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GENFEST 2026

Welcome to GenFest 2026 – the seventh festival by Royal & Derngate’s artist support programme, Generate. Dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists from Northamptonshire and across the East Midlands, the festival features an exciting programme of events, taking place at the theatre this September. Over the course of the festival, audiences are invited to watch performances having their first outings and work-in-progress performances still in development. Artists also have the opportunity to attend development workshops and one to one advice sessions. Operating since 2012, Royal & Derngate’s artist development programme Generate is committed to supporting the work and development of artists, with opportunities including rehearsal and performance space, mentorship, scratch opportunities, masterclasses, funding, networking, placements, ticket offers and special one-off events and commissions. Royal & Derngate’s Associate Director (Engagement & New Work) Erica Martin commented: “We’re looking forward to showcasing some brilliant new work at GenFest this year. Our Generate Artist Development programme is such an important part of our work, and we are thrilled to be able share with our audiences more of the exciting projects and artists we are supporting.” All tickets are £10 or less. Some artists bursaries are available. To access these, please contact erica.martin@royalandderngate.co.uk

SCHEDULE THU 17 SEPTEMBER 10am

Lula by Sophie Loosemore

Underground Foyer

11.30am

Riki Cycle: Food Waste by A Children’s Story

Royal

1.30pm

Before The Stars Fell by Jo Blake and Mikael Ober

Underground Studio

FRI 18 SEPTEMBER 7pm

Spool by Polis Loizou

Underground Studio

8.30pm

We Had Fun by Emmeline Hartley & Jack Mullings

Royal

SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2.30pm & 7pm

Drill Baby Drill by Frank Wurzinger

Royal

SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 6pm

Writing Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely Takeover

Various locations

TUE 29 SEPTEMBER 6pm

Networking Event

Royal & Derngate

LULA

By Sophie Loosemore Thu 17 September 10am Underground 4 Tickets £5 For ages 0-12 Months

Follow baby Lula and her family inside a colourful dome full of light, sound, texture and song. Find glimmers of joy and see the wonder of your baby in this enchantingly immersive, interactive performance. Exploring connection, care and companionship through a blend of original live music and dance, you are invited to sit, lie down, listen, watch and delight in your unique child. Lula is a playful first experience of sensory theatre for babies and their grown-ups. Designed especially for ages 0-12 months.

Lula: About The Artists SOPHIE LOOSEMORE: ORIGINAL CONCEPT, PERFORMER Sophie Loosemore is the founder of Mustard Seeds Dance. Her focus centres on the connection between artist, baby and caregiver through movement, working with very young children and their grown-ups to draw out unique creativity whilst celebrating surprise, discovery and joyful experiences. She’s previously worked with Turned On Its Head, Bamboozle, Ballet Lorent, Full House Theatre, Motionhouse and Springs Dance. www.mustardseedsdance.co.uk @mustard_seeds_dance

REBECCA APPLIN: ORIGINAL COMPOSITION / SOUND DESIGN Rebecca is an award-winning composer for theatre and media. Recent projects include Frankenstein (On A Budget) with Lamphouse Theatre; Wastebusters, an eco-musical which tours primary schools in Northern Ireland, and British Council-funded Connections Through Culture India-Wales. She is the arranger for Rosie And Hugh’s Great Big Adventure, a new musical with the songs of Nick Cope. Rebecca was the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Award holder at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Media work includes I Know Me with Gamelab, a TV musical working with and for teenagers with SEND, commissioned by BBC Learning Zones. www.rebeccaapplin.co.uk @beckymakesmusic

SARAH ARGENT: DRAMATURG MENTOR Sarah is an award-winning artist specialising in theatre for children, including babies aged 6-18 months. An Associate Artist of Theatr Iolo (Cardiff), Sarah has also created productions for acclaimed theatre companies including National Theatre, Unicorn Theatr, Polka Theatre, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Derby Theatre (England); Welsh National Opera, Sherman Theatre, Theatr Clwyd (Wales); Barnstorm Theatre (Kilkenny, Ireland), Frec a Frec (Catalonia), ThinkArts (Kolkata, India) and Haya Cultural Centre, (Amman, Jordan). Her productions for these companies have toured extensively across the UK and Ireland, Europe, Canada and North America, Australia, India, and the Middle and Far East. @sarahargent65

Lula: About The Artists MEGAN BELL: ACTOR-MUSO Megan Audrey Bell is an actor-musician who trained at Guildford School of Acting. Since graduating, she has continued performing, devised original work, and facilitating as a practitioner and teacher. Megan is dedicated to using storytelling and music to create shared experiences for children and their families. @megana.bell

LIZ CLARK: MOVEMENT MENTOR & EARLY YEARS CONSULTANT Liz Clark is Artistic Director of Turned On Its Head, a dance company making dance theatre for 0-4s, who are currently touring their outdoor show The Delights, and indoor show Shiny and developing a new show as part of their residency at Pen Green children’s centre and research base in Corby. From 2018-2026 she was People Dancing’s Associate Artist for Early Years, growing a national network to over 500 members and leading a programme of professional development. She is the author of their online training course “An Introduction to Leading Dance for Early Years”. She is also a dance artist, trainer and consultant with over 25 years experience of working in dance in early years and with children with special educational needs. www.turnedonitshead.org @lizclarkdance @toihdance

SOPHIA LOVELL SMITH: THEATRE DESIGNER & MAKER Sophia Lovell Smith studied at Bretton Hall and now designs for theatre, opera, dance and participatory performance for children making sets, costume, masks and puppets. Designs range from intimate work for newborns to enormous interactive events – Lula (Mustard Seeds Dance), The Tale of the Whale (Britten Sinfonia), SALT (Lighthouse, Poole & Angel Exit), Handa’s Surprise (Little Angel Theatre) and Adventures in Wonderland (Full House Theatre). She works with both actor musicians and classical musicians with London Rhymes, The Glasshouse, Spitalfields Music/Musical Rumpus, MishMash and Seaglass Arts. www.sophialovellsmith.co.uk

RIKI CYCLE: FOOD WASTE By A Children’s Story Thu 17 September 11.30am Royal Tickets £5 For ages 3+

Meet PIP, Riki Cycle’s brand-new puppet pal who LOVES banana skins, spaghetti surprises and discovering the secrets of food waste! Join Riki, PIP and their recycling friends on a fun-filled musical adventure as they explore where our food goes, how we can waste less and why every little action can make a big difference. Packed with original songs, puppetry, laughter and lots of audience interaction, Riki Cycle: Food Waste is an exciting eco-adventure that inspires children and families to care for our planet. A Children’s Story creates unique and engaging content for young people. This could be anything from a live performance production for the stage, festivals or an education setting, or an entertaining experience that’s immersive and interactive. They also create programming for online, YouTube and film.

Riki Cycle: About The Artists AARON SPENDELOW - RIKI CYCLE Aaron is a storyteller, creative producer and theatre maker specialising in imaginative family theatre, puppetry and interactive experiences for young audiences. As the founder of A Children’s Story, Aaron creates original productions combining storytelling, music, puppetry and participation to inspire creativity, confidence and positive change. With over 20 years’ experience as a performer, he has worked across theatre, television and live entertainment, with credits including UK touring productions and collaborations with BBC, ITV, Warner Bros and DreamWorks. His work has been presented at festivals, theatres, schools and community events across the UK, creating engaging experiences that encourage children and families to explore the world through imagination and storytelling.

VICTORIA JANE - PUPPETEET & VOICES Victoria trained at The Urdang Academy studying musical theatre, and has been working in a wide variety of productions since graduating in 2010. Victoria has performed all over the world with some big names like Barney the Dinosaur, Sesame Street, Madagascar Live, Fireman Sam and In The Night Garden Live to name but a few. Victoria is an actress, children’s presenter, puppeteer, skin artist and voice over artist and loves the variety of work she gets to do. Her biggest claim to fame was that she played Noo Noo the Hoover in the comeback of the Teletubbies back in 2015 for Cbeebies, puppeteering and driving the little hoover from the inside. Then most recently, she was Dipsy in the music videos for the Teletubbies new album Ready Steady Go. When Victoria isn’t hidden behind a puppet or inside a crazy costume, you will most likely find her touring the world with the UK’s most successful Abba Theatre production Arrival-The Hits Of Abba as Frida. Victoria is also currently presenting Let’s Get Active for children learning English in China, and for the global YouTube Channel WildBrain as Doctor Didi. Victoria is now also a Mummy and loves sharing her career with her Daughter.

BEFORE THE STARS FELL

By Jo Blake and Mikael Oberg Thu 17 September 1.30pm Underground Studio Tickets £5

In the Beginning, Sky Bear carried the Original Instructions from the stars to the first humans. But then came the Great Forgetting. Traces of these instructions still live in the ancient mythologies of the North, if you know how to look for them. Using innovative spatialised and haptic sound technology by Michael Fergie, and storytelling by Jo Blake and Mikael Oberg, live spoken word and felt sound come together to dream open this vast ecological time where humans, animals, rocks and stars speak a common mythic language. We invite you to step into your ancestral mind and remember the time before the stars fell. This is a scratch sharing of a new piece which is currently a work in progress. Please join us after the performance for a feedback session, to help the team expand the piece.

Before The Stars Fell: About The Artists JO BLAKE Jo Blake is a contemporary storyteller whose interdisciplinary practice work with myth, fairy tale and epic through embodied performance. Her ACE-funded productions include Heresy, The Witness and Blodeuwedd Untold. She explores storytelling as cultural therapeutics, creating transformative experiences through live performance, collaboration and research across theatre, academia and community settings.

MIKAEL OBERG Mikael Oberg is a Swedish performance storyteller specialising in Norse mythology and Finnish epic. He performs internationally in theatres, schools and festivals, creating interdisciplinary performances with musicians and artists. Co-artistic director of Cisternen – The Tank, creating experimental sonic events, he received Sweden’s Mickelpriset storytelling award in 2021.

MICHAEL FERGIE Michael Fergie is a multi-instrumentalist and creative sound technologist, creating music and immersive audio for live performance. He has collaborated with leading circus companies and festivals, builds innovative sound systems, and specialises in haptic and multi-channel technologies.

SPOOL

By Polis Loizou Fri 18 September 7pm Underground Studio Tickets £5 For ages 15+

Set in the 2000s and inspired by real research, Spool is a psychological horror about a gay man who becomes the subject of a study to imprint his psychic visions to videotape. When he starts to see an unnerving figure, he suspects he’s invited a dark entity into the present, one that should have stayed buried. Content warning: Contains queerphobia and discussion of the AIDs epidemic

Spool: About The Artist Polis Loizou is an award-winning Cypriot writer, performer and oral storyteller based in Nottingham. As one third of The Off-Off-Off-Broadway Company, he’s written, directed and produced a number of one-act shows, including Hitchcock reworking Back Door and the hit Gothic chiller Peaceful. His solo theatrical work includes Mr Fox and the Arts Councilfunded I Was A Teenage Bisexual, a one-man horror B-movie for the stage. His latest piece, You Oughta Be In Pictures, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025 and was part of Nottingham Playhouse’s Amplify Seasons: Winter in 2026.

WE HAD FUN

By Emmeline Hartley & Jack Mullings Fri 18 September 8.30pm Royal Tickets £10 For ages 16+

Where did it all go wrong? Well, it depends who you ask. Close friends Oscar and Ela navigate the fallout of a drunken sexual encounter as their conflicting versions of events are replayed, rewound and re-written against the sensory medley of a wild night out. Olivier and Tony nominated Carrie-Anne Ingrouille (SIX the Musical) directs the world premiere of this distinctly un-romantic dark comedy and “fascinating exploration” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times) of the greyest areas of consent and sexual politics. Content Warnings: This show contains distressing or potentially triggering themes, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Scenes of Sexual Violence, Strobe Lighting, Strong Language/Swearing. Brief spider visuals

We Had Fun: About The Artists EMMELINE HARTLEY & JACK MULLINGS Emmeline Hartley (making her professional stage debut as Ela) and Jack Mullings (Oscar) graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This is their debut play as writers, inspired by the viral response to Hartley’s BFI Short Film Keep Breathing which explored the grey areas of sexual consent.

EMMA HOUSTON Emma (Sydney) is an interdisciplinary artist based in London. Recent highlights include: opening The World’s Largest Hip Hop Festival Breakin’ Convention at Sadlers Wells with their brand new solo Where Is The Line?: performing with world renowned rapper Rapsody in Denver USA as part of Passing The Crown, & performing in Ish Dance Collective’s THOR, which has just toured The Netherlands.

TESSA REDMAN Tessa (Quinn) is a London-based dancer, actor and theatremaker from Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand). With a background in contemporary dance, theatre and clown, interdisciplinarity is central to Tessa’s practice. As a maker, she works using the ‘art of loving’ as a guiding principle to create wild and subversive physical theatre work. Tessa’s critically acclaimed solo show LOVE/LOVE/LOVE/LOVE/LOVE toured Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2023.

DRILL BABY DRILL By Frank Wurzinger

Sat 19 September 2.30pm & 7pm Royal Tickets £10 For ages 10+ The end of the world - But funny! The arctic is melting and the evil capitalist polar bear goes through a whole range of feelings to deal with the catastrophe. A one man show performed by a polar bear, full of slapstick, improvisation, clowning and puppetry, exploring loss, grief and the endless search for hope. Drill Baby Drill is a funny, heartfelt and poignant show in which one clown attempts to save the world from a climate crisis. Created by and featuring Frank Wurzinger, directed by John Wright, a professional idiot, whose previous shows have been described as “hilarious” and “physically skilful”

Drill Baby Drill: About The Artist Frank, born in Germany, has lived nearly half his life in the UK. He is a theatre maker, workshop leader, actor, director and modern clown whose interest in performing started as a teenager learning circus skills… He blames his influential teachers Franki Anderson (Fool) and Guy Dartnell (Voice/ Improvisation) for him becoming the professional idiot he is today. Through those teachers, he discovered the joy of performing authentically and in the moment.

http://frankwurzinger.com/ @frankwurzgg

WRITING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LONELY TAKEOVER Sun 20 September 6pm Various Tickets £5

After the success of our 2025 takeover, this year we explode throughout the building – and beyond. Enjoy 10 short pieces from 10 local writers as you are taken through the whole of the Royal & Derngate’s unique architecture. Each piece has been chosen to compliment that specific part of the building. Writers contributing are: Al Holloway, Alison Lewin, Amy Brown, Benji Dotan, Emily Browning, Emily Muir, Gemma Boaden, Helen Gibb, Liz Vokes and Pethrow Gooden

Writing Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely: About The Artists Dan McGarry has been making theatre for over 20 years. As an actor/musician he took shows all over the world for 10 years before moving to Northampton. He continues to work as an actor but his focus has widened to include working more as a writer and director. In 2018 he set up Writing Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely to help writers share their work at an early stage. Since then he has helped dozens of writers with hundreds of scripts, several of which have gone on to further development and professional productions. This summer, Dan also filmed a pilot for his new TV comedy drama, Brass Monkeys. Caroline Ryden is an actor and producer who trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama (now the Birmingham Conservatoire) and has toured extensively in the UK and Europe. She founded Next Page Productions to champion new writing and local talent, producing and performing in several Midlands tours. A long-standing member of Northampton’s Writing Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely group since 2018, she is passionate about supporting local writers and new work.

NETWORKING EVENT Tue 29 September 6pm Royal & Derngate Tickets FREE

The Generate Networking Event is back! Connect with fellow artists and meet Arts Council, Equity, SOLT & In Good Company reps. First 50 bookers get a FREE ticket to our next Made In Northampton production, Once Upon A Time In Sokoto.