The Playground Theatre in Notting Hill is hosting a series of women-led performances across March, with the intent to celebrate women’s voices in creative industries.
The female-led festival, called Women’s Voices: A Celebration, has been attentively curated by Naomi Sorkin, a former principal ballerina of the San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
Sorkin’s vision for the festival is to give women space to tell their own stories in their own voices, to combat an underrepresentation of women in creative industries.
Describing how she’d like Women’s Voices to be remembered, she said: “As a reminder that women have always had extraordinary stories to tell – and that when we make space for them, everyone benefits.”
Women’s Voices: A Celebration kicked off on international women’s day earlier this month with a night dedicated to Lynn Seymour, the iconic British ballerina, which featured an impressive ballet performance by dancer Ellie Young to Ashton’s Five Brahms Waltzes, and a screening of an old BBC documentary which discerned the life and psyche of Seymour in her golden days.
The space itself was intimate and bustling with conversation: sitting on the front row alongside Sorkin, we were able to survey subtle nuances in the performer’s expression, and hear her passionate breaths as she danced – making full use of the space.
Observed conversations after the performances praised the talent of Ellie Young and spoke of the legacy of Lynn Seymour. Most of which acknowledged they didn’t know the extent of her story beforehand, but were fascinated to learn of her journey from beautiful ballerina to punk princess as a result of events in her personal life, and of how her detrimental injuries ended her career but gave space for her to prioritise being a mother to her children.
The festival’s agenda for the rest of the month feature a series of theatre performances, comedy shows, feature films and live music events.
According to Sorkin, one event to especially look out for is Dame Janet Suzman’s talk on Cleopatra, which will be shown on 28th March. Suzman is a renowned interpreter of Shakespeare and widely known for her performance as Cleopatra in the 1974 film Antony and Cleopatra. Sorkin said: “It’s a rare opportunity to hear a legendary actor connect classical roles to contemporary debates”.
Tickets can be purchased via the Playground Theatre’s website. Events are running until 31st March.
