Backstage Bristol Theatre News

Bath Vegan Summer Festival 2026
2026-06-06 | Festival
Vegan Events UK is bringing Bath Vegan Summer Festival to Sound Church.
Discover world street food, ethical brands and the vegan community.
Each visitor will receive a free pack of Clearspring organic silken tofu.
Free entry for accompanied under-16s.

The Curtain Calls - Circomedia
2026-06-05 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
The Curtain Calls Presented by In A Pickle Circus & Circomedia.
Have you heard the nattering and the clattering? The circus is coming to town!
Created by a company of our talented graduating BA degree students, The Curtain Calls is a joyful, high-energy show that celebrates the extraordinary spirit of circus life. Follow a cast of unforgettable characters as friendships are tested, romances blossom, and the whole show lands in quite a pickle. More info & tickets: https://www.circomedia.com/the-curtain-calls/
Featured Image: @flr.photography

Rock The Tots - Bristol Improv Theatre
2026-05-29 | Bristol Improv Theatre, BS8 1LP
Steph and Craig and their puppet friends come to the Bristol Improv Theatre with live music sessions for families.
This event takes youngsters to Hollywood with The Movies theme.
Expect to hear some fabulous tunes from movies such as Titanic, Top Gun, Grease and Ghostbusters.
There will be puppets, comical characters and bubbles in this one hour long session.
Suitable for children aged 0-10, and their adults.

TRANS/FORM - Circomedia
2026-05-28 - 2026-05-29 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
TRANS/FORMPresented by House of Bousse.
Look inside us, we know you want to. You’re curious; what makes us tick? What’s between our legs? What is it that makes us… human?
Are we everything you’ve read about?
This is a retaliation against the social dissection of trans bodies, where our emotions and experiences are splayed on a cold operating table.
Featured Image: House of Bousse

Fire and Dice - Bristol Improv Theatre
2026-05-28 | Bristol Improv Theatre, BS8 1LP
In Fire & Dice, you are invited to join a live-play Dungeons & Dragons show, featuring a cast of improv comedians, voice actors, and special guests from distant worlds, such as Baldur’s Gate, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared and Doctor Who
Runs on 28 May, 25 June, 30 July and 27 August 2026

Imaginary Adventure Club - Bristol Improv Theatre
2026-05-27 | Bristol Improv Theatre, BS8 1LP
Imaginary Adventure Club – is a fully improvised theatre show which takes suggestions from the children in the audience. The whole adventure will be decided there and then.
Aimed at children from 3- 8 years of age.
Dates: Tuesday 26 May, Wednesday 27 May, 04 July and Saturday 01 August 2026

The Saboteur - Bristol Improve Theatre
2026-05-22 | Bristol Improv Theatre, BS8 1LP
Fresh from hit seasons in Australia and New Zealand, The Saboteur is a high-stakes, interactive evening of subterfuge, treachery, backstabbing and laughs for fans of the whodunnit genre.
Dates: 22 May, 26 June, 24 July and 29 August

Down the Rabbit Hole - Circomedia
2026-05-21 - 2026-05-22 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Down the Rabbit Hole Presented by Circomedia’s Second-Year BTEC Students.
Down the Rabbit Hole is a bold, high-energy journey through Wonderland, reimagining the classic story of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with a spectacular circus twist.
Expect elegant aerial, daring acrobatics, dynamic tumbling, handstands and juggling, woven into inventive storytelling and brought to life through a cast of unforgettable characters. From the formidable Queen of Hearts to the chaotic Mad Hatter and the mischievous Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Wonderland has never looked like this before.
Featured Image: Circomedia BTEC

Taste - The Jam Jar
2026-05-20 | The Jam Jar, BS2 9EB
An night of experimental performances from the queer East & Southeast Asian (ESEA) community comes to Bristol for the very first time.

Kakilang will be bringing Taste to The Jam Jar in May. It’s actually the very first time the event will have taken place outside of London.

Taste will feature a mix of performances covering theatre, comedy, music, spoken word and surprises.

Host, Miss Dynasty will also be giving a special performance on the evening.

The emerging queer artists who are taking part are:

Pretty Girl Ping (TIM LYTC and D)
Yiran Liu, aka Hazed Date
Wan Long Kok 万龙国

When the show is finished, DJ FFINN will be taking to the decks to keep the party going.

The event will be be a safe, inclusive and fun space.

Prayers For A Hungry Ghost - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-05-19 - 2026-05-20 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
Kiss Witness brings Prayers For A Hungry Ghost to Bristol this spring.
The family drama sold out its premiere run at the Barbican Centre last year.
In a nightmarish underworld of hungry ghosts, a migrant family confronts the true cost of their choices.
This ensemble production powerfully combines horror, physical performance, live cinema, dark comedy and Chinese mythology — in which ‘hungry ghosts’ are reincarnated souls of those who were greedy or violent in their lives.
Featured Image: Ikin Yum

Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko - The Jam Jar
2026-05-16 | The Jam Jar, BS2 9EB
From Mali, legendary musician and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate tours the UK for the first time as a duo with his wife, the revered griot singer and exceptional vocalist Amy Sacko following the release of Djudjon, L’Oiseau de Garana (2024), their first chart-topping album together.
Connecting past and present, this will be a unique, intimate and extraordinary opportunity to experience a performance that reaches to the very heart of Mali – deeply personal, expressive, chamber-style that promises a rare closeness between artists and audience, a space where each note and lyric resonates deeply.

Ensembles - Circomedia’s Second-Year Degree Students
2026-05-15 - 2026-05-16 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Ensembles Presented by Circomedia’s Second-Year Degree Students.
Devised by Circomedia’s second year degree students, Ensembles celebrates the idea of working collaboratively to create a performance about complicity. The performance reveals themes of synchronicity, discovery and commonality. The process of devising combines contemporary trends in circus and physical theatre with whimsy, ingenuity and daring.
Featured Image: Circomedia

One Breath Before The End - Alma Tavern Theatre
2026-05-13 - 2026-05-16 | Alma Tavern Theatre, BS8 2HY
“Can’t Wait To Leave”.
“It’s always been the end.” The sky’s on fire and everything’s falling apart. Out of options, inseparable trio Ash, Oliver, and Kieron have retreated to their old childhood hangout to figure out what the plan is – or whether there’s even one at all. That’s until Phoebe turns up. Wanting to talk. Wanting connection. Wanting forgiveness. As the hours tick down, old grudges are unearthed and tempers flare as the group struggle to come to terms with the decade-long fallout of an event that drove them apart. If all you had was one night, do you think you could make things right again?

Philosopy of The World - Weston Studio of Bristol Old Vic
2026-05-13 - 2026-05-16 | The Weston Studio BOV, BS1 4ED
In Bed With My Brother brings Philosophy of the World to The Weston Studio.
It’s inspired by The Shaggs with the show named after their 1969 ‘best word album of all time’.
It’s about power, patriarchy and band t shirts. But mainly about dads.
It features questionable mime, high-intensity dance sequences, cheap wigs, jump scares and a well-trained actor.

Bristol Pride presents: SMOKE - The Wardrobe Theatre
2026-05-12 | The Wardrobe Theatre, BS2 0DF
Theatre-maker Alexis Gregory is out on tour this spring with SMOKE. It’s a daring piece of theatre written by Gregory which he will also be performing. The show confronts the hardest issues facing the queer community head on.
Alex receives an Instagram message from his boyfriend. But his boyfriend has been dead for two years.
The two-part show is a fast-paced thriller which follows Alex’s desperate search for the truth in the digital era. It takes him through grief, psychosis and drug use.
The show is performed with the house lights up, dispensing with theatre’s traditional ‘theatrical frame’.
Folloing the performance, organisation You Are Loved, will host a curated 45 minute panel discussion. This will be unique to each city and create a safe space for collective reflection.
Featured Image: Tyler Kelly

Liberace and Liza - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-05-10 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
Liberace & Liza Minnelli never performed together, but that didn’t stop David Saffert & Jillian Snow from creating this wildly successful mashup of two over-the-top icons.
Saffert’s dizzying piano skills and Snow’s powerhouse belt team up in Cabaret, New York, New York, Over the Rainbow to surprise covers by Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. There are as many laughs as there are sequins when their Liberace & Liza take hilarious (and sometimes mischievous) turns vying for the spotlight. No matter what, they both come out winning and audiences are left in awe, humming and quoting a night they’ll not soon forget.

Final Major Projects - Presented by Circomedia’s Third-Year Degree Students
2026-05-07 - 2026-05-08, 2026-05-01 - 2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Join Circomedia over four nights to experience a mini-festival of new works presented by the graduating students from their degree programme!
With a selection of different acts each night, this is a fantastic opportunity to support and celebrate the circus artists of the future as they showcase their circus and performance skills.
Featured Image: Bea Blade

Blodwen Rocks the Boat - Blakehay Theatre
2026-05-06 | Blakehay Theatre, BS23 1JZ
What happens when your dream job turns into a dead end – and your escape plan involves a boat? Meet Blodwen: Welsh, wide-eyed, and wondering what the hell happened.
With original songs, sharp comedy and a big heart, Blodwen Rocks the Boat follows one woman’s hilarious journey from burnout to breakthrough.

Created and performed by Emily Davis – a Welsh singer and actor who’s taken her signature character, Blodwen, to stages across the UK – the show is a joyful, satirical, and uplifting hour of musical mischief.

A Noise Annoys - The Wardrobe Theatre
2026-05-03 | The Wardrobe Theatre, BS2 0DF
Jude Simpson brings an hour of uplifting playful poetry, witty wordplay and silly songs to children in Bristol this May.
A Noise Annoys was recently nominated for Best Kids Show at Leicester Comedy Festival early this year.
It’s been described by audiences as “fantastically funny”.
She’s performed with the much-loved Michael Rosen in the past, who called her work “funny” and “sharp” as well as her being a “terrific performer”.
Youngsters can expect songs celebrating peanut butter sandwiches, tongue twisters about naming a pet badger, alongside a lot of joy and nonsense.
“I just want people to enjoy themselves and have a laugh together, but if they go away feeling inspired to play with words, then my mission is complete,” Jude says.
The show, which comes to The Wardrobe Theatre, is aimed at children aged 5 years upwards with their families.

The Everly Pregnant Brothers - The Exchange
2026-05-03 | The Exchange, BS2 0EJ
Pete McKee will be coming to The Exchange in Bristol with exhibition The Boy With A Leg Named Brian and a live evening performance with his band The Everly Pregnant Brothers.

The ukulele band are well known for their comedic parodies of popular songs.

During the day, the exhibition will be free to attend.

In the evening there will be ticketed live show.

The Festival - Spielman Theatre of Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-05-02 - 2026-05-03 | Spielman Theatre, BS3 1TF
The University of Bristol’s Drama Society brings a new play by Mim Clements to the Spielman Theatre this May.
Ten strangers meet at a folk festival on a windswept cliff in Devon. Under canvas and surrounded by music, light and dancing, Pip is hiding from her past, humming just beneath the waves, Reuben is learning how to find joy in distance, and Mr Leroy is watching his famous stories slip out of his grasp. Ceilidhs, cliff-top conversations, sleep-deprived laughter, and lots of bunting are the backdrop for this musing on nature, connection, and collective experiences.
The Festival asks what it means to feel deeply, dance joyfully and what makes festivals such magical places.

Free Circus in St. Paul’s - Portland Square
2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Circus in St. Paul’s – Presented in partnership with Diverse Artists Network as part of Diaspora!
The free and unticketed drop-in event at Portland Square, will see participatory circus and performance workshops and shows and Caribbean food, music and more.
Aimed at ages 3 – 12 and their grown-ups
Location: Portland Square, outside St. Paul’s Church, BS2 8SJ
Head to Portland Square this Early May Bank Holiday weekend for a fantastic, diaspora-led day of free, family friendly activities.
The day is being organised in partnership with Aid Box Community and will be led by, with and for people for Bristol’s wider diaspora community.
Featured Image: Circomedia

The Diverse Artists Network (DAN) - DIASPORA!
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-10 | Festival
The Diverse Artists Network (DAN) brings DIASPORA! back to Bristol once again.
The not-for-profit festival takes place in venues across Bristol and the South West region this May.
The even celebrates cultural diversity, community and creativity from international communities.
Events will include everything from films and exhibitions to talks, performances, theatre and online events.

Coulrophobia - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-04-30 - 2026-05-02 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
TWO CLOWNS TRAPPED IN A CARDBOARD WORLD…
Take your seat, relax but don’t get too comfortable. Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is 80 minutes of brilliant slapstick, mime, puppetry, existential angst and big shoes.
Dik and Adam are Clowns! They couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag, let alone a surreal cardboard world. Why are they there and what are they supposed to be doing? They know something sinister is afoot and they need to get out before it’s too late. Join them on a hysterical and sometimes terrifying quest for a more meaningful existence.
With enough subversive humour to please the most hardened cynic, Coulrophobia glides seamlessly from sinister to touching, from ridiculous to outright hilarious. A high energy, anarchic, roller coaster of a clown / puppet show that has been a sell-out hit at festivals in Portugal, Holland, Norway, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Romania, Finland and the UK.

Final Major Projects 2026 - Circomedia
2026-04-30 - 2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Join us over three nights to experience a mini-festival of new works presented by the graduating students from Circomedia’s degree programme!
With a selection of different acts each night, this is a fantastic opportunity to support and celebrate the circus artists of the future as they showcase their circus and performance skills.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman - Bristol Old Vic
2026-04-29 - 2026-05-16 | Bristol Old Vic, BS1 4ED
Curve, Bristol Old Vic and Mayflower Southampton have come together for a co-production of Kiss Of The Spider Woman.
It stars Layton Williams, George Blagden and Anna-Jane Casey.
The Kander and Ebb musical is based on Manuel Puig’s novel.
Obsession or salvation? One kiss from the Spider Woman can change everything.
In a brutal prison, Molina – condemned for his sexuality, and Valentin – a political prisoner, are forced into an unlikely friendship in the cell they share. To escape their harsh reality, Molina conjures dazzling fantasies of glamorous movies, spinning tales of the seductive and dangerous Spider Woman. As their conditions worsen and the line between truth and fiction blurs, the two men find a deeper connection – one that could cost them everything.

Jack - Bristol Musical Theatre - Redgrave Theatre
2026-04-29 - 2026-05-02 | Redgrave Theatre
Bristol Musical Theatre brings Phil Dixon’s new musical – Jack – to the Redgrave Theatre this Spring.
The show tells the story of 18 Century thief and escape artist Jack Sheppard.
The musical is a new collaboration between Bristol Musical Theatre, award-winning composer Phil Dixon and lyricist Elizabeth Major.
Bringing together historical drama and contemporary musical storytelling, the show gives audiences a fresh take on the legendary real-life person.

Double Double - Barn Theatre
2026-04-28 - 2026-05-30 | Barn Theatre, GL7 1BN
Weeks before his 37th birthday, Philippa’s husband Richard dies – the birthday that the terms of his inheritance required him to be alive and married. In the throes of grief, Philippa hatches a plan: find someone she can pass off as Richard and split the £2million windfall.
The good news is that she’s found Richard’s doppelganger in Duncan. The bad news? Duncan is homeless, shabby and has a broad Scots accent. Can she turn him into a passable version of genteel antiques collector Richard?
What follows is a witty psychological duel where Philippa and Duncan each struggle to get the upper hand, entangling feelings and second guessing intentions. Because now the con is on, who really has the most to lose?

Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) - The Weston Studio
2026-04-28 - 2026-05-02 | The Weston Studio BOV, BS1 4ED
Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) comes to Bristol Old Vic Thursday 16 April – Saturday 02 May 2026.
The show delivers a witty, irreverent exploration of class, privilege, and the lengths we go to succeed in a system that’s stacked against us. With a bold voice and a gutsy heart at its core, this coming-of-age story examines the complexities of identity, ambition, and the sacrifices we make to climb the social ladder-no matter the cost.

Writer and Performer – Jade Franks
Director – Tatenda Shamiso
Producer – Jasmyn Fisher-Ryner JFR Productions
Set and Costume Designer – Claudia Casino
Lighting Designer – Zoe Beeny
Composer and Sound Designer – Roly Botha
Movement Director – Sean Wang
Dramaturg – Ellie Fulcher
Production Carpenters – Steve Evan & Maddy Collins
Stage Manager – Lauren Lambert Moore
Featured Image: Marc Brenner
