V&A Performance Festival 2023 news

The V&A’s annual Performance Festival kicks off Saturday 22 April 2023 with a host of talks, workshops, events and screenings of musicals.This year’s Performance Festival promises to celebrate, explore and deconstruct musical theatre, with a wide range of special events taking place throughout the museum.The festival is timed to run alongside the V&A’s current free exhibition all about the fabulous world of musicals – Re:Imagining Musicals, running in their Theatre and Performance Galleries until 27 November 2023.A whole host of tours, talks, trails and special events will be offered up from 22 April to 30 April 2023.

Musicals screenings include video of live performances of The Color Purple, Spring Awakening, and The Band’s Visit

Workshops include a Disney’s Frozen music and movement workshop on 22 April, drop-in design – build a prop on 23 April, and a SIX The Musical dance workshop on 29 April.

Talks include award-winning designer Lez Brotherston talking about designing musical magic on 24 April, 50 years of The Rocky Horror Show on 26 April, Bonnie Langford in conversation on 27 April, and Art of Making Arts – Staging Sondheim on 30 April.

Screenings of musicals from the National Video Archive of Performance will include a number of shows that haven’t been seen on screen before:

Spring Awakening – Almeida Theatre London (22 April)
Tokyo Rose – Southwark Playhouse London (23 April)
The Scottsboro Boys – Garrick Theatre London (24 April)
Gypsy – Savoy Theatre London (25 April)
The Color Purple – The Curve Theatre Leicester (26 April)
Caroline, Or Change – Playhouse Theatre London (27 April)
American Psycho – Almeida Theatre London (28 April)
Billy Elliot – Victoria Palace Theatre London (29 April)
The Band’s Visit – Donmar Warehouse (30 April)

The V&A recently announced that the David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts is to be located at the V&A’s new V&A East Storehouse, featuring over 80,000 items spanning six decades of the cultural icon’s career to be made available to the public for the first time.