Theatre Square is the place to be once more this summer as the National Theatre kicks off its annual Watch This Space festival on 6 July. Running throughout the summer until 16 September, this free outdoor festival on the South Bank hosts over 100 shows and events from around the world.
This year the National has lined up a programme of European street theatre, international bands, circus, installations, dance, cabaret, late night club nights and other indefinable spectacles which take place throughout the days and evenings of the 11-week event.
Watch This Space kicks off on Friday 6 July with Bicycle Ballet, a dance on wheels celebrating the joy of bicycles. Highlights from the rest of the eclectic line-up include soul singer Ola Onabule, insect circus performers in The Insect Circus Museum, bingo and hip-hop with Ida Barr Bingo, ballroom dancing with Rag Roof, all-female flamenco troupe Mala Sangre and Polish theatre company Teatr Biuro Podrozy, who return to Watch This Space after performing Pigs last year.
The August bank holiday weekend, 24-27 August, is dedicated to dance, with performances and demonstrations of flamenco, charleston and tango, plus Brazilian, North African and South Asian dance.
Families should head down to Theatre Square on Saturday 4 August for A Day To Play, an afternoon of free family entertainment including Mexican clowning, puppet show Saurus, street theatre with Dragon Heart Beats and hat and mask-making workshops.
Also this year the festival has teamed up with BBC Blast to host some of its art, dance, film and music workshops and showcases for young people on the week of 7-16 September.
For a full programme of events, visit www.nt-online.org
CB