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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Backstage Bristol Theatre News
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260417
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260427
DTSTAMP:20260419T123640
CREATED:20260310T192102Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T192102Z
UID:54209-1776384000-1777247999@backstagebristol.com
SUMMARY:Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026
DESCRIPTION:Taking part in venues across Bristol \n\nLyra returns in 2026 with a 10-day programme from April 17th to 26th\, featuring readings\, performances\, workshops\, poetry slams\, walking tours\, open mics\, family events and panel discussions. The 2026 theme\, Wonder & Wanderers\, explores migration\, movement and multiculturalism through poetry\, alongside the wonder and mythology evoked through landscape and nature. \nEvents will take place across Bristol at venues including St. George’s Bristol\, Arnolfini\, Watershed\, Bristol Old Vic\, Loco Klub and SS Great Britain\, bringing together international poets\, nationally recognised voices and Bristol-based artists. \nHeadline events include Shara McCallum at the Caribbean Poetry Liming alongside Anthony Joseph and Malika Booker\, a performance from Canadian spoken word artist Shane Koyczan\, and the Lyra Poetry Slam judged by Musa Okwonga and Caitlin O’Ryan. \nFamily audiences can see Michael Rosen\, while Travis Alabanza headlines a Queer Poetry Cabaret. The programme also includes theatre shows by Joelle Taylor and Inua Ellams\, alongside readings from new poetry collections by Nikita Gill\, Rishi Dastidar\, Karen McCarthy-Woolf\, Wayne Holloway-Smith\, Matthew Rice and Clare Pollard.
URL:https://backstagebristol.com/event/lyra-bristol-poetry-festival-2026/
CATEGORIES:Arnolfini,Bristol Old Vic,Brunel's SS Great Britain,Loco Klub,St Georges Bristol,The Wardrobe Theatre,Watershed
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://backstagebristol.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_0418.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260418
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260420
DTSTAMP:20260419T123640
CREATED:20260418T121528Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260418T121528Z
UID:54569-1776470400-1776643199@backstagebristol.com
SUMMARY:Making an Exhibition of Ourselves – 40 Years of Show Of Strength Theatre Company
DESCRIPTION:Bristol theatre company Show of Strength turns 40 — and you’re invited to celebrate. \nFor one weekend only\, Making an Exhibition of Ourselves opens the archive to reveal four decades of bold\, inventive work. Expect a vibrant mix of posters\, photographs\, film and memorabilia\, alongside music\, live performance (Friday evening) and a few surprises along the way. \nTest your memory with a Name That Actor competition\, watch newly uncovered footage from the company’s first season at the Hen & Chicken in 1989\, and browse a selection of vintage posters available to buy. You can even enter a raffle to win a private theatre walk for up to 25 people. \nFounded in 1986\, Show of Strength has helped shape Bristol’s theatre scene — from early performances on the MV Thekla and at the Hen & Chicken\, to the creation of the Tobacco Factory Theatre and today’s popular theatre walks across the city. \nWhether you’re a long-time supporter or discovering the company for the first time\, this is a rare chance to step behind the scenes — and celebrate 40 years of theatre rooted in Bristol’s stories. \nThe PIT\, 101 Wells Road\, Totterdown\, Bristol\nFriday 17 April\, 6–9pm | Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 April\, 12–6pm\nFree (donations welcome) \nCome and take a look — you might even spot yourself. \nFeatured Image: THE WILLS’S GIRLS (2002) by Zuleika Henry
URL:https://backstagebristol.com/event/making-an-exhibition-of-ourselves-40-years-of-show-of-strength-theatre-company/
LOCATION:The PIT\, BS4 2BS
CATEGORIES:Bristol Theatre
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://backstagebristol.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Show-of-Strength-Theatre-Company-Bristol.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260419
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260420
DTSTAMP:20260419T123640
CREATED:20260418T151134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260418T151134Z
UID:54590-1776556800-1776643199@backstagebristol.com
SUMMARY:Inua Ellams Brings Search Party to Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026
DESCRIPTION:Inua Ellams returns to Bristol this spring\, with his fabulous show Search Party. \nEllams has brought the show to Bristol before\, engaging audiences at Tobacco Factory Theatres in 2024. \nThis time his visit to the city is as part of the South West’s largest Poetry Festival – Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026. \nThis year’s Lyra event has taken on the theme Wonder & Wanderers. It invites audiences to come together and celebrate on the history of migration and movement in Bristol. The programme’s events will reflect upon stories of travel\, change and home. \nNigerian-born Ellams will be appearing at the Arnolfini as part of the event. \nHe is the writer of Barbershop Chronicles. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Arts. He has been awarded an MBE for Services to the Arts and also holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London. \nHe joined the Doctor Who writing team for the recent 15th series of Doctor Who. He is the first Black man to have written for the TV show. \nHis episode The Story & the Engine\, which was set in Lagos\, received acclaim within the Doctor Who community. \nEllams’ Search Party invites the audience to come up with themes and words. He then searches his archieve of work to perform the result of the search. \nLyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026 runs from 17 – 26 April 2026 \nInua Ellams and Search Party will be at the Arnolfini on Sunday 19 April \nTo book tickets for Inua Ellams\, visit: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/arnolfini/sun-19-apr-inua-ellams-search-party-150125#e150125 \nFor more information about other events taking place\, visit: https://www.lyrafest.com/ \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://backstagebristol.com/event/inua-ellams-brings-search-party-to-lyra-bristol-poetry-festival-2026/
LOCATION:Arnolfini\, BS1 4QA
CATEGORIES:Arnolfini
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260419
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260420
DTSTAMP:20260419T123640
CREATED:20260418T155733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260418T155733Z
UID:54595-1776556800-1776643199@backstagebristol.com
SUMMARY:Joelle Taylor: Maryville - Arnolfini - Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026
DESCRIPTION:Joelle Taylor brings a staged reading of her new poetry collection to Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival this weekend. \nDescribed as a ‘searing\, poetic excavation’ of 50 years of lesbian counterculture\, the collection follows on from her TS Eliot Prize-winning poetry collection C+nto & Othered Poems. \nMaryville charts the lives of four butch lesbians through five decades of underground queer history; tracing the culture\, clubs and resistance that shaped their world. \nThe performance is directed by writer and director Neil Bartlett\, with visuals from artist and filmmaker Sweatmother. \nJoelle Taylor: Maryville will be at the Arnolfini as part of Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026 on Sunday 19 April 2026 \nFor more information or to book\, visit: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/arnolfini/sun-19-apr-joelle-taylor-maryville-150134#e150134 \nFor more Lyra Bristol Festival 2026 events\, visit: https://www.lyrafest.com/
URL:https://backstagebristol.com/event/joelle-taylor-maryville-arnolfini-lyra-bristol-poetry-festival-2026/
LOCATION:Arnolfini\, BS1 4QA
CATEGORIES:Arnolfini
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