LIFT’s Shifts: Concept Touring & Times of Precarity

Abstract

The London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) is a biennial festival of theatre, performance, and cultural events. The organisation also supports year-round activity in London. LIFT was founded by Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal, with the first festival in 1981 hoping to ‘challenge British theatre and open a window on the world’. It has been a significant force in internationalising the UK theatre scene over the past 40 years.

Keywords:

• LIFT Festival
• Precarity
• European theatre
• touring
• concept touring

Kris Nelson is an Artistic Director/CEO of LIFT. A curator, dramaturg, and producer, he was the Festival Director of Dublin Fringe Festival, has produced and programmed festivals and showcases across Canada, and founded and led the International Touring Agency Antonym.

Notes

1. This critical reflection is a condensed version of an interview with Bryce Lease that took place on Zoom on December 22, 2021.

2. Royal African Society, Visa Problems for African Visitors to the UK, July 16, 2019, https://royalafricansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/APPG-Report-on-Visa-problems-for-African-visitors-to-the-UK_v1.58web.pdf (accessed January 7, 2022).

3. Another example was when, in 2018, LIFT presented In Search of Dinozord by Faustin Linyekula from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Faustin spoke in the artist’s talk about how precarity is just a fact for how they have to make things. The production was an autobiographical piece with six dancers, of which only five were able to get their visas to travel to London because the Home Office decided someone in the UK could perform the sixth role. We were back in precarity right away – how do you replace the performer?

4. See Mexican theatre-maker Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez’s open letter in which he addresses French choreographer Jérôme Bel’s call to reconfigure the world of the performing arts. https://e-tcetera.be/open-letter-to-jerome-bel/ (accessed January 7, 2022).