Summer Arts Festival 2023
Celebrate the creative work of our students.
This year’s festival promises to serve up a fabulous feast of entertainment. Students from across the performing arts, art & design, and music departments in collaboration with the Theatre Royal Wakefield will once again take to the stage to showcase their talents in our festival of creative arts.
Each year has seen a sensational array of exhibitions, shows and productions that have thrilled audiences and challenged the performers.
Student Performances
Godspell
Boasting a score with chart-topping songs, a book by a visionary playwright (John-Michael Tebelak) and a feature film, Godspell is a sensation that continues to touch audiences. Led by the international hit, ‘Day by Day,’ Godspell features a parade of beloved songs, including ‘Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,’ ‘Learn Your Lessons Well,’ ‘All for the Best,’ ‘All Good Gifts,’ ‘Turn Back, O Man’ and ‘By My Side.’
Godspell was the first major musical theatre offering from three-time Grammy and Academy Award winner, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Children of Eden); and it took the world by storm.
There will be three performances:
- Thursday, 18 May 2023, 7.30pm
- Friday, 19 May 2023, 2.00pm
- Friday, 19 May 2023, 7.30pm
Scuttlers
It’s 1882 and the streets of Manchester are crackling with energy, youth and violence. As workers pour into Ancoats to power the Industrial Revolution, 50,000 people are crammed into one square mile. The mills rumble thunderously day and night.
The air is thick with smoke. Life is lived large and lived on the street. This is the world’s very first industrial suburb and the young mill workers form the very first urban gangs, fighting over their territory with belts, fists and knives.
Invisible in history, their lives, deaths, loves, lusts and defiant energy tell stories that will repeat and repeat over the decades that follow.
There will be three performances:
- Tuesday, 23 May 2023, 7.30pm
- Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 2.00pm
- Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 7.30pm
Two
Behind the bar of their northern pub, the Landlord and Landlady welcome their regulars with open arms. Lending an ear for stories of celebration, of loss, of love and despair. The bickering couple work together to keep the locals in high spirits – with drinks, conversation and laughter.
There will be three performances:
- Friday, 26 May 2023, 7.30pm
- Friday, 26 May 2023, 2.00pm
- Sturday, 27 May 2023, 7.30pm
23 Grad Showcase
Join our BA top-Ups for their final Mechanics’ Performance. 5 Years in the making with stunning vocals and mesmerizing routines. A revue show not to be missed.
Gatsby
Gatsby is an original dance production that is based around the story of The Great Gatsby. Mechanics’ Performing Arts dance students are back at Theatre Royal Wakefield with their own version of this great story of the American dream. Lavish parties, greed, and passion all showcased by stylised and creative dance choreography with dazzling costumes because there 'aint no party like a Gatsby Party’.
There will be two performances:
- Wednesday, 14 June 2023, 7.30pm
- Thursday, 15 June 2023, 7.30pm
Student Exhibitions
Art & Design: End of Year Show
Summer Arts Festival 2023: Exhibition Opening Night
Join us for the opening night of our Summer Arts Festival 2023 Exhibition, where we’ll be showcasing the very best student work from across our Art & Design courses at Mechanics’ Theatre. Free entry.
Review the work by the following courses:
- UAL Level 1 Art, Design & Media
- UAL Level 2 Art & Design
- BTEC Level 3 Art & Design Practice (Art, Design, Fashion & Textiles, Graphic Design, Photography)
- UAL/Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
- CAVA Access to HE (Art and Design)
Summer Arts Festival 2023: Public Exhibition
Come see the very best student work from across our Art & Design courses at our free Summer Arts Festival 2023 Exhibition. Free entry.
Review the work by the following courses:
- UAL Level 1 Art, Design & Media
- UAL Level 2 Art & Design
- BTEC Level 3 Art & Design Practice (Art, Design, Fashion & Textiles, Graphic Design, Photography)
- UAL/Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
- CAVA Access to HE (Art and Design)
Art & Design Degree Show