Departure Lounge 2025 festival line up announced!

Derby Theatre and In Good Company’s unmissable summer festival of fresh, bold and boundary-pushing performance returns for its 13th year for two days only this summer. Yes, it’s time for take-off, Departure Lounge is back! Get ready to ‘play’ and join us for an electrifying mix of contemporary theatre, thought-provoking panels and much more.

From Friday 11 to Saturday 12 July (with a launch event on Thursday 10 July); Derby Theatre will be transformed into a vibrant festival hub, showcasing cutting-edge work from some of the UK’s most exciting artists and companies. Don’t miss out – join us for a thrilling celebration of live performance. 

Get ready for take-off!
Departure Lounge 2025 launches in spectacular style on Thursday 10 July, with In Good Company rolling out the red carpet as your hosts for an unforgettable pre-festival launch. We’re kicking things off with a bold burst of creativity with FROM SCRATCH – a night of raucous, vibrant new performances from local theatre makers hosted by bisexual drag king, Tito Bone. After the show, join us in the foyer for the official lounge launch party. Expect welcome drinks, great company and some exciting announcements as artists, audiences and industry peers come together to celebrate the start of this year’s fabulous festival. It’s the perfect lift-off – and you won’t want to miss it. 

Officially opening Departure Lounge 2025 on the Friday, the line-up includes: our ever-popular industry panel discussion, Complicité Workshop, LGBTQ+ Coffee Morning, MANDEM, a coming-of-age story centred around 3 young black men set against the backdrop of a board game and heavily scored with Grime, Dancehall and Afrobeats; Afronaught from The Cocoa Butter Club, a bold cabaret about building a Black, Queer, unapologetic future and C*ck of Ages, by Send In The Clowns, a wild drag revue celebrating (and assassinating) rock musicals like RENT, Rock of Ages, The Rocky Horror Show and more….plus High Tea (With a Twist) by Levantes Dance Theatre, a circus performance above a beautifully set tea table, with glittery cakes, bright colours and lots of fun…and all of that is just Day 1!  

You can expect a series of additional social events designed to bring people together in true Departure Lounge style. On Friday, the Welcome Lunch will take place from 1:30pm to 2:30pm in the Upper Foyer. Join us straight after the Panel Discussion for Iona’s iconic homecooked classics and a warm welcome to Departure Lounge. This is the perfect opportunity to continue the conversation in a relaxed and friendly setting, and to catch up on all the latest from In Good Company. 

Onto Day 2, Saturday 12 July, and yet another jam-packed day – including: SePondment – a heartwarming and very silly work-in-progress show written and performed by Sinéad Brady, directed by Rosa Bowden and produced by Charlotte McShane. This play around cabaret invites you to wade in with lifeguard Nikki as she cracks the secret to surviving your first summer in the Big Smoke – pondlife, that is – through an evening of playful, life-saving cabaret. Catch The Privileged, and Stumbling – created by South Korean mural artist Woosun Choi and Singaporean theatre practitioner Syania Shaharuddin. Stumbling embraces the chaos and challenges of adulthood, from everyday struggles to major life transitions. It’s a space to get messy and play, fuelling your creative spirit with rave beats and one massive blank canvas. Laugh, dance and express yourself through vibrant splashes of colour as frustration transforms into a work of art. Also, experience Sh*t Life Crisis by Silent Uproar. Grace smashed cancer – but survival turned life inside out. This darkly hilarious karaoke-theatre show blends grief, friendship and belting out bangers into one unforgettable night of raw, heartfelt celebration. We round things off with the DJ Omar After Party. Join us for good music, good times and good people. The bar’s open and the tunes will be flowing – the perfect finale to Departure Lounge 2025. 

Expect more throughout the day, including the Lonely Arts Club, offering an informal networking mixer hosted by In Good Company, designed to help artists find new collaborators without the pressure of cold calling or elevator pitches. Whether you’re looking for a director, writer or producer, this relaxed session provides space to share ideas and meet likeminded creatives. Later in the day, The Feast takes place from 1:30pm to 2:30pm in Derbados. It’s your chance to take a break, refuel, and enjoy a communal meal in our specially kitted-out space. Bring your own food or take advantage of our special offer meal from the Derby Theatre Café Bar. Finally, The Banquet rounds off the day from 7pm to 8pm, also in Derbados. As the evening settles in, join us for a vibrant and sociable gathering. Whether you bring your own feast or grab a bite from the Café Bar, it’s the perfect way to relax with fellow festivalgoers. And don’t forget – happy hour runs throughout the weekend. 

Jen Sullivan, In Good Company Creative Producer said: “It’s so exciting to announce this year’s line-up for Departure Lounge Festival. Every year, it’s a labour of love to piece together something truly special for the freelance artistic community that we serve, and the wider industry network who join us. 

As ever, it’s been important to us to offer an original and representative line up with performances, workshops, discussion and installations from the Midlands and across the country. Beginning from this year’s theme of ‘Play’, there’s a big offering of joyful and subversive work on offer, alongside events like the panel discussion and DEFIANT that will bring us together to focus on some very real challenges that artists are coming up against.  

We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the brilliant Derby Theatre for another celebration of powerful and new work.” 

Join us for the 13th year of play, performance and partying. 

For more information and Departure Lounge updates, visit the Derby Theatre website here: Departure Lounge 2025 – Derby Theatre or follow us on social media (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube – @derbytheatre).