Here & Now Showcase Announcement

Published on: Thursday May 9, 2024

Here & Now announces their Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 programme with a curated showcase of four exciting performances and three exceptional industry events taking place across the city.

Funded by Arts Council England, the showcase is presented by partner organisations Battersea Arts Centre, FABRIC, and GIFT, platforming a geographical spread of work from England, during the Edinburgh Festivals

Here & Now presents an exciting, intriguing and thought-provoking programme of work created in England, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.

Continuing the work of Horizon by delivering a showcase of international-quality, tour-ready performance, Here & Now will run from Monday 19 August – Sunday 25 August 2024.

Presenting work across Dance Base, Pleasance, Summerhall and Zoo Venues, Here & Now will platform four formidable performances created by first-class artists and companies, alongside a programme of industry events which showcase a further three extraordinary artists.

Public performances are Enowate by Olivier award-winning choreographer, dancer and composer Dickson Mbi, L’Addition by experimental theatre maker Forced Entertainment’s Tim Etchells with Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas, TESTO by drag and movement artist Wet Mess, and You Heard Me by artist and theatre maker Luca Rutherford.

These will be positioned alongside three inspiring industry events delivered by dance maker Ziza Patrick, multidisciplinary artist Nwando Ebizie and performance artist, comedian and writer Krishna Istha.

The showcased artists’ present work that emanates from communities that represent voices and lives that are contemporary to today. They position themselves within their work, playing with form, to create experimental performance that speak to the here and now.

Spanning dance, drag, installation, multimedia, performance and sound, these works explore themes across gender, identity, neurodiversity, race and sexuality, and areas that include ancestorship, empowerment, power, queerness and resistance.

Funded by Arts Council England, Here & Now is delivered by partners made up of Battersea Arts Centre (London), FABRIC (Birmingham/ Nottingham) and GIFT (Gateshead). The partners work with artists and organisations that bring together different specialisms and expertise, with their locations platforming a geographical spread of work from across England.

As a showcase, Here & Now selects exceptional, world-class performances created in England that are ready for international distribution. It catalyses international touring and commissioning opportunities for artists by creating a supportive showcase environment in which artists and presenters can engage equally and equitably.

The 2024 showcase programme was curated via a nomination and selection process that involved international festival programmers to ensure the programme has strong appeal to international delegates, who will engage with the programme at the Edinburgh Festivals.

The programme was further solidified in conversation with the presenting venues in Edinburgh to ensure a reach across local, national and international audiences.

Here & Now focuses on forging new relationships between artists’ performances created in England, with partners across the Edinburgh Festivals.

Talking about Here & Now on behalf of the showcase partners, Festival Director of GIFT Kate Craddock said:

“Here & Now brings together a selection of extraordinary artists working in live performance in England today. The programme overall is powerful, vibrant and diverse, and very much speaks to the here and now.

The various works represent forms and perspectives that challenge what performance created in England might traditionally look or feel like. As partners, we are proud to present a showcase in the Edinburgh Festivals context that features bold artists who push their practice in new directions, and works that explore such wide ranging lived experiences.”