The full programme of events and performances which make up The Bunker’s final season has now been announced. The eight-week Takeover Season will feature over 80 artists, 70 performances and a host of workshops, lectures and events, before The Bunker closes due to proposed redevelopment at the end of March 2020. For this Takeover Season, a different artist will curate each week, taking over the space and the programme as well as the bar and the box office, determining their own rules of engagement for the tenure.
The first week in February explores the role of the civic space in society by making the theatre a site for the public to play, create and learn. Workshops from members of The Bunker team will seek to pass on everything from basic lighting and sound programming to dealing with imposter syndrome to producing a festival. The following week, Debbie Hannan (Little Miss Burden) and Vinnie Heaven (She’s a Good Boy) will share two showcases placing queer work front and centre while interrogating the tokenistic way queer people are now present in so much mainstream culture.
Following a celebrated run at VAULT 2019, the anonymously written EVERYWOMAN will be presented in week three alongside new pieces on motherhood from five playwrights, with child and childcare-friendly policies and performances. This will be followed by The Upsetters who return to The Bunker with a festival dedicated to celebrating artists of colour. They will debut two pieces of new writing, Unburied by Jimin Suh and Wakes by Sidney Belony, alongside a scratch night, a poetry night, and a series of workshops that pay participants to attend to cover their loss of earnings.
In March, Sculptress Theatre return to The Bunker with Natasha Brown’s new play I Am (Not) Kanye West. They will also make The Bunker available for rehearsals and will host workshops in their week, POWER X RESISTANCE. Following this, Sabrina Mahfouz (A History of Water in the Middle East) will explore aspects of pregnancy that remain taboo with Lilith by Jennie Buckman, about a couple dealing with stillbirth, and Mahfouz’s own KaraOkay about the abortion rights conversation in the UK.
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia) and Abi Zakarian (Fabric) have declared their Takeover week a Power-Share. They will offer each day to a different artist to present a workshop, play reading and a series of curated short works each evening around a different topic. Finally, director Caitriona Shoobridge (Ivan and the Dogs; Killymuck) presents Where Do We Go Next?, a film installation featuring new monologues from six working class and otherwise underrepresented writers.
Artistic Director Chris Sonnex said, I am very proud of what The Bunker achieved in 2019 and it was with that same pride and a communal sadness that we announced its closure. However everyone at the Bunker has consistently rolled with the punches and so we see this as a brilliant opportunity to try a new kind of season. We are not one person or a building, but a community and a civic space for artists and audiences to thrive and feel safe. As such, it was blatantly apparent that we had to give the theatre to artists to do what they felt they needed to. For eight weeks brilliant and incredible artists will take over the space for one week at a time to present what they want, curate what they want, share what they want, say what they want. The Bunker will continue to do what it does best with our support, advice and solidarity for those that wander through our doors. Come, support and cheer these incredible artists and celebrate The Bunker. The space belongs to all of us.
The Bunker’s Takeover Season includes:
Week 1: The Space is Yours (The Bunker)
Monday 3rd – Saturday 8th February 2020
Ed Theakston, Front of House Manager - How to make fringe shows accessible: Monday
Chris Sonnex, Artistic Director - How to defeat imposter syndrome: Tuesday
David Ralf, Executive Director - How to make theatre happen with no money: Wednesday Hannah Fisher, Head of Production - How to programme basic sound and lights: Thursday Zara Janmohamed, Production Manager - How to manage a production on any budget: Friday
Lunchtime workshops: 2pm, £3
The Space Is Yours: 3pm – 7pm, free drop-in
Evening workshops: 7pm, £5 and free for the unwaged
Week 2: Queers Up Front (The Bunker)
Curated by Debbie Hannan and Vinnie Heaven
Monday 10th – Saturday 15th February 2020
Showcase 1: Monday, Wednesday, 7.30pm, £10
Showcase 2: Tuesday, Thursday, 7.30pm, £10
Showcase 1 and Afterparty: Friday, 7.30pm, £15 and £10 Under-30s Showcase 2 and Afterparty: Saturday, 7.30pm, £15 and £10 Under-30s
Week 3: EVERYWOMAN & Other Confessions (Imy Wyatt Corner)
Curated by Anonymous
Monday 17th – Saturday 22nd February 2020
Performances: Mon – Sat, 2pm and 8pm, £14 with £12 concs and £10 Under-30s
Week 4: The Upsetters (Marcus Bernard)
Curated by Marcus Bernard
Monday 10th – Saturday 15th February 2020
Poetry Night, headlined by Zia Ahmed: Monday, 7.30pm, £10 Scratch Night: Saturday, 4pm and 7.30pm, £10
Double bill, Unburied by Jimin Suh and Wakes by Sidney Belony: Tues – Fri, 7.30pm
£15 with £12 concs and £10 Under-30s, solidarity Tickets at £30 make a ticket available for someone less able to afford one.
Week 5: POWER X RESISTANCE (Sculptress Theatre and Natasha Brown)
Curated by Natasha Brown
Monday 2nd – Saturday 7th March 2020
I Am (Not) Kanye West: Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm, £16 with £12 concs and £10 Under-30s Workshops and events to be announced.
Week 6: Lilith & KaraOkay (Giants Theatre and The Bunker)
Curated by Sabrina Mahfouz
Monday 9th – Saturday 14th March 2020
Double bill, Lilith by Jennie Buckman and KaraOkay by Sabrina Mahfouz: Tues – Fri, 7.30pm and Thurs and Sat 3pm, £16 with £12 concs and £10 Under-30s
Week 7: Morgan and Abi’s Power Share (Amanda Castro and Amy Davies Dolamore) Curated by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Abi Zakarian
Monday 16th – Saturday 21st March 2020
Francesca Murray-Fuentes: Direct Action - Monday
Teddy Lamb: Transcendent Theatre - Tuesday
Sammy Willbourne: Horrifying Womxn - Wednesday
Salma El Wardanay and Lilly Driscoll: Poetry and Spoken Word - Thursday
Nastazja Somers: Theatre of Resistance: EU Migrants in Britain - Friday
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Abi Zakarian: Morgan & Abi’s Pot Luck Power Share - Saturday
Workshops: Mon – Sat, 10am, Pay What You Can Play Reading: Mon – Sat, 3pm, Pay What You Can Evening Performances: Mon – Sat, 8pm, £10
Week 8: Where Do We Go Next? (W14 Produtions)
Curated by Caitriona Shoobridge
Monday 23rd – Saturday 28th March 2020
Where Do We Go Next?: Tues – Sat, 1pm (Sat only), 2.15pm (excl. Fri), 3.30pm (excl. Fri), 4.45pm (excl. Tues and Fri), 6pm (Fri and Sat only), 7.15pm and 8.30pm (excl. Fri)
£12 with Under-30s £10 and Unwaged £5
