Festival of International Theatre, Sibiu (FITS) 2025
On 25 June this year PRG member, Shane Kinghorn, together with Teresa Brayshaw and Nikki Woods of Salford University (with the Salford Keys company’s A conversation in 10 Parts), took the DCP third-year company Off Peak Theatre to perform in the Universities Festival, part of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival 2025. Their sell-out performance, This Show Doesn’t Pass the Bechdel Test earned the company a hugely enthusiastic response and brilliant review: “What this show manages to do,” reported Serban Suciu, “is to position itself exactly between two directions: on the one hand, the tradition of feminist theater from the ’70s-’80s, [and] on the other hand, the digital, meme-like, hyper-ironic feminist culture of GenZ . And rarely do the two directions come together so well as here.”
Company members Lois Adamson, Saoirse Hannant-Clune, Maya Lowes, Holly Stott and Cerys Wrigley reflected upon their time in Sibiu with testimonies highlighting the tremendous impact of the festival. This example sums up the impact and lasting value of their experience:
“To be exposed to so many of the different forms that theatre can take has refreshed my palate as an artist and allowed for a deeper understanding about the ways contemporary performance can contribute to the progression of society in different parts of the world. To be allowed to present work created by myself and my peers to an international audience … was somewhat daunting, but ultimately the most rewarding experience of our journey as theatre-makers so far. We met so many intuitive and hard- working people who made us feel so welcome. To explore Sibiu alone was an incredible experience – it was a dream. I will remember it forever!”
Teresa Brayshaw, Nikki Woods and Shane Kinghorn spoke about the broader context of the work in a panel interview, part of the U:Talk Doctoral Research panels, on 26 June (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AgChePk67/?mibextid=wwXlfr), and continued the discussion as part of a series of Cultural Conversations led by Teresa Brayshaw.
