Salford students to perform at world famous theatre festival

The BA Theatre and Performance Practice students are heading to the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania (known locally as FITS) to perform a new piece of theatre that follows their Performance Project module.

FITS is the third biggest theatre and performing arts festival in the world, with approximately 800 shows taking place on site every year.

The opportunity for the students came whilst working with visiting artist and theatre maker Teresa Brayshaw, who has been taking university students from the UK to the festival for the last 15 years. 

Under the tutelage of Teresa and Niki Woods, Senior Lecturer in Performance, the students have created A Conversation in 10 Parts, a performance that focuses on a number of conversations, some newly written and some that have taken place in prominent cultural or political situations.

Teresa said on the performance: “The show is all about having important conversations as an attempt to platform the voices of this young generation.

“When I came in to the University, I had a number of conversations about what the students really cared about and what mattered to them. What’s emerged in this play is a performance that explores the difficulties that this generation has in trying to use their voice, how to use it, when to use it and what they feel like they can and can’t say.”

The conversations explore masculinity, cancel culture and about how to present yourself online whilst also featuring lip-synced versions of prominent conversations that have taken place in the last year, such as exchanges featured in the recent Netflix series Adolescence and the infamous meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelenskyy in the White House in February.

The show was recently performed here in Salford as part of the students’ second year assessments, with the travelling group to perform a version that has been slightly adapted for an international audience.

Teresa added: “This will be an experience for the students unlike anything they’ve encountered before. The theatres will be full as tickets for the festival are sold out the moment they go online. Hopefully, they will experience a full auditorium with a standing ovation.

“That in itself will be a real culture shock for them about how culture is really appreciated and valued in Europe. This is a festival that really takes culture seriously and they’ll get so much out of it.”

Niki added that through working closely with Teresa, with her close ties to international contexts, the University hopes to develop more international collaborations for the programme’s students in the years to come.

She said: “Working with visiting artists like Teresa, we’ve been very fortunate to gain introductions to international festival programmers/curators. Because of Teresa’s long relationship with FITS we’ve been able to get the work programmed, which is by invitation only. I’m very thankful to Teresa for bringing this exciting opportunity to us and that our students will get the opportunity to perform at the festival but also experience everything the festival has to offer.

“In terms of their development, this will be a real turning point for them as they go into their third year. To have pulled off an international performance of a whole show having developed it within just three weeks is a great achievement.”

The students’ performance will take place on Wednesday 25 June at the Facultatea de Litere si Arte at the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu.

Promotional image was taken by Joseph Taylor, a BA Photography student at the University of Salford.