Hotbed is The Cambridge New Writing theatre festival produced by Menagerie Theatre Company, co-produced with the Cambridge Junction 

Hotbed 2022: July 15-17th at Cambridge Junction

Hotbed returns in July with 3 packed days of live theatre.  See the full programme here and book tickets via the Cambridge Junction website.

Tickets are now on sale but watch out, there is limited availability as we are abiding by current guidelines for theatre events.  So, to avoid disappointment, book early! 

Our featured piece this year is The Summer Before Everything, by Bohdan Tokarskyi and Maria Montague.  This wonderful piece of verbatim theatre from Ukraine was first featured at Hotbed 2016.  With the war still raging on, we are doing a brand new production with all ticket sales going to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.  

We’ve also got guest productions, experimental scratch performances, readings, and workshops from local, regional, national and international artists.  Tickets can be booked by following the links or going to the Cambridge Junction website.  

Held since 2002, Festival commissions have included work by Tim Etchells, Naomi Wallace, Steve Waters, Fraser Grace, Ed Harris, Diane Samuels, Jane Upton, Chris O’Connell and Janice Okoh as well as dozens of first-time and up-and-coming writers.

Hotbed 2017

Hotbed 2017 took place on Saturday July 8th at Cambridge Junction.  Featuring exciting new productions from our Young Writers’ Workshop, the latest play from acclaimed writer Janice Okoh, special commissions, a remarkable collaboration with local school students and other Cambridge cultural organisations, and time to drink, eat and chat in between!

Hotbed 2016

The brochure for 2016 will be uploaded here soon.

 

Hotbed 2015

Hotbed 2015 has come and gone in a blaze of new writing energy.  Thank you to all the artists, audiences and supporters who made it such an exciting and wide-ranging festival.  Highlights were the What’s Up Doc? commissions, led by Craig Baxter and Martina di Simplicio’s collaboration on ‘Pictures of You‘, the international guest artists Na Perone from Slovakia with their production of ‘Fasbuk‘, and the Menagerie Young Writers’ Showcase which closed the festival on a high.

Download Hotbed 2015 Festival Programme

Download Hotbed_Schedule

For full show details, click on the links below:

Full Productions:

Fasbuk by Slovakian company Na Perone, Luke Wright in Stay-at-Home Dandy, Luke Wright in What I Learned from Johnny Bevan, A Lie by Francesca Beard, Professional Supervision by Tom Martin and The Sunset Five by DugOut Theatre.

The Sunset Five has now been replaced by Goodbear by DugOut Theatre.

These are completed productions including commissioned and guest work.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

What’s Up Doc? Plays:

Pictures of You by Craig Baxter, How to Cheat…And Be a Winner by Grace Knight, Fifteen by Sarah Davies

These are plays which have been written by a playwright in conversation or correspondence with a ‘Doc’.  The Docs are those who sit as thought leaders in their field (academic, scientific, political).

Special Event:

What’s Up Doc? Breakfast – a chance to discuss the What’s Up Doc? Plays

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Works in Progress and Staged Readings:

Guesthouse by Nicola Werenowska,  Offside by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish and TRAILER/trash by Mike Elliston.

These are semi-staged performances presenting the early drafts of exciting ideas.  They may be script-in-hand or learned: all exciting and raw.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Cambridge Productions:

Black Cat by Corkscrew Theatre, MaD: New Plays by WRiTEON, Connie and the Suffragettes by Ros Connelly, The Cambridge Monolgues: Voices of the Past by Kay Blayney, Memory Bank devised by Cambridge Community Arts Drama Group, Streets and Dreams by Year 8 students from Coleridge Community College and Patience the Campervan by Kay Blayney, specially for children aged 4-8.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Menagerie Young Writers:

Collection One: Immobile by Daniel Hutchinson, Beached by James McDermott and Violet Night by Rebekah Miron-Clayton

Collection Two: The Tinder Game by Michelle Sewell and Happy Birthday by Lindsay Oldham.

A collection of new one act plays from the Menagerie Young Writers’ Group (16-25), specially commissioned for Hotbed.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Workshops:

Energy-Movement- Space led by Na Perone, Theatre of the People led by Marina Pallares Elias and The Birth of Panda Man led by Fraser Grace and Paul Bourne.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

One Page Play Competition:

We are still accepting entries for our One Page Play Competition. Selected plays will be performed at the Hotbed Festival.  If you are 16 and over you can enter the adult competition.  We also have a young writers category for those aged 15 years and under.

One Page Play Guidelines 2015

One Page Plays Guidelines 2015 – 15 and under

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hotbed is supported by:

Ellen Thomas, Nick Oshikanlu, Rhoda Ofori-Attah, Anniwaa Buachie and Lace Akpojaro brought Egusi Soup to life in 2012!

 

 

A fresh and updated version of funny and poignant play from Menagerie Associate Writer and Bruntwood Prize Winner, Janice Okoh had a sell-out run  in London in June this year.

As the Anyias, a British-Nigerian family, pack their suitcases and prepare to head home to Lagos for a memorial service in honour of the late Mr Anyia, they soon realise they will need to get rid of some excess baggage first!  A fast, furious and funny new family drama about intergenerational and cross- cultural relationships. Contains plenty of spicy bits…

Egusi Soup started life with Menagerie with a reading at Sparks; it then premiered as a script-in-hand performance at Hotbed in July 2009 and in October 2009 embarked on tour in a co-production with Eastern Angles. For 2012, Egusi Soup was brought to life once again with a co-production between Menagerie and Soho Theatre and in association with the Mercury Theatre, Colchester.

Reviews

THE PUBLIC REVIEW

A thought-provoking production that was a triumph because of its heartfelt and honest portrayal of ordinary lives…

http://www.thepublicreviews.com/egusi-soup-soho-theatre-london/

 

The Stage

“Okoh’s play is punchy and funny, and generates much laughter of recognition.”

http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/36321/egusi-soup

 

What’s On Stage

http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/london/E8831338198781/Egusi+Soup.html

 

Squeamish Bikini

http://www.squeamishbikini.com/2/post/2012/05/egusi-soup-a-review.html

 

MORE PHOTOS

 

 

The following writers are Menagerie Associate Playwrights who have been commissioned by us.  Some work with us on a regular basis, support other Menagerie writers in development and regularly workshop new ideas with us:

 

Craig Baxter: Hard Sell 2003, RE: Design USA 2008, BBC Radio 2010, Let Newton Be! USA 2011

Clare Bayley: At Sea, Hotbed 2009

Ranjit Bolt: Going Potty Hotbed 2008

Samantha Ellis; A Sudden Visitation of Calamity ; Hotbed 2008, BBC 2009

Kenny Emson: Invisible Mice, Hotbed 2008

Tim Etchells: MFI Hotbed 2002

Alison Falconer: Prosperity 3; Hotbed 2009

Jennifer Farmer: Stutter; Hotbed 2008

Richard Fredman: Four For Jerichco 2011, bloominauschwitz 2015 & 2018

Pam Gien: Syringa Tree; Edinburgh 2006

Fraser Grace: Gifts of War National Tour 2005, Frobisher’s Gold London 2006, Events Hotbed 2009, Tongues Tour 2010, Bliss 2019

Danusia Iswasko: Oran’s Message; Hotbed 2008

Claire Macdonald : Correspondence; National Tour 2008

Hisham Matar: How To Begin, Hotbed 2013

Maria Montague & Bohdan Tokarsky: The Summer Before Everything, Hotbed 2016

Andrew Muir: Gaugleprixtown; Hotbed, Edinburgh 2006

Chris O’Connell: Forgive our Paranoia, 2012

Janice Okoh : Egusi Soup 2014,  Sleeper 2018

Anna Reynolds : Stand By Your Van, Edinburgh 2010

Diane Samuels : Seeds, Hotbed 2004

Judy Upton : Push the Button Hotbed 2008, Flick to Kick Hotbed 2009, BBC Radio 2010

Naomi Wallace; The Retreating World, National Tour 2005, Between this Breath and You Hotbed 2006

Steve Waters: The Cull, Regional tour 2002, Out Of Your Knowledge national Tour 2008, What Country, Friends, Is This? Hotbed 2017

Polly Wiseman: Stormin’ Jack Norman, Hotbed 2004, The Latchmere 2004

Supported/Produced Playwrights:
The following writers have all been produced by Menagerie. Most have been through one of our writer development schemes such as The Pipeline, Escalator and Sparks. They  have all gone onto be produced at Hotbed and beyond;

Dan Allum (Escalator 2007)
Andrew Burton (Waterlog: Pulse 2010)
Michael Dennis (Hotbed 2004)
Tom Marty (Hotbed 2004)
Phillip Meeks (Hotbed 2004)
Neil Monagahan (Hotbed 2004. The Latchmere 2009)
Anna Rowntree (Hotbed 2008/2009)
Jennifer Tucket (Hotbed 2008/2009)
Helen Mort: (Escalator/ Hotbed 2009)

Current Projects 

Bliss by Fraser Grace

Bliss, by Fraser Grace, makes its London debut this Spring at the Finborough Theatre.  Playing May 17th to June 11th, this marks the full premiere of a play we’ve had in the works since 2019.  Postponed twice due to the pandemic, we are now looking forward to this run with a fantastic cast, a published script and a great story to tell – of struggle, survival and redemption amidst world-shattering events.  Check out the Finborough’s website here for full details.

 

ESCAPISM – Radio Plays to Perform and Record at Home.  June 1st – August 1st 2020

Tired of Lockdown?  Want something fun and creative to do?  Welcome to Escapism.  Original radio plays for you to perform and record at home.  Your chance to star in a radio performance of plays written by professional playwrights.  Open to children, young people and adults of all ages.  You can do it alone or with your household – the important thing is to have fun making something original.  And it’s all FREE.  Read on for details.  

There are 4 plays to choose from, each 10-15 minutes long, each for a different number of performers.  Record on your phone, computer, tablet or even your multi-track recording studio, it’s all the same to us.  Once you’ve finished, send it to Menagerie and we will release it to the world via social media.  Performers and sound effects wizards, over to you…  

Before you do any recording, CLICK HERE for guidelines on how to get the best results and how to send the recording to Menagerie.   Then click on the play titles to take you to the scripts.   Here they are: 

Island Ecology by Craig Baxter.  For 4 performers.  Stranded on a desert island, 4 friends have to learn how to survive without descending into brutality and power games.

Headhunters by Fraser Grace.  For 3 performers.  A crazy journey into a secret world.  Chubber, Lalli and Bodge get inside heads to fix minds, mend pains and flush out bad memories.  But this job is the toughest yet.

The Fall by Vanessa Ackerman.  For 2 performers.  Hansel and Gretel set the record straight about who they are and what really happened the night they finally got home from the forest.

A Drop of Human Kindness (Female Version) and A Drop of Human Kindness (Male Version) by Danusia Iswaszko.  For 1 performer.  A story about the joys of gardening and the terror of being indoors with the one you love more than anything in the world.  

‘A Drop of Human Kindness’ is the only one which specifically requires an adult for the role.  All the other 3 plays can be performed by children, young people and/or adults.  

Whether you’re an old hand or this is your first time, just give it your best shot and we will do the rest.  As the saying goes, Get Creative at Home!

Productions

Click on the links to read more about recent productions: The Great Austerity Debate and bloominauschwitz

Menagerie’s core focus is getting plays performed. That’s what we love to do.

From major performances in international venues to local festivals we strive to produce the best plays by the best playwrights.

Through commissions, writer development workshops and our Hotbed festival, writers find their way to getting produced with us – as long as it engages we will strive to produce it! Work has been seen on stages across the world from India to the USA but is mainly produced with a keen eye on engaging, challenging and connecting with UK audiences. Here work has been produced in theatres across the country including Soho, The Shaw, Theatre 503, The Colchester Mercury, Cambridge Junction, Manchester Royal Exchange, Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse, Bury Theatre Royal, Plymouth Drum and The Bristol Old Vic.

Our rich history of work has seen an extraordinary canon being established from first time writers such as Janice Okoh (Egusi Soup), through  to major international artists such as Naomi Wallace (Retreating World). We are proud to include writers such as Fraser Grace (Gifts of War and Frobisher’s Gold) , Steve Waters (The Cull and Out of Your Knowledge), Craig Baxter (Hard Sell and Let Newton Be!)  as Associates of the company, following productions of two or more of their plays.

Our work has been directed by core company members and supported by directors such as Josie Rourke, Fiona Kelcher, Karen Kholhaas and Jacqui Honness Martin.

Actors in Menagerie productions have included  Roger Sloman, Janet Suzman, Anna Maxwell Martin, Gin Hammond, Darren Strange, Shuna Snow, Ellen Thomas and  Jasmine Hyde.

But most of all our history of work has been about embracing new ideas, new stories and new people as we aim to fulfill our motto: Rare Theatre, Well Done.