LIFT

27/10/2025

Following an open call inviting proposals for LIFT ’s next chapter, we are delighted to announce that Battersea Arts Centre - BAC Arts Centre will take on leadership of the Festival.

Under the leadership of BAC, LIFT will flourish as a collaborative, London-wide celebration of international theatre, taking forward the Festival’s legacy of creating remarkable shared experiences that surprise, challenge and inspire.

Read the full statement on our websites.

LIFT: https://www.liftfestival.com/battersea-arts-centre-to-lead-lift/
BAC: https://bac.org.uk/bac-to-lead-lift/

18/06/2025

Open call for Expressions of Interest
LIFT – The London International Festival of Theatre – invites expressions of interest from experienced partners, individuals, collectives or consortia to enter discussions about its future model.
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Since the last festival in 2024, LIFT has been led through a period of review and development by LIFT’s Board, Interim Artistic Director Amaya Jeyarajah Dent and Interim Executive Director Jo Gooding. Informed by this work, and having consolidated its financial position, LIFT is now embarking on a reimagining of its next chapter.

With the agreement of Arts Council England, the next edition of the festival will be deferred to 2027, allowing time for a meaningful transformation of LIFT’s model. We are seeking to engage in a process of curious, open, and exploratory conversation with potential partners and leaders about the festival’s future. These conversations, co-chaired by External Advisor Claire Doherty and theatre specialist David Micklem with an external advisory panel including members of LIFT’s Board and Jackie Wylie, Director, National Theatre Scotland, Tim Etchells, artist and Director of Forced Entertainment, and Matthew Xia, Artistic Director ATC, will take place at the end of July. To this end, we are inviting expressions of interest by noon on Monday 14 July with selected conversations with prospective leaders/partners following by the end of July.

More info: https://loom.ly/9G6TaAE
Deadline for applications: Monday 14 July

Image: Ruth Wilson in The Second Woman (LIFT 2023. By Nat Randall and Anna Breckon. A co-production by LIFT and The Young Vic). Image by Helen Murray

Image description: On the left, is a large box with an empty room inside. On the right is a large screen with the image o a woman's face on. Yellow text over the image reads: Open call for expressions of interest.

24/03/2025

"In spring 1993, performance artist Anne Bean and percussionist Paul Burwell knocked on the window of the office at Bankside Power Station. They had just been commissioned by London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) to create a celebratory performance for its tenth anniversary. Of the submitted applications, theirs was the ‘least bonkers idea’, say Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal, co-founding directors of LIFT."

Thanks Tate for sharing this article on one of our archival events from LIFT1993!

Image provided by Special Collections & Archives, Goldsmiths, University of London. Photo © Patricia Crummay

Read the full article on Tate.org.uk: https://loom.ly/OQuH8Ls

Tate Etc 20 March 2025 Full Power Before Bankside Power Station became Tate Modern, a group of artists used the site to launch an explosive performance, writes Figgy Guyver TwitterFacebookEmailPinterest The finale to Anne Bean and Paul Burwell’s Lift Off, Bankside, 1993. ‘It was the biggest expl...

31/01/2025

This week we’ve been at REMIX Summit - listening to some inspiring speakers including London Museum, CoStar, Create Equity, Anagram and so many more! Thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies for bringing us along as part of the

20/12/2024

Season's Greetings from everyone at LIFT.

Thank you for being a part of our 2024. Our office is now closed and the LIFT team will be having a break until Monday 4 January. See you in 2025!

Image: The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women, LIFT 2024. Photo by Ellie Kurttz.

31/10/2024

Spooky season got us like...👻
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📸 'Depart' by CIRCA, LIFT 2016. Image by Tristram Kenton

29/10/2024

As a part of LIFT 2024, we proudly collaborated with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama to create the original soundscapes used in Bat Night Market. Fifteen early-career Composers and Sound Designers from its BMus Film Music course came together to create the beautiful and haunting soundscape that you would have heard through-out the performance. 🦇

Head to the link below to read an interview with Bronte Tucker, the lead Sound Designer for this collaboration and a current fourth year composer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama about this unique partnership and opportunity.

https://loom.ly/Lcxa_lU

24/10/2024

Amaya, LIFT Head of Programme & Producing and Acting Artistic Director's favourite LIFT 2024 moments.

"For me it's the deep collaboration with artists that sticks in my memory. It was my pleasure to work so closely with incredible international artists & fellow Londoners to make LIFT 24. Having it all unfold in the city I've grown up in makes me so proud ❤️."