A WEEK-LONG free theatre festival hosted by a Newport arts venue, jam-packed with virtual events, has premiered.

The RIGHT NOW festival run by Le Public Space – a community owned music and arts centre based within Newport's Le Pub – is being launched online today, Monday, and will run until Saturday, November 28.

The festival, supported by Dirty Protest Theatre and The Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre, will include a mixture of conversations and performances by some of Wales’ theatre makers and performance artists.

The festival's producer Justin Teddy Cliffe said: “RIGHT NOW is an expression of urgency. Because theatre isn’t temporarily paused waiting to happen somewhere in the near future, it’s alive but physically unable to be experienced. It’s here right now.

“Live Art is in crisis. As a publicly owned multi-functional music venue, pub and arts centre we believe we have a responsibility to support the creative sector in Wales in any way we can. We are making this festival of work public to not only connect artists with audiences, but to promote the wealth of talent and ideas that exist in Wales, currently unable to flourish and function.”

RIGHT NOW will have a daily open conversation on “thought-provoking” topics at 4.30pm.

On Tuesday, November 24, the topic is ‘When can trauma become entertainment?’ and on Wednesday, November 25, the topic is ‘Does being a parent make you a bad artist?’

On Friday, November 27, there will be a conversation on ‘Rebuilding Welsh Theatre: The Rise of the Playwrights’ which will be hosted by Dirty Protest Theatre as they discuss the future of theatre and writing in a future post-pandemic world.

IN OTHER NEWS:

RIGHT NOW will also have 7.30pm evening slots, featuring four solo artists who are creating and developing new performance work – this includes Newport dancer, Krystal S. Lowe, with her latest dance theatre piece about the pursuit of wholeness on Tuesday, November 24. The performance will explore ways of intermingling movement with text.

The Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre’s Associate Artist, Connor Allen, will also present ‘The Making of a Monster,’ his short autobiographical piece about a journey into identity on Thursday November 26.

All performances across the week will include captioning, making them accessible for all audiences.

The Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre, which is currently closed following government guidance, are supporting Le Public Space with this event by providing funding and loaning lighting and camera equipment to help with the live streaming.

Head of Theatre, Arts and Culture at The Riverfront, Alan Dear, said: “While we are unable to open we are thrilled to be able to continue to engage with the people of Newport and help bring new live entertainment to our audiences.

“Thanks to the grant we received from the Arts Council of Wales’ Stabilisation Fund I am delighted to be able to provide technical support for Le Pub and this fantastic festival and use our new live streaming equipment for the first time. I can’t wait to experience and enjoy new works from very talented local individuals.”

All festival events are free to view online, but donations for artists and Le Pub are welcome.

For more information and to register events visit lepublicspace.co.uk/right-now-festival