Please note - online booking will not be available after midnight 
on Thursday 12th September

THE PROGRAMME :

A Voice We Follow
​- Royal Kung Foolery

Multi-award winning physical theatre company ‘Royal Kung Foolery’ are back with a new hysterical, physical and compelling piece of original theatre!
The year was 1974. The ferocious storm was soon approaching. And it was at this precise moment that the Cetkovic Brothers (who were lost in the vast and rugged Molin Forest) were nearly no more than a distant memory. Lost forever, and never to be found. All hope seemed lost, until a mysterious radio transmission soon changed everything.
Review
“Style, pizazz and hilarious physical movement that has become a trademark of Royal Kung Foolery. The two main characters are compelling, believable and highly sympathetic. The rampant hilarity is a giant cherry on top”. (Limerick Leader, Ireland).
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The George Room, Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE
Saturday 14th Sept 8.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
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A Woman's Life
- Mistral Theatre Company

Cheltenham 1881: In the kitchen of the von Holst household, Clara is wracking her brains to think what to cook for supper.  Her two little boys, Gustav and Emil, are in bed, husband Adolph is visiting a Montpellier hostelry after a concert, and the new maid has taken to her room.  Like so many Victorian housewives, Clara turns to Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management for advice. But Clara is a talented musician and her mind wanders from stockpots to a time when she still had dreams of her own.  Then into her kitchen, bustles Mrs Beeton herself, the mob-capped matron of our imagination and Clara’s stern taskmaster.  But is Bella Beeton all that she seems?  As Adolph’s pupils ‘murder’ Mendelssohn offstage, a tragedy is to test Clara and bring the two women closer. 
​In A Woman’s Life, by BAFTA-nominated playwright, Carolyn S. Jones, directed by Marianne Gaston and featuring Emma Wilkes and Emmeline Braefield, long buried secrets now come to light…

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The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
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A Scotch Sitting Room Vol.3, Ep. 2
- Obvious Arts

​‘Ivor Cutless’ returns to the festival after last years successful premiere! Fergus Ryan presents a sandwich of select works by legendary Scottish absurdist and Peel favourite Ivor Cutler, with a filling of Ferg. Defeat stress, defy intelligence and be rejuvinated by this porridgey feast of humour - an hour of beauty and nonsense.

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Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
Friday 13th Sept, 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 9.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Saturday 14th Sept 11.00am

An Audience With Babs Catland 
​- Midnight Storytellers in collaboration with Brick Door Theatre Company

She's a crazy cat lady 'purr excellence', the cat's whiskers of feline fans. Introducing Barbara Catland and friends. Fur will fly when Babs gets her claws into modern life - 'Not enough naps' - and men - 'So like dogs!' Miss Catland will take questions but don't be surprised if she scratches. 
Chloe of the Midnight Storytellers launches a new persona - blending comedy, stories and her love of everything that purrs. You will be a-mews-ed. 
- Mild adult references, best for age 15+

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​The George Room, Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 9.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm

Barry and Dotty's Big Night Out!
- The Colourful Theatre Company

​For Barry and Dotty’s 50th wedding anniversary, their children clubbed together and bought them a night at the opera, complete with posh dinner and elegant gown hire. What could possibly go wrong??
With a mixture of masked and non-masked performers, Barry and Dotty’s Big Night Out! is a comedic account of one elderly couple’s night on the town. 

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Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Friday 13th Sept, 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 2.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 2.00pm
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Captain of the Birds 
​- Drop of a Hat Theatre Company

A crashed plane in the desert. Suffocating heat and freezing nights. The pilot anticipates his death. Absorbed by memories and hallucinations as he searches for an escape. He finds comfort in the mysterious arrival of a little prince...

An original show, based on the extraordinary life and writings of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Directed by Adam Fotheringham and performed by Samuel Rohwer. 

Suitable for 12+

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Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Friday 13th Sept, 8.00 p.m.
Saturday 14th Sept, 6.30 p.m.
​Sunday 15th Sept, 5.00 p.m.
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Church of Phil 
​- Fire Donkey Productions

​Fire Donkey blur the lines between fiction and reality as they present an absurd multimedia alternative comedy experience all about a cult that lives on a caravan park in Wales and worship the child star of a 90's pharmaceutical advert. Expect silliness, dance, a psychotic chimp, and just enough blood sacrifice to keep it on the right side of tasteful. 

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​Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Church of Phil Mass Extinction Event
- Fire Donkey Productions

​From the makers of Church of Phil and Welcome to the Future comes a new piece of absurdist comedy theatre to loosely complete the trilogy (or “Philogy”, as it were). In this installment we join cult members Polly and Liam in a state-of-the-art nuclear bunker deep below their commune-turned-caravan holiday resort in Pembrokeshire, as they conduct a special service to celebrate the life of Phil, the 90's child-star with links to Big Pharma, who made it all possible. Expect the unexpected in this surreal post-apocalyptic presentation, featuring home-made props, niche references to 90's pharmaceutical adverts, and a very brittle fourth wall.
Previous reviews for Fire Donkey:
“One to keep an eye on” - London Theatre Reviews
“Gleeful absurdity” - Buzz Magazine
“I know it happened, but I'm still not sure what happened” - The Swindonian
“If you can get past questioning why this show ever came into being, it'll be fine” - Stroud Theatre Reviews
And one woman simply wished us luck. 

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​The Old Town Hall,The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP
Friday 13th Sept 9.30pm
​Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 6.30pm
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Elephants 
- Atomic Clock Theatre

“This is very verité. Very real, very modern” -Bath Fringe Festival
Straight from it's first outing at Bath Fringe, Bristol and Cardiff where it earned great reviews. Elephants is an interactive performance set in a group meeting, where the audience meet Squirrel, a young person in their late teens. Both comedic and tragic, the story is seen through Squirrel's philosophy of life. It explores loss, and the character's inability to come to terms with it as they struggle with PTSD. It also creates discussion around a system that has consistently abandoned Squirrel throughout their young life.
The audience get a taste of what it is like to feel Squirrel's frustration as they learn more about the character and why they are there.
Described by Rhys Hayes of the leading 'Off West End' Finborough Theatre, as 'an energetic, bold monologue that addresses mental health issues in a compassionate and thoughtful way’.
Atomic Clock are a collaborative Theatre Company based in Bristol and Cardiff, who perform self-devised Drama, Performance and Live Art.
"Deborah Riggs gives an outstanding emotional performance, with power and intensive expression" - Cardiff Times.
"Hilarious and revelatory in turn, with razor sharp writing and electrifying acting. Highly recommended." – Michael Beakhouse.
 Recommended audience age 15 due to some infrequent very strong language.

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The British School,1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 9.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
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Everything Wrong With You Is Beautiful
- Tina Sederholm

Poet Tina Sederholm knows she is an adult, but still feels like the problem child. As her father descends into Alzheimer’s, Tina tries to uncover the facts behind a family story that never rang true. But as she digs into the past, she discovers the truth is not always easy to define.
A bittersweet, middle-aged rite of passage, Everything Wrong With You Is Beautiful melds memoir, comedy and poetry into a poignant story of healing and reconciliation, finding beauty even in heartbreaking circumstances.
 
A beautifully humbling and thoughtful storytelling experience dripping with hope, acceptance, and grounding self-mockery,’ Three Weeks *****

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The British School,1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 9.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Fauna
- Equal Art

​Mark and Sally find themselves in a future they could never have imagined. Suffering is a by-product of everyday life, injustice is commonplace and nobody knows who is in charge. This original play will explore the depths of the human soul, the capacity of the mind and the stability of this planets future. All in Equal Art's debut theatrical performance.
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The Old Town Hall,The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 2.00pm
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Growing Victorians In Your Garden
​- Bill Jones

​Bill Jones offers sage advice on the subject of cultivating Victorians including such wisdom as- “In spring, tender Victorians need protecting from whooping cough, influenza and other blights. Cloches are recommended”.
An illustrated performance talk full of practical gardening tips, props including Bill's own illustrations and – of course – terrible puns.

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​The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
Star Anise Cafe,1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
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Half
- Rebel Girls Theatre Co

​Jelena is young, foreign and alone in England. Back home, her mother and half-brother, the only family she has left, are on a war path. On the day of her father’s funeral, a question is asked – a question which reveals where loyalties lie and from which direction the danger is coming. As a ghostly winter’s night settles on the family home, old wounds are re-opened and secrets are discovered. And who was it that left the white flowers on the door step?
As odds are stacked against Jelena in England, will she succeed in building a better life here and will she manage to make her family whole again?
HALF is a exciting new play by Senja Andrejevic-Bullock produced by Rebel Girls Theatre Co.

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The Old Town Hall,The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
​Saturday 14th Sept 2.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 9.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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I Am Not Victoria Wood
- Pepita Productions

​In this solo play written and performed by Julia Knight we meet Maddie North. She used to perform as a Victoria Wood tribute act. Maddie has a suitcase full of props and memories, but are they holding her back? This touching, funny and entertaining show sees Maddie revisiting her successful career and paying tribute to one of the UK’s most loved comedians. Warning: contains funny songs, berets and references to macaroons.
“Invoking the essence of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues… well worth a watch” Reviews Hub
“This is a great show… sensitive tribute to Wood. Not to be missed!”  Remote Goat
“Impressively evocative” Chortle

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The George Room, Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE
Friday 13th Sept 9.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Jane Austen and the Cheltonians
-Natura Contemporary Theatre 

​Following its sell-out premier in March this year this new play by West End playwright Caroline Summerfield tours to the Stroud Theatre Festival. Starring:  Abigail Halley ('Random Acts' Channel Four) and Lynn Thomas ('Doctors' BBC TV)
What if at Jane Austen's death, not all of her letters and manuscripts from her stay in Cheltenham had been burnt by her sister? Enter her novel The Cheltonians. As observant as ever of Society's ills and set in the year following Waterloo, Emma Woodhouse, now newly married, finds herself in Cheltenham sampling the waters from its spas. But the arrivals of a Jamaican born widow of a wealthy ship owner and an army officer, soon prove too great a temptation for Emma, and it is not long before she starts matchmaking with disastrous consequences. Jane Austen & The Cheltonians provides an insightful and timeless social commentary on our manners and our morals. Natura Contemporary Theatre have developed a reputation for producing high quality contemporary theatre in town and country locations.  
​"Simply sublime - written with the very voice of Jane Austen"

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​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Saturday 14th Sept 2.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 11.00am
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Killing My Hamster Aged 6
​- Steven Tarr

Narrating a childhood that consisted of a fear of the late John McCririck, obsessions with ants and defecting in gardens, ‘Killing My Hamster, Aged 6’ journeys into the teenage years of a boy who doesn’t understand how to grieve while having a hatred of a certain One Show presenter. Steven’s stories culminate in the early adult years that confront issues with alcohol and mental health, not before heralding a passion for EastEnders and vintage clown paintings. ​

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The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 9.30p.m.
Sunday 15th Sept 6.30p.m.
​The George Room, Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
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Life Fright!
​- Rose Wadham

Grappling with facial hair, brain fog and Vegan Cheese, fashionably menopausal stand up comedian Rose will share her bewilderment on Generation Z, gender politics, post modern men, marital sex, camping and world music which will leave you gasping for breath and nostalgic for Pork Scratchings and the Ford Capri.
After playing the title role in Germaine Greer’s comic adaptation of ‘Lysistrata’ and getting excellent reviews in the national press as a ‘hugely charismatic lead’ Rose became a stand up comedian performing stand up, cabaret and character sketch comedy for a variety of audiences both in the UK and abroad. Rose is also a TV script writer. Her script, ‘Kings Road’ co written with her sister, won the C21 International Scriptwriting Competition at the BFI. ‘Kings Road’ is currently in development with eOne.

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Star Anise Cafe, 1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 8.00pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
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Machines
- Loop of the Out

STAMP. An office room. STAMP. Papers stacked high. STAMP. A dimly lit desk. STAMP.
Tom sits, transfixed by his work. The ink is thick and warm. Threats of a disturbance linger.
After last year's sell out debut with 'Out of the Loop', 'LOTO' presents 'Machines’. A surreal piece set in a dystopian future, exploring the delicate balance between work and freedom, in a world where automation obviates the need for human labour. Be early, be efficient, and don't read the...STAMP

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The British School, 1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
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Max
- Anthony Haddon

Max is inspired by Maurice Sendak’s picture story “Where The Wild Things Are” and we will be entering the world of a boy called Max who is about your age. There is mischief making of one kind and another and you decide which kind of mischief makes his mother hit the roof. This is a world where bedrooms transform into forests and you decide what that could sound like because the emotional landscape is changing and expanding and getting wild. How do we confront the Wild Things and tame them? I don’t know, you need to be there to help me out because I’ve got the outline of the story but I need your ideas to help colour it in.
Max is a 50 minute interactive storytelling session for children of five year olds upwards and their grown ups.
 Anthony Haddon is theatre director, writer and performer who specialises in theatre for children and young people. Anthony was a founder member and Artistic Director of Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah in Leeds from 1985 to 2014 and now works with the education teams at Opera North, Leeds Playhouse and Bradford Museums.

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Star Anise Cafe, 1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 3.45pm
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Miss Potter's Tailor's Tale
- Brandywine Theatre

Beatrix Potter – now Mrs William Heelis and a dedicated hill farmer in the Lake District – takes a break from lambing on a snowy night to share with us her candid recollections of how she became the most successful children’s author and illustrator of all time – how she lost the man she loved – how, after nineteen books, she regrets that she will not have a new one finished for Christmas of 1916 – and how the War Office have even tried to requisition her horse!
‘And how can you run a farm without a horse, I should like to know?!’
But, revelling in the joy she finds in her hard-working life and with her habitual good humour and wit, she delights in telling us the true tale of her favourite tailor.
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​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Friday 13th Sept 2.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 12.30pm
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Odd Socks
- Acting Up

‘This is a powerful and sometimes harrowing piece about two sisters locked in to a web of secrets and lies.
The older sister, Chloe, is suffering from depression and anxiety following traumatic events which have occurred throughout her life.
Daisy, the younger sibling is constantly trying to pacify the sister she loves so dearly but on this particular night events come to a head and the biggest secret of all is revealed.
Not everything is as it seems and the mood of the piece escalates to leave the audience on an almighty cliff-hanger.   

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​Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Friday 13th Sept 9.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 9.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 12.30pm
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Pandora
- Multi Story Theatre Company

Two weary travellers meet. They are suspicious of each other. They share a story to try to establish trust. The story of Pandora. In this story, the gods trick Pandora into releasing all sorts of miseries into the world. But, in the end, Hope emerges to offer a way forward.
Pandora is a play for young people about big ideas. About holding on to trust and hope and working together in an uncertain and selfish world. All presented with the sensitivity and fun that goes with thirty years of writing and performing for young audiences.
For ages 5+
55 mins

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​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Friday 13th Sept 2.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 12.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 11.00am
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Pigs Can Fly 
- The Small Spaces Theatre Company 

​Performed as a radio play with a difference, “Pigs Can Fly” celebrates the importance of the Short brothers to the birth of British aviation, in this 50th anniversary year of Oswald Short’s passing.
 A cast of 14 tells the story of relationships – of love, passion, commerce, bravery, disappointments and death; of the first Aero Club members and the development of British Aviation and its struggle to survive against a hostile Government, press and public - all seen through the eyes of Daily Mail reporter, Charlie Hands.
Charles Rolls’ visions changed the lives of millions of people in a short ten year span - a pioneer of motoring and with a passion for aviation.  One half of the Rolls-Royce partnership he also planned for an aircraft company before his tragic death, the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft.
A radio play with a difference??
Based on her book “The Birth of British Aviation – Prisoners of Hope”, Helen Landau incorporates in this innovative production, directed by Lisa Holman, costumes, projected images and a pig to tell this tale’s hazardous journey, which was only ended by a prank that even the Government of the day could not ignore.
All profit from tickets sales are being donated to Help for Heroes

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​The Old Town Hall,The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP
Saturday 14th Sept 8.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
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Radicals, Revolutionaries and Poets
- Radical Stroud

London at the end of the 18th Century.....
Radical Stroud  recreate the febrile atmosphere of London at the time of the French Revolution with an echo of Thomas Spence’s ‘free and easies’. Spence championed his plan for the common ownership of land through ‘free and easies’: songs and ballads and poems and political speechifying in ordinary down to earth language. In pubs and taverns and coffee houses. Men and women. Black and white and mixed-heritage. ‘The People’s Farm’.
We offer three ‘free and easies’ with spoken word recreations – some with song, music and dance over the three days of the Theatre Festival.

​Thomas Spence (portrayed by Paul Southcott)

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and Jane Evans (portrayed by Rachel Simpson) – Spencean leader

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Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
​Friday 13th Sept, 9.30pm

Robert Wedderburn (Spencean revolutionary leader- the son of an enslaved woman) portrayed by Peter Anderson

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Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
​Saturday 14th Sept, 8.00pm

​William Blake as portrayed by Jonny Fluffypunk

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​​The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
​Sunday 15th Sept, 2.00pm

​​Researched and co-written by Stuart Butler

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Refugee Letters 
- Gloucestershire Refugee Theatre Co.

​Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control this event has been cancelled.

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River In The Sky
- Turn Point Theatre

​★★★★ “Genuinely unusual and exciting” The Reviews Hub
Turn Point Theatre brings a brand-new show about grief, fertility and the power of storytelling.
“We are all just an assortment of stories. Lies and truths all muddled by our own narrative.”
Young couple, Jack and Ellie were trying to have a family. Then after the sudden loss of their child, they both start to struggle coping with reality.
While one hides away in a dilapidated caravan, escaping to wondrous, childish adventures through their imagination, the other tries to forget the painful event and move on with their day to day life.
Unable to heal separately, they both come together to drink Earl Grey tea, argue over biscuits and tell each other magnificent stories, as bittersweet escapism from their mourning. But as they tell these stories of battling massive, slender dark monsters with many claws, observing a beautiful winged creature with golden eyes and being tickled by fast beings that can’t be seen underwater, reality drifts further from reach…
Will they spiral further into grief or can these stories somehow bring them back?

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Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 6.30pm

​Special Brew 
​- The Severn Wonders

​Enjoy one hour of laughter from the South West’s premier comedy maestros. The Stroud team that brought you ‘From Here to Selsley’, ‘Aside her with Dozy’ and ‘Something Brewing’ present ‘Special Brew’, containing the best from the above together with a sprinkling of brand new sketches.
We write and perform all our own material and have been described as ‘pan-fried panto’. Our influences are from the golden era of comedy (e.g Black Adder, Absolutely, French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie, Dave Allen, Benny Hill, Carry On and The Two Ronnies).
The production would suit adults 18+
Reviews from past shows:
“ We loved the show tonight. It was hilarious – brilliant ideas, great facial expressions/accents. We were alternately aching and crying with laughter” - Margaret Davies
“Great fun, original and hugely entertaining” - Martin Fretwell
“I travel down from the Midlands to watch The Severn Wonders. Worth every mile!” - Richard Hancock

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The Old Town Hall,The Shambles, Stroud GL5 1AP
Friday 13th Sept 6.30pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
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Tales of the Unpredictable
- PD Productions

​Two award-winning short story writers offer up their entertaining takes on the world. ‘Beautifully crafted, eloquently read, laugh-out-loud gems’, as they modestly like to describe their own work. Philip Douch (Short Stories for Grown-Ups) and John Holland (Stroud Short Stories) join forces for a fun hour, twisting reality into silly shapes, sometimes with some serious intent and sometimes just for the hell of it.
John has been described by a fellow-writer as ‘like Alan Bennett on Viagra’ - which we assume to be a comment on his writing style - whilst Philip hasn’t.
Their two shows will feature different stories each time – so if you love the first one you can come again (or if you really hate it, then you can be almost certain not to be so disappointed if you pitch up for a second time).

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Star Anise Cafe, 1 Gloucester St, Stroud GL5 1QG
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
Saturday 14th Sept 8.00pm
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Tempus Fugit
- Eight Miles and the Moon

​A promise. A deal. A curse.
How much time does it take to save a person’s life? How much time is needed to make a person live forever?
Tempus Fugit follows the tale of a storyteller who has struck a bargain to change the fate of a dear loved one, but at what cost?
 
Suitable for ages 14+

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The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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Test Transmission From the Edge of the World
- Jonny Fluffypunk

In a ramshackle home-made shed high on the salt-licked shingle, a home-made man is having a love affair with radio. And a love affair over the radio. A love affair partially conducted in morse code, if you will. A lo-fi stand-up spoken word theatre show about imagination, invention and the magic of the airwaves. Oh yeah, and love. Of sorts. Suitable for anyone with a human soul.
 
Jonny Fluffypunk presents the premiere of the reimagined, reworked, fully valve-powered ‘proper’ version of the embryonic show he so expertly read off bits of paper last year.
 
Always conceived as a collaboration with the beautiful corrugated tin Radio Hut installation constructed by international artistic geniuses Miniature Museum, this year it is indeed just that.
 
Two shows performed in and around the Radio Hut, which will be in residence in the courtyard of the Museum in the Park, and a third indoors (but still in sniffing distance of the installation).

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​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 12.30pm

The Ballad of the Bristol Baby Farmer
- ​Silkstone Productions

As Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror fades, a much more insidious and prolific murderer remains on the loose in and around Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Amelia Dyer finds loving homes for children whose mothers can’t support them. In the absence of paternal responsibility and with abortion illegal, business is booming, but it’s also challenging. Who is the mysterious governess who stalks Amelia at every turn and why is her daughter so keen to make her own way in life? The answers only begin to emerge when a carpet bag is fished from the Thames.
A timely true tale of what can happen when society ignores the rights of mothers.
Not suitable for under 12s. 

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​Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
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The Bird Show
- The Last Baguette

The Bird Show - a flap-tastic fact-filled family comedy by The Last Baguette
With frolics and foraging, flitting, flying and two unusual feathery friends, this is a madcap and touching show about birds facing changes to their habitat. The Bird Show uses live music, puppetry and lots of silly bird jokes in this heart-fluttering physical comedy about conservation, migration and imagination.
We follow Henry the Heron and Sally the House Sparrow on a zany journey to become friends while facing ecological threats to their habitat. This colourful, visual show uses music, object puppetry, and dance to gently explore the impact of humans on nature and asks the question - what can we do differently?
“The energy and commitment of the company is infectious. This is unique small scale theatre with a great heart” Theatre Bath
Suitable for the whole brood including fledglings from 4+
thelastbaguette.com

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Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud GL5 1BB
Friday 13th Sept, 3.45pm
Sunday 15th Sept 11.00am
Sunday 15th Sept 3.30pm
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The Breath of Love
- Learning Through Theatre

The year is 1590 and the wind of change is blowing through the field of knowledge.
Doctor Leglimbo, renowned alchemist, is on the brink of a profound discovery - a divine elixir that will open Death’s door and guide the departed back into the light. Missing a key component, he enlists his hapless servant Harlequin to capture the vital vapour…But, when love is in the air and everyone is out to get rich... who knows where their greed will take them?

“When Quack and Zany are thus met
The world of Science begins to fret!”

A Commedia dell’Arte play involving unscrupulous masters, artful servants, the dead and … the undead. This timeless comedy will entertain audiences of all ages, serving up a feast of farce, dashing blades and high energy half masks.

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The George Room, Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE​
Fri 13th Sept 1.00p.m.
Fri 13th Sept 8.00p.m.
Sat 14th Sept 1.30p.m.
Sun 15th Sept 6.30p.m.

For details of a special introduction to commedia dell'arte workshop click here to visit the workshops page

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The Invisible Museum
​- Knapsack Productions

​The Invisible Museum is an exciting and interactive show aimed at 7 – 11 year olds and their families. Exploring the hidden voices throughout history, the show takes a fresh look at the past and discovers the women who, despite their significant contributions, aren't in the galleries, museums of history books.
Trapped in Stroud in 2019, The Curator needs help to explore the artefacts she has brought back from her travels in time, and to work out how they can help her fix her time-travel device and get back home.

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​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Friday 13th Sept 3.45pm
Saturday 14th Sept 2.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 12.30pm
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The Metamorphosis
- Leap Theatre

Leap Theatre make use of physical theatre in their debut; an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Gregor, the eldest son and breadwinner of the household, begins to struggle with the life he has led for so long. Inner struggles begin to manifest themselves physically. His relationship with his family is strained and deteriorates. There is no going back to how things used to be. 

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The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
​Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 6.30pm
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The Numbers Station
- White Hippos Productions

Welcome to The Numbers Station, the most secret of TOP SECRET, secrets.
It is a difficult time to be a spy, the future is uncertain and modern technology means that a Nation's secrets can be uncovered and shared in an instant. To combat this Britain has gone backwards; radio waves, code books and writing things down by hand are now the processes to keep Britain safe. Late one night as the codes come in, a lone radio operative stumbles upon the conspiracy to end all conspiracies. Or it might just be a clerical error.
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Following ‘The Boy Who Fell in Love with the Stars’ and ‘TALL’ White Hippos Productions return to the Stroud Theatre Festival for the 3rd time with a brand new show, one that takes a look at the not too distant future and what you will never know about it.
"A brilliantly written and performed one-man play which manages to simultaneously convey both the bloodboilingly frustrating jobsworth bureaucracy of working for a large institution and the sinister hold that social media has over us. Wickedly funny and incisively analytical. " - The Daily Fringe
"Brilliant show. Beautiful writing – as we have come to expect from White Hippos but a terrifically totally engaged performance too! Don’t miss it." - Gill Nathanson – Fringe Theatrefest

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The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
​Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
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The Reduced Literature Degree
​- Shirley Halse

​With rising tuition fees and the value of higher education being increasingly called into question, Shirley Halse has condensed three years worth of the BA curriculum down into a far more efficient one hour show. We start the course with some ridiculous Old English, zip through bawdy Chaucer, needy Sidney, catty Dryden, loved-up Keats, moody Larkin, Woolf, and finally check in at Literature in the 21st century. No essays required.

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Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 5.00pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 8.00pm
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Tideman's Piece
- Raw Material Productions

We can choose our friends but not our families… but would we choose differently
If we could? This show is a celebration of people in my family and of places that were important to them, and an attempt to find a way into some of the secret history that all families have, and that makes us who we are, together with original and traditional tunes on the fiddle

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​The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 5.00pm
Upstairs at The Lounge 16, 16 George St, Stroud GL5 3DY
Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
Sunday 15th Sept 6.30pm
​The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AF
Sunday 15th Sept 2.00pm
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Two by Jim Cartwright
- Foulisfair Theatre in association with Dramestics

A warm welcome to our pub! What’ll it be, a double? Yes! We’re your landlord and landlady: always happy to see you; cracking smiles and jokes - (just don’t catch us skulking behind beer barrels, having a crack at each other…) Enjoy your home-from-home right here and mingle with our motley crew of colourful regulars passing through the doors. Laugh at them, cry with them; drink their humanity down.  At the bar the evening wears tirelessly on, though beneath the shiny surface, a broken memory festers. Dark tragedy stands in the shadow of the doorway in the form of a small boy, waiting to step in like a ghost.  Opening the door might break us completely…or could it spark a tentative awakening, a fragile reconciliation? Might the pale light of hope spill into our lives?
Gemma Bolwell (Foulisfair Theatre/Drama Adventures) and Edward Derbyshire (Dramestics/Gloucestershire Youth Players) are Gloucestershire-based theatre-makers, performers, directors and drama teachers, performing together for the first time in Two. Playwright Jim Cartwright is well known for Road and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.  Two was the winner of The Manchester Evening News Best New Play award in 1989.

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Twitchett's Bar, The Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 6.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 6.30pm
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Waiting For Samuel 
- Brandywine Productions

Elizabeth Pepys is fully aware of her diary-keeping husband's dissolute doings in the fleshpots, theatres and coffee houses of Restoration London for, while it took scholars many years to decipher the system of shorthand in which Samuel wrote his famous diaries, Elizabeth mastered the code from the beginning and has only to read last night's entry to find out what ‘the dirty little devil’ was up to yesterday.
 Luckily, Elizabeth is blessed with a sense of humour and, in any case, she has rather too many secrets of her own which she is quite happy to reveal to us - in confidence - though she has far more sense than to ever write them down.
 Flicking back through the pages, she re-lives and shares with us the ups and downs of their married life - their wedding, the return of the King, Samuel's steady rise to prosperity, the horrors of the plague and how they barely survived the Great Fire when London blazed and tumbled down around them.   But now, though she has tolerated Samuel's numerous peccadilloes, and often matched them with her own, she fears that he has at last fallen deeply in love with a girl young enough to be their daughter.

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​The Imperial Hotel, Station Road, Stroud GL5 3AP
Friday 13th Sept 8.00pm
Saturday 14th Sept 3.30pm
​Sunday 15th Sept 5.00pm
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Stroud Theatre Festival is run by
Spaniel in the Works Theatre Company
www.spanielworks.co.uk

Media Partners

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