Lift festival returns to London after seven-year break

Published Tuesday 29 April 2008 at 15:25 by Matthew Hemley

International arts festival Lift will return to London this summer following a break of seven years.

Taking place across June and July, Lift Festival 2008 will includes UK premieres of productions from Australia, India and South Africa and will play in venues in Stratford, east London, and the Southbank Centre.

This year’s event will also see the launch of a mobile hub called The Lift, which will stand four storeys high and will act as a theatre, concert hall, cinema and public meeting space throughout the festival.

It will also allow communities to find out more about the performances they have seen, by engaging in discussions about the shows and listening to panel debates which tackle the issues explored in the performances.

This year’s three-week festival is Lift’s first since 2001, following which a decision was made to “unframe” the festival and take it out of its biennial cycle, replacing it instead with the Lift Enquiry, a five-year commitment to offering year-round events.

But the event’s organisers have now decided to reinstate the festival, with the mobile hub playing a key part in the event.

Lift director of communications Margred Pryce said: “This festival is about the customer’s experience - we are offering them a way to engage with the work and the artists. We are inviting them to hear why artists created the work and understand more about where they are coming from, so the engagement becomes a much richer experience.”

Lift Festival 2008 starts in Stratford on June 12 with a ten-day programme of events to be staged at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, performing arts venue Stratford Circus and in the new mobile hub, which will be based in Stratford Park.

Highlights include Dangalnama, a performance directed by Indian director Prasad Vanarase and Every Year, Every Day, I am Walking, a piece exploring the psychological impact of war on young people.

The festival runs at the Southbank Centre from June 26 until July 6, with shows including Murundak, a performance about contemporary Aboriginal life presented by Black Arm Band, which will be staged at the Royal Festival Hall.

The Southbank section will include the UK premiere of Report on the Body, a performance from China’s only independent dance company, Living Dance Studio. The Lift hub will be positioned in Southbank Centre Square.

Lift has also entered into a partnership with London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, which has provided a grant to allow three further festivals to take place over the next three years.