We curate a diverse programme of events, consisting of workshops, seminars, lectures, symposia and performances. The majority of our events are open to public audiences. Unless otherwise stated, they are free of charge to attend, and take place in person. Some of our events during the course of a year will address a particular research theme. For 2022-23, our theme is making waves.
Arts Week 2023
Arts Week returns to Birkbeck with discussions, workshops, tours, performances and readings. Theatre and performance events take place every day in the festival, which runs from Monday 24 to Friday 28 April.
Monday 24 April
11am-12pm: ice&fire theatre company—Asylum Mapping Workshop: An hour-long workshop mapping the UK asylum process with Sebastian Aguirre, co-artistic director of ice&fire theatre company. The workshop prefaces a live reading of ice&fire’s This Is Who I Am. Co-sponsored by Birkbeck Gender and Sexuality as part of the BiGS Annual Lecture Series. Book here.
12.30-2pm: ice&fire theatre company presents This Is Who I Am: First-hand accounts from LGBT+ people about their experiences in their own country and on arrival in the UK, addressing the particular challenges they face going through the UK asylum system. Co-sponsored by Birkbeck Gender and Sexuality as part of the BiGS Annual Lecture Series. Book here.
7.40-9pm: Wild Time: a Theatrical Novel at Birkbeck: Artists Rose Biggin and Keir Cooper discuss their genre-defying punk prose rendition of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and its vivid repurposing of narratives of pleasure and power. Book here.
Tuesday 25 April
3-4.30pm: On Seeing: Perception in Performance and Film: Cutting-edge new performance and film works investigating how and what we see, featuring work from past and present theatre students. Book here.
6-7.20pm: Si Si Puede! Stories of celebration and resistance from the Wards Corner Latin market, produced by Aldaterra Projects with Alda Terracciano and Vicky Alvarez. Book here.
Wednesday 26 April
6pm-7.20pm: Theatre Scratch Night: Work in progress from Birkbeck’s theatre and creative writing students: from workshops to finished pieces, experience the processes and products of our creative factory. Book here.
Thursday 27 April
6-7.20pm: Margery: a Performed Life: Created by MFA Theatre Directing students, a devised performance with live bread, in response to the life and visions of medieval mystic Margery Kempe. Book here.
6-7.20pm: Possibilities for Dramaturgy (online): Dramaturgs Emily LeQuesne, Emma Jayne Park and Hanna Slättne talk about different and unusual dramaturgical practices, share their experiences as dramaturgs in the current UK theatre landscape, and discuss the challenges of the industry. Book here.
Friday 28 April
-4pm: The Old Price Riots Project: Workshop performance created by MA Text & Performance students exploring the question: does anyone still consider access to theatre to be a right worth fighting for? Book here.
Past events
Read about our past events at the links below.
