New Narratives is a studio space residency programme at ODAC, supporting the creation of new performance projects that challenge conventions and offer fresh perspectives on the world.

This year, we are proud to support five bold and diverse productions through New Narratives, chosen from a competitive pool of over 60 applications. Spanning a range of forms and voices, these projects reflect the richness of contemporary theatre-making. In the coming months, the artists behind them will take up residency in our studios, benefitting from free dedicated rehearsal space as they develop their work. We can’t wait to welcome them.

ROOTS TO RISE
by Nandita Shankardass

Roots to Rise began in 2024 when Nandita Shankardass, a Seedbed Artist with 101 Outdoor Arts, explored outdoor performance through intergenerational gatherings with OmVed Gardens. Now commissioned to tour U.K. festivals, this promenade dance-theatre work weaves ancestry, agriculture, and ecological activism with dance, visual poetry, and storytelling.

A journey of growth, transformation, and liberation, Roots to Rise invites us to remember, revere, and reclaim our lineages while renewing our connection to the earth and one another.

Supported by Without Walls and commissioned by An Indian Summer Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, and Brighton Festival, with additional support from Old Diorama Arts Centre as part of New Narratives.

Producer & Choreographer - Nandita Shankardass, Dance Artists - Anjana Bala, Aishani Ghosh, Tulani Kayani - Skeef, Dramaturg - Poonam Brah, Visual Vernacular Consultant - Zoe McWhinney

SONG QUEEN: A PIDGIN OPERA
by Helen Epega

*Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera* is the world’s first opera written and performed in Pidgin English, now also incorporating Cockney, Patois, Creole, Multicultural London Slang, and Ebonics. It combines African percussion and Steel Pans with Western classical music, challenging the norms of Western opera while celebrating African culture. The opera will be performed at Wilton’s Music Hall from April 24th-26th, 2025, marking a key milestone in bringing this innovative project to a wider audience.

Helen Epega (Composer and Librettist), Baba Epega (Executive Producer), Antoinette Jackman (Director), Bridget Perise (Stage Manager), Manuel Gageiro (MD and Pianist), Richard Olatunde Baker (African Percussion), Francis Angol (Choreographer and Movement Artist), Abdul Williams (Steel Pans), Louisa Martin (Soprano), Jacob Cole (Tenor), Francesca Bartolo (Mezzo), Ted Day (Baritone), Karolina Przasnyska (Violinist), Daniel Yiu (Cellist), Esme Benjamin (Movement Artist), Eunice Adeleke (BSL Interpreter)

See and here what audiences are saying: https://youtu.be/UM9YLi0Ul6Q?si=avBUmMrZF_FE2FCh

THE MAGIQUE TOYBOX by Porcelain Delaney

The team will be led by Porcelain Delaney, with access consultancy provided by Ash Tromony, enabled by the support of ODAC, Arts Depot, and Z-Arts.

THE JOYSTICK AND THE REINS
by Eve Stainton

Influences for The Joystick and the Reins include historical reenactments, police and riot arrest imagery, and 1980s ‘Crime Watch’ detective reenactments to examine what it means to reconstruct a theatrical scene that draws on truth, and how societal constructs keep people ‘at risk’ of incarceration in a place of vulnerability. main choreographic component of the work is an extremely slowed movement score with the face and body, demonstrating vast-ranging emotional states of intensity that are always transitioning, never arriving at a fixed point. The solo figure, via this extreme slow motion, becomes a site for the audience’s own projections.

The figure may appear in one instance to be an aggressive football fan caught in an overwhelming and unpredictable rage, in another instance a recoiling figure being pushed to the ground in fear and remorse. This becomes a choreographic practice of distortion, dealing with ideas of power, dominance, perpetrator, victim, threat, and interpretation. It reveals how close the feeling of anger can be to the feeling of pain, as well as highlighting how society builds prejudices and stereotypes.

The performance is hoped to be accompanied by a live orchestra performing Ennio Morricone’s seminal score for The Thing (1982). Morricone’s powerful soundtrack is central to the tragedy, decline, and stark horror of The Thing; a film that finds resonance with their mutual exploration of societal suspicion, psychological horror, and the devastating potential of individual isolation.

Lead Artist: Eve Stainton (Lead Artist), Michael Kitchin (Producer), Sara Sassanelli (Creative Producer)

THE PROMISE
created by Tian Brown-Sampson & Brian Mullin

Created in partnership with the Windrush Justice Clinic at King’s College London, The Promise is an interactive experience staged in non-theatrical community spaces. It has been co-created with Black British families impacted by the Home Office’s so-called ‘Windrush’ scandal.

The experience uses innovative performance techniques and an emotionally engaging narrative to raise awareness about the ongoing harms, inciting empathy and allyship. Attendees will journey through a series of rooms, completing ‘gameified’ tasks that reflect the difficult choices faced by Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants. Using a small company of actors and immersive audio via headsets, threads of the story will emerge, based on the experiences of real Windrush clients as well as the past broken promises made by the British Empire. Audiences will engage directly, feeling the joy, pride, and warmth of these communities, as well as the shame, anger, and resilience prompted by harmful systems. The creators are working closely with the legal advocates at KCL as well as grassroots activists to ensure the work supports the wider campaign for Windrush Compensation Scheme reform.

Tian Brown-Sampson (Director) & Brian Mullin (Writer/Dramaturg)

NEW NARRATIVES: 2025 RESIDENCIES ANNOUNCEMENT

WE’RE HIRING: OPERATIONS & HIRES TEAM MEMBER