Women's Voices: A Celebration
A Female-Led Festival curated by Naomi Sorkin, co-produced by Myriam Cyr, Nicole Ansari-Cox and Kamini Banga,
Presented by The Playground Theatre
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Women's Voices: A Celebration (WVAC) is a pioneering & inspiring festival to coincide with International Women's Day. The event brings together a diverse & exceptional group of female artists from multiple art forms- theatre, music, dance & literature, exhibitions, talks, performances & workshops with communities.
Each lineup features a host of remarkable women from various creative disciplines, each distinguished by their unique voices and powerful storytelling.
Where it began
The Women’s Voices: A Celebration was exactly that - a time to reflect on and embrace the incredible women artists working across a range of creative disciplines, and to hear what they have to say. From emerging playwrights and filmmakers to highly recognised artists, this year we presented a rich tapestry of work spanning music, theatre, dance, film, literature, and visual art. These were stories by women in a world where gender equality is still far from reality - even in the so-called evolved Western societies. With women’s rights under attack and headlines too often dominated by violence, abuse, or attempts to silence women (such as the cases of Jess Phillips and Gisèle Pelicot), the festival highlighted how essential it is to amplify women’s voices. Shockingly, women continue to represent a small proportion of work produced across the arts, with only a few exceptions such as literature and painting.
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Centered around International Women’s Day, WVAC was a first-of-its-kind event, showcasing the brilliance, diversity, and multitalent of women past and present. The festival explored stories across time and place from 10th century Japan and 12th century Germany, to 18th century France, 19th century America, and the early and later 20th century - through to today’s pressing conversations about race and gender politics. The program culminated in a play celebrating one of the world’s most prominent feminists, Gloria Steinem, leaving audiences inspired and challenged in equal measure.
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— NAOMI SORKIN, Curator and Creative Producer, The Playground Theatre
A sneak Peak of 2026's Lineup - Now on Sale
WVAC is returning with even more opportunities for women creators to share their work and stories. With a top secret line-up in the works, we're offering a sneak peak of some of the acts you can expect to see in 2026. Whether you are a writer, director, performer, musician, creative or just interested in the festival, we encourage you to discover a show for yourself.
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Join us in shaping the next edition of this groundbreaking festival, and help us continue to amplify women’s voices across the arts.​
An evening dedicated to the remarkable
Lynn Seymour: Trailblazer Ballerina
(Dance & Documentary)
Performer: Ellie Young
Pianist: Malcolm Forbes Peckham
An evening dedicated to the remarkable Lynn Seymour unfolds as a tribute to artistry, influence, and legacy. Ellie Young brings fresh life to Ashton’s Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, danced in the free-spirited manner of Isadora Duncan, where musicality and movement breathe as one. The programme is deepened by a 1980 documentary, rich with intimate moments and candid personal opinions, offering a rare and moving insight into Seymour’s voice, vision and enduring impact on dance.
HoneyTrap
(Theatre)
Director: Ruby Isaacs
Written by: Ruby Isaacs
A play about sweet revenge...
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When 20-something Honey hears that a boy who attacked her in school is running for Mayor of London, she takes matters into her own hands. Set almost a decade after the incident, Honeytrap is a play about how the past never stops haunting us and how revenge is a dish best served sweet.
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Ruby Isaacs is a Cultural Studies major in her last year of McGill University. She grew up in London and lives in Canada. Honeytrap is her first play, it was originally mounted in Montreal and she is thrilled to be working with ‘Women's Voices’ for this reading. Her speciality of study is horror film and she hopes to be a full time writer and director of plays and movies after she graduates.
Poetry On The Couch
(Poetry)
Kathleen Saxton - Psychoanalyst
Madeleine Potter & Eva Rae Thompson
What secrets lie beneath the poems that changed literature?
In Poetry on the Couch, psychotherapist and literary scholar Kathleen Saxton offers a fascinating psychoanalytic exploration of the inner worlds of Emily Dickinson (Madeleine Potter) and Mary Shelley (Eva Rae Thompson), two radically different women whose imaginations reshaped poetry and narrative forever.
Through close readings of their work, Saxton uncovers the psychological landscapes that gave rise to Dickinson’s compressed, incandescent lyric voice and Shelley’s haunting, visionary power. Desire, repression, grief, ambition, isolation and transgression emerge not as abstractions, but as living forces embedded in the poems themselves.
Part literary lecture, part psychological case study, Poetry on the Couch invites audiences to encounter these iconic writers, revealing the minds behind the masterpieces and the emotional truths that continue to pulse beneath their words.
Madame Mozart
(Theatre)
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Director: Myriam Cyr
Starring: Nicole Ansari Cox
A new dark comedy. She’s composing. He’s decomposing.
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Madame Mozart, the Lacrimosa at the Playground Theatre with Nicole Ansari Cox
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Faced with the sudden death of her genius husband, Constanze Mozart’s secretly connives to complete and deliver his final commission, Requiem in D minor, by bamboozling the patriarchy at its own game. In the end, she’s the only one standing, cleverer and braver than everyone else in her story
She's Got Balls
(Theatre)
Writer and Director: Emily Corcoran
Starring: Emily Corcoran
In this modern, western world, is gender inequality really an issue any more? Are women treated differently to their male counterparts?
In this fun series of sketches we will explore this question via a play combining true stories in domestic, work and family life with a surprise twist.
Emily Corcoran is an established actress, writer and producer of feature films and television. This will be her first foray into writing and producing for theatre.
Comedy Collaboration: Talk with Helen Serafinowicz and Lisa Farrell
(Theatre)
Talk by
Helen Serafinowicz
Lisa Forrell
Join us at the Playground Theatre for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes conversation as part of the Women’s Theatre Festival, with Helen Serafinowicz, co-creator of the BBC hits Motherland and Amandaland and Lisa Forrell, acclaimed theatre director and writer as they come together to discuss the art of comedy writing for BBC-commissioned series.
In this lively and insightful talk, Helen and Lisa, who are currently working together on a new series, unpack the art of writing for comedy, from finding voice and rhythm, to shaping characters audiences love and demystify how a television series actually gets made, from first idea to greenlight. Expect candid reflections, practical insights and real-world lessons drawn from their journeys across theatre and television.
The Elizabeths
(Theatre)
Directed by: Anthony Biggs & Janet Dulin Jones ​​
Elizabeth the First - Caroline Goodall
Elizabeth the Second - Rachel Pickup
" From women's eyes this doctrine I derive. They sparked still the right promethean fire; They are the books, the arts, the academes, that show, contain and nourish, all the world, else none at all aught proves excellent." - William Shakespeare, Loves labour's Lost (1598).
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A rip in time in the Chapel at The Tower of London brings the two greatest monarchs in history face to face. They must share their past sorrows and joys and free themselves from their “ghosts” in order to embrace life again.
A Day For Film
(Short Films to feature)
Short Film 4 fold - 17:30pm
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Shireen Khaled: In The Night - Short Film
Victoria & Chris Watson: Ladder to you - Short film
Jackie Oudney: Vagabond shoes - Short Film
Derek Coutts: Roman Fever - Short Film
Feature Screening - 7:30pm
Tina Andrew's: Why do Fools Fall in Love - Feature Film
In The Night -
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A long-married couple, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, comes to the realization that they have suddenly fallen out of love.They spend their night trying to fall in love - again
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Ladder to You -
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Ladder to You is an octogenarian love story. Old Eric is tired of life without his dear wife, Elsie, but in his darkest moment she shows him that true love never dies.
Vagabond Shoes -
Iain Glen stars in this Scottish BAFTA nominated short, Vagabond Shoes, written & directed by Jackie Oudney
A chance occurrence gives an enigmatic homeless man the opportunity to enter a high society gathering, where the layers of his personality and his past are revealed to an unsuspecting audience.
Roman Fever -
Short film: Roman Fever by Derek Coutts, starring Naomi Sorkin and Kathryn Worth
Based on Edith Warton’s 1934 short story, Roman Fever features two affluent, middle-aged American women who meet at a country house outside Rome. On the surface, this is a reunion of childhood friends. It soon becomes obvious that there is a darker, more powerful agenda in play, as long hidden jealousies and hatreds begin to emerge, culminating in the disclosure of a devastating long-held secret.
Roman Fever’s cast features Women’s Voices producer Naomi Sorkin.
Why do fools fall in Love -
A biographical drama from Tina Andrews about the rise and fall of 1950s rock and roll star Frankie Lymon, focusing on the dispute among his three wives (played by Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox and Lela Rochon) who all claim to be his legal widow after his death, vying for control of his musical legacy. The film tells Lymon's life story through flashbacks as the women recall their different experiences with the charismatic but troubled singer, from his teen idol success to his struggles with drugs and the music industry, directed by Gregory Dava.
Jane Corbin: Looking for trouble
(Talk)
Three times winner of the Royal Television Society award, BAFTA winner, Emmy nominee, Amnesty International and other awards. Internationally known and respected as one of the journalistic faces of the BBC, Jane Corbin has covered the world’s major conflicts in over a hundred documentaries. As senior correspondent for Panorama, BBC1’s flagship current affairs programme, she has investigated the key global issues of our times and won many awards. She has written and presented major documentaries on BBC2 on China and Russia as well as her extensive coverage of the Middle East and Central Asia. ​
Trio Goya: Women Composers Revisited
Joined by Julia Kuhn on Violin
(Concert - Live Music)
Trio Goya with Julia Khun
Trio Goya bring their acclaimed passion for colour and rhetoric, to four remarkable women composers: Clara Schuman, Hélène Liebmann, Cecile Chaminade
& Amy Beach
Concert & Coffee invites audiences to begin the day with an inspiring musical journey, as Trio Goya bring their acclaimed passion for colour, rhetoric and expressive storytelling to the music of three remarkable women composers: Clara Schumann, Hélène Liebmann, Cécile Chaminade and Amy Beach.
Renowned for performances that combine historical insight with vivid immediacy, Trio Goya are celebrated for uncovering the emotional narrative at the heart of the music they perform. In this programme, they shine a spotlight on composers whose voices, though long overshadowed, speak with originality, depth and unmistakable individuality.
She:Her
(Multimedia performance)
Directed by: Nicole Ansari-Cox
“What if we let women tell their own stories?"
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SHE/ HER is a multimedia performance that excavates the individual and collective female experience.
through music, story and movement, a diverse group of women hold space for the personal and Universal. The show is dedicated to the brave women in Iran, who sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
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The show was critically acclaimed but most importantly, it moved audience members to look at their own relationship to self, their Mothers, daughters and Women in general. The show will morph into new Iterations with new stories and music and new performers wherever it will go in the hope of giving voice to 50% of
humanity that has been ignored, pillaged, raped and silenced.
Who'd Love Lucy?
(Theatre - Staged Reading)
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Written and performed by Molly Stern
Directed by Michelle Joyner
Who’d Love Lucy? follows the titular protagonist (anti-hero?), Lucy, a young woman trying her best to find true love but she can’t seem to get it right. Threading through past and present, Lucy recounts her woeful tales of failed situationships and flings to the audience. After finding herself in a very sticky situation, Lucy has to face her own faults and with the help of her best friend, fight to break her destructive patterns.
Disruptors Stories Untold
(Theatre)
Panel discussion with:
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Dame Emma Walmsley (GSK)
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The Baroness Shriti Vadera (Former Labour Minister, Chair of the RSC)
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The Baroness Minouche Shafik (Advisor to Rachel Reeves)
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Allison Kirkby (BT)
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Dame Clara Furse (HSBC)
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Chair: Kamini Banga & Myriam Cyr
Five extraordinary women; leaders in business, finance, and public life lend their voices to the Women’s Voices festival in an intimate and revealing evening of storytelling. Speaking not from positions of power, but as the young women they once were, they reflect on the moments, influences and decisions that shaped the paths they would go on to forge.
Stripped of titles and public personas, these are stories of uncertainty, courage, resilience and instinct, of choices made before the outcomes were known.
Disruptors: Stories Untold offers rare access to the human beginnings behind formidable careers. Honest, inspiring and deeply personal, this is an evening not to be missed.
Sessions
(Theatre)
Written by: Patrice Chaplin
Directed by: Myriam Cyr
With Nicole Ansari-Cox & Peter Tate
A single painting sold for $122 million. In an era where we measure worth in likes, clicks, and net worth, Munch’s The Scream has become the most expensive “emoji” in history. But what happens when the man behind the canvas returns to ask: “Is anyone actually listening?”
SESSIONS imagines Edvard Munch returning from the afterlife—not for a standing ovation, but for a therapy session.
Caught between a legendary past and a digital present, Munch faces a therapist-in-training to confront grief, ambition, and the quiet injuries that fame never heals. As he struggles to be heard, he holds a mirror up to a world that has forgotten how to look up from its screens.
Moon Watch by Janie Dee
(Musical Theatre)
By: Janie Dee
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This new work by Janie Dee brings together performance and music in an exploratory performance performed for the first time at Women's Voices: A Celebration festival. The piece embraces process, experimentation, and live presence, allowing text, voice and sound to exist in conversation.
7 Seconds of Eternity
(Theatre)
“If anyone is going to invent my life, it’s me.”
By: Peter Turrini
Director: Stephanie Mohr
Starring: Nicole Ansari Cox
Neither biopic nor tribute, acclaimed Austrian playwright Peter Turrini’s bold solo play casts Hedy Lamarr as her own witness, accuser, and defense. Haunted by a seven-second nude scene that defined her public memory and moving from Hollywood scandal to scientific erasure, the play explores the fractured inner life of the icon and overlooked inventor: Nicole Ansari Cox is lending her voice to Lamarr as she speaks back to history with rage, wit, and dark humour, reclaiming a legacy long reduced to image over intellect
The Spy Princess
(Theatre)
Directed by: Emily Raymond
Written by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, from the book Spy Princess by Shrabani Basu
This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of an Indian prince, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore), who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II.
Shrabani Basu tells the moving story of Noor's life, from her birth in Moscow - where her father was a Sufi preacher - to her capture by the Germans. Noor was one of only three women SOE agents awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing, not even her real name.
Kept in solitary confinement, her hands and feet chained together, Noor was starved and
beaten, but the Germans could not break her spirit. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau concentration camp and, on 13 September 1944, she was shot. Her last word was 'Liberté?
Daughters of Persia
(Live Music with Narration)
Writer: William Nicholson
Piano: Margaret Fingerhut
Violin: Bradley Creswick
Cello: Guy Johnston
Narrator: Shala Nyx
Daughters of Persia celebrates one of the great cultures of the world through the eyes of its women. Shala Nyx narrates a colourful and moving script by the Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Nicholson (Gladiator, Les Misérables), bringing to life the stories of its extraordinary women from history, literature and mythology. Created by Margaret Fingerhut and Farhad Poupei with Bradley Creswick violin, Guy Johnston cello and Margaret Fingerhut piano
Gypsy Caravan...When the Road Bends
(Feature Film)
Directed and produced by Jasmine Dellal
Gypsy Caravan...when the Road Bends is an award-winning documentary that explores the vibrant musical traditions of the Roma while revealing the complex realities of Romani life around the world. Through electrifying performances and intimate, behind-the-scenes moments filmed across Europe, the USA and beyond, the film weaves music with deeply personal stories of culture, identity and resilience.
A celebration of life and music that will leave your toes tapping, your heart pumping
and your soul uplifted by the glorious journey of the Gypsy Caravan concert tour
Ghislaine
(Theatre - Staged Reading)
Written by Kristen Winters
Why does a victim become a predator? Why and how, can Ghislaine Maxwell maintain her innocence whilst the world understands more clearly the depths to which she, Epstein, and those around them built - and benefited from - a network of abuse.
​Alone in her cell, refuting her guilty verdict, Ghislaine unravels: reliving the psychological abuse endured from her father and clinging to the fantasy and the terrifying reality of herself. As charismatic, beautiful and above all manipulative monster in female form.
Did Cleopatra Squeak ?
(Talk)
Talk by Janet Suzman
A rare opportunity to hear one of the great interpreters of Shakespeare in conversation with one of his most complex women.
Part personal reflection, part theatrical masterclass, this talk offers an extraordinary insight into Shakespeare’s most enigmatic heroine, through the eyes of an actor who helped redefine her for the modern stage.
The Lost Lombi
(Theatre)
Written by RB8
Directed by PB Whistle
Three women connected by blood, spanning over three generations. One running. One yearning. One with a calling. Each must go on a journey if they are to find peace and resolution within themselves.
To date, a significant number of children in the DRC are used as combatants, transports, spies, chefs or sexual slaves within the armed groups and militias. The LOST Lombi lifts the lid on the recruitment of child soldiers while exploring identity, the generational trauma of war, the necessity of belonging and the importance of forgiveness.
