By Grace Hatchell
Departure Lounge 2026 Is Ready For Take-Off At Derby Theatre — And Grace Has Packed Her Satchel
Ey up, theatre folk — fasten your seatbelts, secure your emotional baggage, and make sure your tray table is in the upright position, because Derby Theatre is preparing for take-off once again.
In Good Company and Derby Theatre have announced the return of Departure Lounge, their Fringe Theatre Festival of fresh, bold and boundary-pushing performance, and this year it is landing from Thursday 2 to Saturday 4 July 2026.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Grace, is this an actual airport lounge?” No, love. There’ll be no overpriced meal deals, no one shouting about Gate 20, and hopefully no suitcase wheels going over your toes. What there will be is three packed days of new theatre, workshops, panels, networking, works-in-progress, immersive experiences, and enough creative energy to make my satchel start humming.
Departure Lounge returns for its 14th year, which in festival years is basically old enough to have opinions, an arts funding spreadsheet, and a favourite tote bag. This year’s theme is Unity & Community, exploring how theatre connects people and creates communities — not just through what appears on stage, but through how the work is made.
And that, if you ask me, is rather lovely.
The festival promises fresh theatre from the Midlands and beyond, with bold shows, fresh voices, and the artists shaping what comes next. There will be workshops, talks, networking events, performances, and plenty of opportunities for artists and audiences to gather together under one roof — Derby Theatre, to be precise — and remind each other that live performance is still one of the best ways humans have invented to say, “Are you feeling this too?”
A Festival Without Barriers
One of the most important things about Departure Lounge 2026 is its strong commitment to access.
This year’s festival includes BSL-interpreted and integrated performances and events, audio-described shows, fully wheelchair-accessible festival spaces throughout, and further support for Blind and Visually Impaired audiences available on request for selected events.
And frankly, good.
Theatre should not be some velvet-rope nonsense where only certain people get to come in and feel things. It should be open, welcoming, and accessible — like a proper village hall, but with better lighting and fewer suspicious custard creams.
The programme includes BSL-interpreted performances of FROM SCRATCH!, the Panel Discussion, Puss in Boots: A Working-Class Fairytale, Philosophy of the World, LOVE**WORK, A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola, and The Conditional Citizen.
Mess will be BSL integrated, meaning British Sign Language is woven into the dialogue and movement of the production itself, adding depth, emotion and cultural authenticity.
Audio-described performances include Hot Pot, LOVE**WORK and The Conditional Citizen. Support for Blind and Visually Impaired audiences is also available on request for the Doing It Yourself Workshop, the Punchdrunk Enrichment Workshop, and The Lightbulb Moment.
That is not a tiny footnote. That is a proper statement of intent.
Thursday 2 July: FROM SCRATCH! And A Launch Night Knees-Up
Departure Lounge 2026 launches on Thursday 2 July with FROM SCRATCH!, In Good Company’s scratch night featuring four performances of brand-new work.
This is where audiences get to see bold, engaging and exciting work-in-progress, and then offer feedback. Which is basically theatre’s version of being handed a fresh bun before it has fully cooled and being asked, “What do you reckon?”
And I love that.
FROM SCRATCH! is also pay-what-you-can, with tickets starting from £2.50, making it an accessible way to step into the festival. Even better, the ticket includes access to the official launch night after party, where the opening of Departure Lounge will be celebrated with a DJ dance party spinning tracks all night.
So yes, you can see new theatre, support artists, give feedback, and then have a bit of a boogie. That’s value, that is. Somewhere in Yorkshire, an auntie has just nodded approvingly.
Friday 3 July: Panels, Political Theatre, Family Knots And Charity Shop Sue’s Origin Story
Friday 3 July brings a proper mix of insight, familiarity, new work and theatrical mischief.
In Good Company’s annual Panel Discussion returns, giving artists and creatives the chance to network, gain insight from industry professionals, and talk about the state of theatre right now. This year’s panel includes Sarah Brigham, Artistic Director and CEO at Derby Theatre; Evie Manning, Co-Artistic Director of Common/Wealth; Steve McCourt, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Punchdrunk Enrichment; and Selina Thompson, Artistic Director of Selina Thompson.
That is what I call a panel with some actual weight behind it. Not just folk in black jumpers saying “process” while sipping water from glass bottles. Though I imagine there may still be some glass bottles. It is theatre, after all.
Audiences can also catch the premiere of Mess, a work-in-progress play by Laura Goulden, supported by the In Good Company Take Off Writers Award 2024. Mess explores family dynamics and the complicated knots of family ties, unfolding in British Sign Language.
And honestly, family ties being messy? That’s not theatre, that’s most Sunday dinners.
Common/Wealth will present Doing It Yourself Workshop, offering participants a brief introduction to practical exercises for working with others to create political theatre and make social change.
Then comes Puss in Boots: A Working-Class Fairytale. Before she became the viral cult icon Charity Shop Sue, Selina Mosinski was Randy Cain. This show is described as a darkly funny, glitter-stained confession about how far we will go in the name of fame and fortune.
Now, I don’t know about you, but “darkly funny” and “glitter-stained confession” are exactly the sort of words that make me lean over the garden fence and say, “Go on then, tell me everything.”
Also on Friday, In Bed with My Brother presents Philosophy of the World, described as part tribute act, part feminist reclamation, part fever dream. The piece explores power, patriarchy, band T-shirts, daddy issues and three sisters who did not want to be a band — but apparently destiny had other ideas.
Destiny, eh? Always barging in with a tambourine.
Saturday 4 July: Workshops, Hot Pot, Miniature Worlds And A Tombola With Questions
Saturday 4 July brings Departure Lounge 2026 to a close with more theatre, workshops and wonderfully curious experiences.
Punchdrunk Enrichment will present a participatory workshop exploring how they create narratives that place the audience as protagonists, use design as a storytelling driver, and champion child voice as a creative tool.
That sounds fancy, but in Grace terms: you get to look under the bonnet of immersive storytelling and see how the magic engine works. Possibly without getting oil on your nice coat.
The day’s performances begin with Hot Pot, a tender examination of friendship and the small betrayals of adulthood. The show will include an Audio Descriptive Introduction before the performance begins.
Then there is LOVE**WORK, a multi-year performative project built from stories collected in Switzerland, England, Pakistan and the Netherlands. It weaves anonymous testimonies into a polyphonic landscape where intimate memories become collective, and everyday experiences reveal political weight.
I’ll be honest, “polyphonic landscape” is not a phrase I use often on my postal round, unless Mrs Clitheroe’s wind chimes are having another dramatic episode. But the idea of ordinary stories becoming something bigger? That I understand completely.
The Lightbulb Moment brings an animation and audio experience to the festival, inviting audiences into a miniature digital world. With headphones on, visitors enter an apartment building humming with life, stories and quiet revolutions. Support for Blind and Visually Impaired audiences is available on request.
Now that sounds like the kind of thing you wander into for ten minutes and leave thinking about for three weeks.
A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola is also coming to Derby audiences as an Edinburgh Fringe Preview. Lydia welcomes audiences to the village green and invites them to help uncover the mysteries of the tombola — and maybe even win a prize while they are there.
Though I must say, the title is correct. A foot is not an appropriate prize for the tombola. A bottle of bubble bath, yes. A questionable hamper, yes. A ceramic duck, if we must. But a foot? Absolutely not. Standards, please.
Saturday also includes The Conditional Citizen (Don’t You Want Me Baby?), a darkly humorous performance about the absurd dance of trying to fit in, coming to the Garden Stage.
Free Events, Festival Passes And A Bit Of Artistic Matchmaking
Departure Lounge 2026 is also making sure there are plenty of ways to join in without spending a fortune.
Festival passes give access to performances and discussions while saving money on standard prices. A Day Pass costs £28.50, while a Festival Pass costs £50. Pass holders do not need to book individual shows — they simply turn up, show the pass and take a seat. The pass includes guaranteed entry to performances on the chosen day or days, though workshops are not included. Audiences are advised to arrive at least 10 minutes before each show to secure a seat.
Standard tickets are priced at £12 to £14, workshops are £7, and free events are also available and bookable.
The annual Panel Discussion on Friday 3 July is free and bookable, with the ticket also including food and entry to the Networking Lunch afterwards. On Friday, the Artist Open Forum is also free to attend and runs between 3pm and 5pm.
On Saturday 4 July, In Good Company brings back the free Lonely Arts Club from 3pm to 5.15pm. This informal networking mixer is described as IGC’s matchmaking service for like-minded artists. Whether someone is searching for a director, needs a writer for an upcoming project, or is looking for a producer but has not quite found “the one,” it offers a chance to share ideas and find people without the pressure of cold calling or elevator pitches.
Awww. Theatre speed dating, but for creative projects. Someone get the biscuits out. This could be beautiful.
From 4pm to 7pm, The Lightbulb Moment will also be free to attend out in Derbados.
A Festival For Artists, Audiences And The Midlands
Jen Sullivan, In Good Company Creative Producer, said it is “an absolute pleasure” to announce this year’s Departure Lounge line-up and to celebrate the exceptional new performance being made in the region and beyond.
She described the programme as “jam-packed” with new shows, works-in-progress, installations, discussions and workshops, and said that the festival, co-produced with Derby Theatre, is a way of bringing together the freelance artistic community that In Good Company exists to serve.
She added that Departure Lounge is a chance to share joy, develop new skills and expand creative networks, welcoming everyone from established performance-makers to those who are simply curious to find out what it is all about. She also highlighted that the panel discussion will celebrate the value of skilled artists working with and for communities, and that accessibility has been increased across the programme.
She also noted that the past two years have sold out quickly, so festival passes are expected to be snapped up quickly again.
In other words: don’t dawdle about like me trying to choose between two meal deals. If you want in, get yourself sorted.
Derby Theatre will be transformed into a vibrant festival hub for the event, showcasing cutting-edge work from some of the UK’s most exciting artists and companies.
And that, really, is the thing about Departure Lounge. It is not just a festival of shows. It is a meeting point. A gathering. A creative waiting room where artists, audiences, ideas, workshops, experiments and conversations all bump into each other and say, “Where are you heading next?”
For more information and Departure Lounge updates, visit the Derby Theatre website or follow Derby Theatre and In Good Company on social media at @derbytheatre and @igcmidlands.
Tickets and places can be booked through the Derby Theatre Box Office on 01332 593939 or online via the Derby Theatre website.
So there we are, then. Departure Lounge 2026 is ready for boarding.
Grace’s satchel has been packed, her boarding pass has been slightly crumpled, and she is already hovering near the gate with a flask, a notebook, and the suspicious confidence of someone who has misunderstood immersive theatre but is very excited anyway.
Brochure: Departure Lounge Festival 2026 by Derby Theatre – Issuu
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