Brighton Dome’s autumn season promises an eclectic mix of inclusive, accessible events featuring acclaimed productions and artists from across the UK and beyond. Hailed as "exceptional" by The Guardian, the new musical from Breach Theatre , After The Act, (November 8 to 9) is co-produced with Brighton Dome and considers the impact of Section 28 on real lives through a lens of pride, protest, humour and an original, 80s synths-packed live score. Comedian and performance artist Lucy McCormick will bring her critically acclaimed cabaret Lucy And Friends (November 1 and 2) to Brighton which will feature a mix of pole dancing, cat impressions and clairvoyance.
Lucy and Friends (Image: Holly Revell) Performance installation Of All The People In The World (September 7 to 11) uses grains of rice to represent human statistics and tell unexpectedly moving stories about the planet’s 8.2 billion inhabitants. Talawa Firsts – an annual celebration of new black British theatre makers and writers – comes to Brighton for the first time on October 15 and 16 staging a comedy-drama double bill that explores the subjects of hospitality and modern relationships.
Read more: All you need to know about Eastbourne Airbourne 2024 - including the Red Arrows Award-winning interactive VR adventure In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats (November 5 to 24) invites audiences to step back in time to the heart of the 1980s acid house scene, with rave culture further explored in a lunchtime talk from BIMM music institute lecturer and music journalist James Kendall. Orchestral Qawwali Project (October 19), led by singer Abi Sampa and composer Rushil Ranjan, will bring their blend of Western orchestral and choral traditions, Indian classical and Sufi Islamic music, fresh from sold-out performances across the UK and Middle East. After the Act (Image: Alex Brenner and Ellice Stevens) Nigeria’s celebrated QDance Company (October 1 and 2) will explode onto the stage with their exuberant Re:Incarnation, an ode to Nigerian culture through a fusion of movement, music, fashion and art.
World-renowned flamenco guitarist Paco Pena’s Dance Company (November 15 and 16) presents Solera, which sees the raw talent of a new generation of young dancers tempered by the elegant, understated mastery of Pena’s playing and in Afrique en Cirque, Canada’s Kalabante Productions, will perform its combination of circus, dance and music inspired by daily life in Guinea from December 28 to 31. The inaugural Brighton Dome Comedy Festival, which takes place between October 24 and 27, has a fully BSL-interpreted line up, including improvisation from Taskmaster’s Kiell Smith-Bynoe, stand-up from Brighton-based Maisie Adam and refugee comedy collective No Direction Home making one of their first appearances outside London. In a UK comedy festival first, a teen-friendly version of Brighton’s biggest comedy night, Live At Brighton Dome, will take place simultaneously to the grown-up edition and for younger children, Phil Kay’s Gimme Your Left Shoe will give everyone a turn in the limelight.
Blue Camel Clubbers (Image: Jason Warner) In the music programme, Making Tracks (October 4) is an artistic residency from the Scottish Highlands which brings together world class musicians from all corners of the globe to showcase collaborations inspired by the natural world. Sunday morning Coffee Concerts return in an opportunity to experience high quality chamber music from across the centuries, from Bach and Beethoven to a new commission from acclaimed Scottish composer Electra Perivolaris, in the surrounds of the recently refurbished Corn Exchange. Also returning to Brighton Dome this autumn is Blue Camel Club (October 7), the biggest learning-disabled club night on the South Coast.
Calan (Image: Calan) Folk quartet Calan will perform tracks from their new album Nefydd, which uses harp, guitar, fiddle, accordion and song to bring to life stories from Welsh folklore on November 29. Leveret, a collaboration between three of England's finest folk musicians Andy Cutting (button accordion), Sam Sweeney (fiddle) and Rob Harbron (concertina), will perform in the studio theatre on October 10. For families, the Stories Of A Watersprite (September 29) explores an underwater world in need of change and The Glass Slippers (October 20) re-imagines Cinderella with new twists and turns.
Inspired by this season’s family shows, children and families can also attend Playmakers arts and crafting sessions, which encourage creativity through collaging, puppetry and model making..
