Renowned outdoor arts specialists, Without Walls, announces a diverse new programme for 2025, in partnership with leading UK festival partners
Without Walls has announced the nine artists who have been commissioned for their 2025 programme, highlighting a diverse array of innovative and engaging work. Touring the country this summer, this year’s season continues Without Walls’ commitment to making creative work in public spaces accessible for a range of audiences, in partnership with some of the UK’s most highly regarded outdoor arts and performance specialists.
The artists included in the 2025 programme will tour to Without Walls’ festival partners Brighton Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Certain Blacks – Ensemble Festival (London), Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and, new for 2025, An Indian Summer Festival (Leicester).
Ralph Kennedy, Director of Without Walls, comments, The Without Walls 2025 programme showcases the very best in outdoor arts, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to announce this incredible lineup. From powerful dance and circus works to imaginative theatre and striking installations, these nine shows promise unforgettable moments for audiences across England.
This year’s programme reflects our unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in outdoor performance. With 79 performance days planned – 12 more than last
year – and every artist guaranteed at least four festival bookings, we’re delivering a platform for bold, boundary-breaking work to flourish.
We’re proud to support both new and returning artists in this programme. Established companies like Artizani and Stopgap Dance Company are back with stunning new shows, while CompanyDHW and Sadiq Ali Company, both recipients of our R&D funding in recent years, are examples of emerging talent taking flight within the Without Walls network.
These performances will inspire communities, spark conversations, and demonstrate the power of art to connect us. We can’t wait to see audiences gather to experience the wonder of exceptional outdoor arts in 2025.
The new season showcases a wide range of forms, themes and genres, with a focus on accessibility and inclusivity, sustainability, music, circus, dance, street theatre and installations.
Hydropunk is Artizani’s interactive installation created in collaboration with the public, which places water at its centre. Taps, valves, pipes, pumps, sprays, and leaks form a chaotic, yet playful water machine full of games and puzzles, all fed by a central reservoir. Asking audiences to consider society’s disposable approach to water-use, Hydropunk is a striking environmental metaphor. With a limited 1,000 litres of water available, participants must work together to conserve and recycle water, engaging in a constant challenge against waste and leakage. Hydropunk is co-commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Brighton Festival, and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
A heart-warming inter-generational family story embedded in love, Go Grandad Go!, explores upbringing, culture and what it means to redefine generational relationships. In this uplifting and relatable Hip-Hop theatre dance show, audiences are presented with new approaches to help understand each other as ageism is left at the door. Lead by the dynamic and multifaceted Dani Harris-Walters, Go Grandad Go! is brought to life by CompanyDHW, a Hip-Hop theatre company with community, authenticity and inclusivity at its core. The show is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by FESTIVAL.ORG for Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Brighton Festival.
HUG is a vibrant, new outdoor circus theatre performance and living installation that explores relationships between people, objects and the environment that surrounds us. Through a fusion of aerial dance, physical theatre and striking visuals, audiences are invited to rediscover the power of touch and connection through the simple act of a hug. Bodies will fly, bend, flip,
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contort, suspend, climb and balance on a set resembling a giant hug. HUG is created by Levantes Dance Theatre, supported by Ensemble Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Brighton Festival and Stockton International Riverside Festival.
Waiting Song by Mish Weaver portrays a lyrical and dynamic conversation between two trapeze artists as they animate crescents made of steel. The Waiting Song artists share their anticipation and optimism for good things to come as they sing and move on the trapezes. The audience is invited to consider what they are looking forward to by sharing thoughts and images for inclusion in the performers’ song. This intimate show is co-commissioned with Certain Blacks, Birmingham Weekender and Brighton Festival.
Roots to Rise is a discovery of ancestry, agriculture, ecological activism and the wisdom of women. Throughout this journey of reconnecting with the natural world, Nandita Shankardass employs dance, poetry and music to celebrate freedom, resilience and community, inviting audiences to regenerate their relationship with the earth and with one another. Roots to Rise is supported by An Indian Summer Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Brighton Festival.
Tell Me is a captivating contemporary circus and dance show that reimagines the narrative around HIV in today’s world. Combining breathtaking performances on Chinese Pole and Aerial Cubes, the show creates a hypnotising visual spectacle as it follows the journey of a woman navigating her diagnosis. Based on his lived experiences, Sadiq Ali Company’s first outdoor work to confront stigma and challenge outdated perceptions. The three-person cast of acclaimed circus, dance and theatre artists weaves poignant storytelling with inspiring physical artistry to offer a hopeful and empowering vision of living with HIV. Tell Me is co-commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Certain Blacks, Inspirate and Birmingham Weekender. The R&D for Tell Me was supported by Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund.
Following the international success of FROCK, renowned dance company Stopgap Dance Company returns with their new show RO-TES-រទ េះ. Showcasing groundbreaking innovation in wheelchair design, Disabled artist Nadenh Poan makes his choreographic debut in collaboration with Stopgap’s world class dancers. Inspired by his Cambodian heritage, growing up on a boat and learning to swim before he could wheel; the first time he saw a RO-TES-រទ េះ (Khmer for wagon) was the moment he realised he could move with the land too. Nadenh reimagines his wheelchair as a place that can support more than just his body and the diverse creatives of Stopgap Dance Company invent a new world of bold movement and irresistible rhythms, in a joyful celebration of progress and community. RO-TES-រទ េះ is co-commissioned by Norfolk &
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Norwich Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Brighton Festival.
Puppetry experts and renowned children’s theatre company, Theatre-Rites present a tale of choice, trickery and joy in partnership with celebrated Afro Cuban Choreographer and dancer Miguel Altunaga. In Eshu at the Crossroads, the company’s first ever outdoor production, dancers and a puppeteer find themselves at an enchanted crossroads guarded by a magical rooster and faced with a decision of which way to turn. This wonderful family adventure full of dance, puppetry and music is directed by the company’s Artistic Director Sue Buckmaster, with the dynamic choreography from Altunaga bringing the vibrancy of his Yoruba culture to life. Eshu at the Crossroads is co-commissioned by Birmingham Weekender, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Brighton Festival.
Step into the stillness of the The Hide and see what might not always be visible. In this charming live birdwatching experience, Tilly of Tilly Ingram Theatre shares her love of birdwatching and lived experiences as a woman with a non-visible disability. As an artist whose practice is centred around our relationship with nature, Tilly tells the story of G463, a disabled White-Tailed Eagle, who inspired her love affair with birds. The Hide encourages audiences to sit and appreciate the spaces around us, considering what might not be immediately obvious to the eye. The Hide is co-commissioned by Brighton Festival and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
Every year, Without Walls invests commissioning funds into a programme of new outdoor shows that tour across the UK and internationally. These works range from the intimate to the epic, aiming to create high-quality arts experiences that are accessible to all, regardless of personal, social or economic circumstances. The organisation consists of the Artistic Directorate (AD), which delivers the artistic policy of the company by supporting and presenting new work; the Touring Network Partnership (TNP), which is made up of organisations who are committed to touring Without Walls shows to neighbourhoods, towns and cities across England with low arts engagement; and the Creative Development Network (CDN), which is made up of organisations and freelance professionals developing an outdoor arts programme and who receive mentorship, training and support.
Notes to Editors
Website https://www.withoutwalls.uk.com/
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Without Walls
Without Walls is a network of over 30 festivals and arts organisations that brings fantastic outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows by UK companies and supported the Research and Development of over 70 projects. Without Walls commissions have toured widely both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries.
The Without Walls 2025 programme includes:
Artizani – Hydropunk
Interactive installation with environmentalism at its core. Co-commissioners credits: Hydropunk is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Brighton Festival, and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
Levantes Dance Theatre – HUG
Outdoor contemporary circus theatre performance and living installation which explores relationships. Co-commissioners credits: HUG is supported by Ensemble Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Brighton Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival.
Nandita Shankardass – Roots to Rise
Dance theatre work with poetry and music, celebrating freedom, resilience and community.
Co-commissioners credits: Roots to Rise is supported by An Indian Summer Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Brighton Festival.
StopGap Dance Company – RO-TES រទ េះ Dance performance exploring disability.
Co-commissioners credits: RO-TES is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Birmingham Weekender, Stockton International Riverside Festival and Brighton Festival.
Tilly Ingram Theatre – The Hide
A live birdwatching experience about a woman living with a non-visible disability.
CompanyDHW – Go Grandad Go!
Hip-Hop theatre dance show about intergenerational relationships.
Co-commissioners credits: Go Grandad Go! is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by FESTIVAL.ORG for Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Brighton Festival.
Mish Weaver – Waiting Song
A circus and musical performance about anticipating good things to come.
Co-commissioners credits: Waiting Song is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Certain Blacks, Birmingham Weekender and Brighton Festival.
Sadiq Ali Company – Tell Me
Contemporary circus and dance show that reimagines the narrative around HIV in today’s world.
Co-commissioners credits: Tell Me is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Certain Blacks, Inspirate and Birmingham Weekender. The R&D for Tell Me was supported by Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund.
Theatre-Rites & Miguel Altunaga – Eshu at the Crossroads
A family adventure show full of dance, puppetry and music. Co-commissioners credits: Eshu at the Crossroads (working title) is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender and Brighton Festival.
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Co-commissioners credits: The Hide is supported by
Without Walls and commissioned by Brighton Festival and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
Without Walls Artistic Directorate Festival Partners
Brighton Festival
Festival Dates: TBC
Full programme announced February 2025 https://brightonfestival.org/
Certain Blacks – Ensemble Festival (London) Festival Dates: TBC
Programme: TBC
https://certainblacks.com/
An Indian Summer Festival
Festival Dates: TBC
Programme : TBC
https://www.indiansummer.org.uk/ Arts Council England
Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Festival Dates: 9 – 25 May 2025
Full programme announced 18 February 2025 https://nnfestival.org.uk/
Stockton International Riverside Festival Festival Dates: 1 – 3 September 2025 Programme: TBC
https://www.sirf.co.uk/
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival Festival Dates: TBC
Programme: TBC
https://festival.org/
Without Walls is supported by A
