Launching careers in Corby

The Launchpad Festival runs from Thursday to Saturday July 20-22.

For the last two years Launchpad has been giving the region’s new theatre makers a chance to try out new work in front of a supportive audience and develop their voice. This festival is a chance to see some of that work as full-length plays.

Thursday night is headlined by well-known local poet Michael ‘Spike’ Pike with How Did It Get So Crazy. After a chaotic and often violent adolescence, Spike joined the British Army and travelled the world, including a tense and dangerous tour of duty in Belfast. In this show, Spike tells his story of a life lived through, and then beyond, violence, with unflinching honesty and a huge amount of humour.

Also on Thursday night, Loch And Steel Film Night returns for another showcase of all the best new films from local filmmakers, once again curated by director and producer Kyle Cheatley.

Friday will see the premiere of Numbered Days by Theatre In Black, a brand new show written by Ryan Leder which takes a stark look at love in the digital age. The play follows Rebecca and Charlotte, two university students who have fallen in love after meeting online, but with over five- thousand miles between them, they begin to question whether a future together is even possible.

Joining them are Next To Normal, who create new works with sketch comedy, stand-up, clowning, opera, original compositions and improvisation sketches every day (after their day jobs). Their new show Double Whammy is a sketch show for people who love all things creative and done well. It promises to be like nothing audiences have seen before… but in a good way.

On Saturday Richard Conlon presents his new work, You Are My World, a play about a gay priest written by a straight atheist. Set in rural Northamptonshire in the present day, a middle aged clergyman with a colourful past is harangued, beguiled, aggravated and seduced in equal measure and coaxed into telling his life story. The piece looks at faith, sexuality, celebrity and the quest for significance in our everyday lives.

Saturday night also sees Core Actors, who have been working with theatre maker Jenny Sheehan, present the short, dark story Jack In The Box. Fe fi fo fum… Giant Motors took a serious tumble thanks to the actions of a boy called Jack. What is the real story and who is really to blame?

Support on Saturday comes from Corby poet Liam Ferguson who will perform three new spoken word pieces from his latest collection.

Launchpad comes to The Core’s Lab from Thursday 20 to Saturday 22 July starting at 7.45pm.

Tickets are priced at £6 per show, or £15 for all three, and can be booked by calling the ticket office on 01536 470 470 or online at www.thecorecorby.com.