Camden People’s Theatre (CPT) has released the programme for its feminist festival Calm Down Dear (CDD). Running from 16 January – 4 February, 2018 marks CDD’s fifth birthday.
Programme highlights are Racheal Ofori and Heather Agyepong’s So Many Reasons (16 January – 3 February), which explores the roles that mothers play in creating a worldview for their children; The Gentle Art of Punishment (18-20 January), where three women “unravel their girlhoods, idols and ideals”; and Sexy (31 January – 3 February), hosted Vanessa Kisuule, which takes a look at the “sometimes fraught” relationships women have with their own bodies.
Elsewhere Big Bang, CDD’s night of scratch performances, returns on 15 and 22 January; while comedy piece Enter the Dragons (16-17 January), subverts prevailing ideas about beauty, sex and feminism.
CPT artistic director Brian Logan said: “In 2013, calling your show – or your festival – feminist felt like a bold, even a risky, decision. But the first CDD was a huge success for us, and what was conceived as a one-off festival has returned annually ever since.
“Five years on, we’ve been overwhelmed with the volume and quality of proudly feminist submissions to this year’s event, and – more widely – by the range and creativity of current feminist theatre-making.”
CDD is supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.