CumbriaFest Festival Pass – Sunday

The Sunday Festival Pass includes:

• Threads – 12:30-1pm & 3-3:30pm – Outdoors (location tbc)
• Just Write workshop – 1:30-2:45pm & 3:30-4:45pm* – Outdoors (location tbc)
• Short Supply (rehearsed reading) – 1:30-2:30pm – Rehearsal Room
• Panel: Getting your work on: Programming demystified – 2:45-3:45pm – Mezzanine Gallery
• Ophelia – 4-5:30pm – The Studio
• Panel: One and Only – Making Solo Work in Challenging Times – 5:30-6:30pm – Mezzanine Gallery
• In the Soup: Creative Interventions at the Table – 6-7pm & 8:30-9:30pm* – Lakeside Restaurant
• Mill Girl (rehearsed reading of selected scenes) – 7:30-8:30pm – The Studio
• Breakages – 9:30-10pm – The Studio

*choose which performance/workshop you are attending after booking your Festival Pass

Threads
Written and performed by Ursula Leveaux

Threads explores the way music can be woven through a life, using personal experience, a bassoon and a loop pedal. It is a story about living and learning, unexpected paths and places, and about finding your way through.

Just Write workshop
with Julie Carter

A writing workshop led by award-winning writer Julie Carter, focusing on how the practice of writing can enrich our lives. This workshop is for everyone, from people new to writing creatively to experienced writers in any genre. In a friendly, supportive atmosphere, you will not be expected to share your writing unless you are keen to do so.

We will spend some time outside focusing on our experience as embodied living beings in an amazing habitat. At this time of year, the mood of the environment surrounding the shores of Derwentwater is totally unpredictable. The time outside will be geared to the weather and to the participants; we won’t be going far, and we will adapt to any mobility requirements. You may need waterproofs, you will need a pen and a notebook.

Whether you have never put words on a page creatively or if you are a seasoned writer, this workshop will be a chance to deepen connections between the inner and outer.

Short Supply (rehearsed reading)
Short Supply charts the developing relationship of Alice and Robin in a secondary school that is going through a downturn. Set over the course of an academic year we see Robin help Alice land a permanent job in the English department and the two of them go on to deal with the year’s events. Parents evenings, field trips, Prom and Year 9 Key Stage 3 Drama. Drawing from real life experiences in the classes and staff rooms of Cumbria “Short Supply” looks at a profession that is often undervalued, overworked and increasingly unattractive if the teacher retention figures can’t pull out of their alarmingly steady nosedive. The play is at heart a romantic comedy fueled by bad circumstance, bad timing, typically bad English communication and stubborn pride.

Panel: Getting Your Work On: Programming Demystified
You’ve made a show—now what? Join TBTL’s Head of Producing and Programming, Amy Clewes and a panel of guest programmers for a frank, friendly conversation about how to get your work programmed. From first approach to final pitch, they’ll share what venues look for, when to reach out, and what materials help your work stand out. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your ambition.

Ophelia
Sixteen-year-old Ophelia is stuck. Stuck with the name of a dead girl from years ago. Stuck in a rural community where she doesn’t belong. Stuck in her own head, trying to figure out how to be the person she thinks she should be. The person everybody expects her to be. And then there’s the lake, which calls to her. The lake where they used to drown the witches. Where she can finally think, finally feel. With nods to Shakespeare and folklore, the original play Ophelia is a modern take on growing up with mental health problems in modern Cumbria.

Panel: One and Only: Making Solo Work in Challenging Times
With fewer opportunities and tighter budgets across the sector, more artists are turning to the one-person show—taking control of their stories, their process, and their production. This panel explores the rise of solo work as both an artistic choice and a practical response to a changing industry. What freedoms come with working on your own terms? What challenges arise—financially, emotionally, logistically? And how can solo theatre still feel expansive, collaborative, and full of possibility?

Manchester-based theatre-maker Afreena Islam-Wright will share insights from her recent autobiographical show Lucky Tonight!. She’ll be joined by Cumbrian artists Han Roze-Adonis and Christine Entwisle, whose work is also being showcased during the festival, to discuss their experiences making solo work that is both personal and powerful.

In the Soup: Creative Interventions at the Table
What happens when shared stories meet shared meals? Taking place in the Lakeside Café, In the Soup features a series of bite-sized artistic interventions served alongside a bowl of something warm and hearty. From playful performances to quiet moments of reflection, these 10-minute happenings unfold in and around the café space, offering audiences unexpected encounters with art while they eat, chat, and connect. Come hungry for conversation, creativity, and a new kind of shared experience.

Mill Girl (rehearsed reading of selected scenes)
by Rachel Price

The old paper mill goes up in flames, taking with it the last symbol of a once-thriving town. With shops shuttered and schools closing, and her future narrowing to the dole or the army, Tasha refuses to give up. As the Iraq War breaks out and protests erupt at home, she starts a fight of her own, right where she stands. A reading of part of this play-in-progress, rooted in resistance and hope.

Breakages
Written and performed by Christine Entwisle, directed by Teresa Brayshaw

Award-winning writer and performer Christine Entwisle returns to TBTL with Breakages, a darkly comic short play about all the things we have broken in our lives, from hearts to fine china.