling driver and champion child voice as a creative tool. Through a variety of exercises, you’ll leave armed with a palette of ideas for creating your next immersive piece.

Punchdrunk Enrichment was founded in 2008 to take the innovative practice of Punchdrunk into schools, community and family settings. Originally part of Punchdrunk, the company became an independent charity in 2021 and is now based in Brent, London. Today, it is a National Portfolio Organisation dedicated to creating transformational, immersive experiences for as wide an audience as possible.

For more information on Punchdrunk Enrichment please visit their website: www.PunchdrunkEnrichment.org.uk

Please email us at igc@derby.ac.uk

Auk a Productions present s

HOT POT

by Hongwei Bao

SAT 4 JU L , 11.30A M

S T UDI O

Four university friends reunite years later, at a hot pot restaurant , after the Covid pandemic.

Over bubbling broth and shared plates, their laughter peels back

and naïve ideals. Conversation soon turns to the quiet divergences that time has carved: careers chosen and abandoned, families expected and resisted, compromises made for security and compromises refused in the name of being true.

Hot Pot is a tender examination of friendship and the small betrayals of adulthood. It traces the hear tache of lost love, the friction between dreams and pragmatism, and the work it takes to remain authentic when the world insists otherwise.

Warm, inquisitive and rooted in East Asian perspectives, Hot Pot serves up a single night of conversation that explores gay identity with honesty and nuance, questioning what it means to belong to a place,society, par tner, and one’s true self amidst a queer-unfriendly environment

Contains partial nudity and references to homophobia, racism & parental death.

A pre-show pre-recorded headset intro for Visually Impaired audience members (alternative to full audio description).

Arnold & Komarov Travelling Theatre Co Presents LOVE**WORK

SAT 4 JULY, 1.15PM

GARDEN STAGE

LOVE**WORK is a multi-year performative project that gathers fragments of memory into a shared “Biography Of Many,” tracing the fragile relationship between love and labour.

Built from stories collected in Switzerland, England, Pakistan and the Netherlands, the piece weaves anonymous testimonies into a polyphonic landscape where the intimate becomes collective, and the everyday reveals its political weight.

On stage, an ever-shifting architecture of cardboard boxes – remnants of our consumer society –frames a performance in constant transformation.

As Arnold & Komarov Travelling Theatre perform, CickinDunt draw live portraits of the audience, turning the theatre into a temporary gallery.

Tender, humorous and at times unsettling, LOVE**WORK holds contradictions side by side: purpose and exhaustion, care and survival, desire and duty. It invites audiences into a communal space where personal histories resonate across borders, and where the question of how—and why— we work and love is shared and re-imagined together.

TICKETS £14 AGE GUIDANCE

12+

ADVISORIES

Contains references to death & domestic violence.

THE LIGHTBULB MOMENT

SAT 4 JULY, 4PM – 7PM (every 45mins) DERBADOS

(Derby Theatre car park)

Put on your headphones and join Nash and his friends in an animated audio experience.

Get up, eat, wash, work, eat, work, home, eat, rest, bed, repeat. Nash is about to wake up. A little early perhaps, but the birds are noisy. It’s just a normal morning, in a normal building, on what looks to be a pretty normal day.

Can you see? Get closer. You might need to shift your position. He’s going to turn on the light. Watch…

The Lightbulb Moment is an animation and audio experience that invites you to a digital world in miniature. Acclaimed artists Proto-type and Adam York Gregory tell a story about systems in motion, chains of cause and effect, and about who has the power to make change.

Put on your headphones and come visit an apartment building humming with life, stories, and quiet revolutions. Watch, listen and explore, as the residents’ lives pull apart and weave together through choice and accident, apathy and energy, their rage, despair and hope.

Join Nash and his friends as they navigate the chaos of a normal world and all its narratives, possibilities, and perspectives. The lightbulb flickers, what do you see?

Commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre

Development supported by Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University, University of Lincoln School of Creative Arts and the UnLimited – UnAward.

AGE GUIDANCE

12+

ADVISORIES

Contains mild language

Large Text Available and a detailed description of the action in the animation can be given to audience members beforehand, or after they’ve experienced the work.

Please email igc@derby.ac.uk to arrange.

Daniel McVey presents

A FOOT IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE PRIZE FOR THE TOMBOLA

S TUDI O

An Edinburgh Fringe Preview — Lydia is ready to welcome you to the village green, so why not see if you can help her to discover the mysteries of the tombola (and see if you can win a prize while you ’ re at it!).

“I’m not in the regular habit of putting dismembered body parts as prizes for my stalls. Unless I’m put in charge of the meat

After a severed foot is found in the box of one of the tombola prizes, the Greenwold village fête is thrown into disarray. But Lydia, who runs the tombola stall, is determined not to let it ruin the day. As she pushes on, the revelations get even more bizarre, and as Lydia attempts to work out

to the village, and the fête than anyone realised.

A camp comedic interactive murder mystery written and performed by ‘ vibrant storyteller’ Daniel McVey where audience volunteers become the other characters, suspects

TI C KE TS £14

AGE G UI DANCE 16+

ADVISORIE S

cosy crime and cosmic horror, prepare to be intrigued, enter tained, and leave questioning the wild world we live in.

Catch the bizarre and hilarious new show, A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola, before its debut run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer.

Supported by Curve, Leicester.

Contains audience interaction, strong language and comic references to death, murder, mutilation, horror and real-

A pre-show pre-recorded headset intro for visually impaired audience members (alternative to full audio description).

zoo indigo presents

THE CONDITIONAL CITIZEN (DON’T

YOU WANT ME, BABY?)

SAT 4 JULY, 9PM

• GARDEN STAGE

The Conditional Citizen (Don’t You Want Me Baby?) is a darkly humorous performance about the absurd dance of trying to fit in.

She copies. He mimics. They shed. At border control, they strip off her heritage coat with a smile. ‘Don’t you want me, baby?’ But who really gets to cross, to stay, to be accepted, an at what cost?

Suspended in a liminal desert of identity, five conditional citizens navigate the strange rituals of border crossings with satire and sorrow. Framed by the shadows of Brexit and the government’s hostile immigration policies, the performance becomes a timely and provocative response to a world where identity is continually negotiated, stripped back, and reassembled.

Created by Zoo Indigo with an ensemble of performers from migratory contexts, this multidisciplinary piece weaves movement, multilingual spoken word and live music into a politically charged exploration of home and the surreal choreography of borders.

TICKETS

£14

AGE GUIDANCE

14+

ADVISORIES

Contains loud noises, flashing lights and themes of racism & xenophobia.

GET INVOLVED AT DEPARTURE LOUNGE FESTIVAL

FREE EVENTS

ARTISTS' OPEN LETTER

Friday 3 July, 3pm – 5pm – Upper Foyer

13 years ago, IGC was formed from artist conversations at the first ever Departure Lounge Festival. We know that artists now are working in a very different landscape, and this event encourages you to join us in writing an open letter to the industry.

Join us for an hour of facilitated conversations using creative games to share thoughts that will be captured by a scribe. Following this will be a less structured drop-in session for anyone who wants to contribute to the letter.

Come to this free event if you want to feel reminded that we’re part of a community bigger than ourselves, and that we, the theatre workforce of the Midlands, are master collaborators!

Facilitator Evie Osbon will compile the letter for it to be shared on our website. It will help shape the future of IGC and will be forwarded across our networks to industry partners regionally and nationally.

LONELY ARTS CLUB

Saturday 4 July, 3pm - 5.15pm - Upper Foyer

Sometimes working in the arts can feel like a lonely task, and meeting new people can feel like another job to add to the list. We’re here to fight those feelings! Join us for our laid-back networking – Lonely Arts Club. This is your time to meet fellow arts professionals in a casual setting, play some fun games and find your people.

Lonely Arts Club is free, friendly and designed to help you expand your network and build new industry connections. Team IGC will be there, and there’ll be time to meet people from arts organisations in the Midlands and beyond.

This is a drop in event, so feel free to rock up between 3pm and 5.15pm and say hi!

SCHEDULE

TH U R S DAY 2 N D JU LY

START END SHOW VENUE ACCESS

7pm 9pm FROM SCRATCH

Studio BSL

8pm 11pm Launch Par ty Upper Foyer BSL

FR I DAY 3 R D JU LY

START END SHOW VENUE ACCESS

10.30am 12pm Panel Discussion

Garden Stage BSL / Panellists self describe

12pm 1.30pm Networking Lunch Upper Foyer BSL

1.45pm 2.45pm Mess

3pm 5.30pm Do It Yourself Common Wealth Workshop

Studio BSL led / Voiceover headsets

Rehearsal Room

3pm 5pm Artists' Open Letter Upper Foyer

6.45pm 7.45pm Puss in Boots: A Working Class Fairy Tale

8.15pm 10pm Philosophy of the World

BSL

Studio BSL

Garden Stage BSL

SCHEDULE

SAT UR DAY 4T H JU LY

START END SHOW VENUE ACCESS

Punchdrunk Enrichment Workshop Rehearsal Room

11.30am 12.40pm Hot Pot

1.15pm 2.45pm LOVE** WORK

Studio

Garden Stage

3pm 5.15pm Lonely Ar ts Club Upper Foyer

4pm

7.15pm 8.30pm A Foot is Not an Appropriate

9pm 7pm Lightbulb Moment Derbados

10am 12pm 10pm

The Conditional Citizen (Don’t You Want Me, Baby?) Prize for The Tombola

Studio

Garden Stage

Audio Described Intro / Captions

Creative Audio Description / Captions

Large text available

Audio Described intro / Captions

Creative Audio Description / Captions