11-13 October 2024. Presented in partnership with Summerhall.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary, Magnetic North is throwing a party and you’re all invited. MegaMix festival features early stage sharings, films, live music, spoken word, dance and work in progress performances from some of the incredible artists and organisations Magnetic North has had the pleasure and privilege to work with over the past two and a half decades.
SOLD OUT.
Summerhall accessibility information.
Rough Mix Sharing 2024
Fri 11 Oct 2024 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
To open MegaMix festival, join us for an end-of-residency sharing from the 16th iteration of our legendary creative lab Rough Mix. Five artists from across art forms will share early-stage ideas, following a two-week residency in Summerhall.
The lead artists who will be developing and sharing new work are:
Lewis Hetherington, an award-winning playwright focused on collaborative storytelling. He co-founded Constellation Points, and often works in community contexts.
Evie Waddell, a celebrated Gaelic and Scots singer and fiddler. Evie was a finalist in BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2024.
Lucas Chih-Peng Kao, a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist focusing on marginalised communities and identity.
Amy Conway, a Glasgow-based theatre maker who experiments with form and collaborates across disciplines.
Eszter Marsalko, who creates genre-bending live performances and screen works, drawing inspiration from various art forms and nature.
SOLD OUT.
MegaMix: Saturday 12 October
Part 1: 4.30-6.00pm
The Dream Train by Tom McGrath (film excerpt – 10 minutes)
The Dream Train was our first production. Commissioned from Tom McGrath, it was based on Bach’s Goldberg Variations. This new filmed version was created in 2020 for McGrath’s 80th birthday.
New play reading by Sara Shaarawi (50 minutes approx)
Joy, a young influencer, moves to a village and meets a group of young people who refuse to have a digital identity. They fight against data ownership, embracing an analogue life to reclaim their humanity.
Sara Shaarawi is a playwright from Cairo, based in Glasgow. Developed at Rough Mix 2024, where Sara was a Lead Artist, and with ReMix funding 2024. Sara also took part in Rough Mix 2016 as an Early-Career Artist.
Sanctuary Queer Arts (partner organisation)
Cum Coated Fly by Shawn Nayar
Nayar will be presenting a movement excerpt of work developed during a residency last year. Sanctuary: Scotland’s new LGBTQIA+ arts organisation. They create opportunities, amplify voices, and bring their community together through events and performances.
Magnetic North and Sanctuary Queer Arts have a partnership which began with a Space/Time retreat in 2023.
6.00-6.30 INTERVAL
Part 2: 6.30-9.30pm
Holy Magic by Greg Sinclair (work in progress)
Holy Magic is a solo dance theatre performance by Greg Sinclair which asks the question: what compels us to dance?
Inspired by the 1518 Strasbourg Dancing Plague, and 90s rave culture, Greg’s performance evolves from introspection to communal joy. Greg Sinclair is a performance artist, composer and cellist who makes embodied composition performances in a variety of forms. Holy Magic had early development as part of Rough Mix 2020, where Greg was a Lead Artist.
Triggers: Audience participation, prolonged periods of blackout.
New England 1 and Go Well Ahead by Marisa Zanotti with music by Matthew Whiteside (films)
Thabo Mokolobate – Spoken Word Poetry
Thabo Mokolobate is a South African lyricist based in Edinburgh who harnesses the power of poetry. As a writer, performer, and spoken word artist, he explores themes of love, behaviour, and belief from everyday perspectives. Thabo’s work transcends conventional poetry, often incorporating music and collaborating with artists from disciplines such as theatre and dance. Thabo was a performer at Rough Mix in 2023.
Triggers: Reference of eating disorders and violence.
Jill Lorean – Live Music (solo set)
Jill Lorean, the stage name of Jill O’Sullivan, is a versatile Glasgow-based artist who seamlessly blends popular music and theatre. With a background in critically acclaimed albums, she collaborates widely and performs at festivals across the UK and Europe. O’Sullivan’s musical style is genre-defying – exploring themes from the profound to the mundane.
Jill performed in Magnetic North’s Lost in Music in 2019 and 2022, and took part in a Space/Time retreat in 2022.
MegaMix: Day 2 – Sunday 13 October
Part 1: 4.30-6.15pm
Strength in a Whisper by Kirsty Law (work in progress – 60 minutes)
The power is out and Kirsty Law finds solace through folk song and dance. Confronting loneliness and anxiety, she discovers inner strength, exploring her queerness and Scots heritage. Molly Scott Danter embodies the unspoken elements of Kirsty’s journey. With dramaturgy by Liam Hurley.
Kirsty Law is a queer Scots songmaker blending tradition with innovation, performing across diverse venues and collaborates with artists of different mediums. Strength in a Whisper was first developed at Rough Mix 2021, where Kirsty was a Lead Artist.
Hindsight book reading by Jenna Watt (15 minutes)
Jenna Watt explores rewilding by participating in a deer cull and uncovers her family’s Highland estate history. She grapples with concepts of wildness, changing landscapes, and ecological grief in the face of environmental challenges. Cellist Greg Sinclair will accompany the reading.
Award-winning playwright Jenna Watt has recently explored ecofeminism and Scottish land issues in theatre and nonfiction writing. Hindsight was developed at Rough Mix 2020 as part of Jenna’s Artist Attachment with Magnetic North from 2018-2020.
Revel by Company Chordelia (work in progress – 20 minutes)
Nominated by partner organisation Luminate
Revel (The Bus Pass Tour) is a work-in-progress performance that explores the themes of ageing, celebrating life, and the evolving journey of dancers as they grow older. Created and performed by Kally Lloyd-Jones and Steinvor Palsson, this production delves into the physical and emotional aspects of ageing in the dance world and society.
Kally Lloyd-Jones and Steinvör Palsson are accomplished dance artists. Lloyd-Jones leads Company Chordelia, while Palsson has extensive experience in performance and teaching, including her role as Artistic Director of dance company PRIME.
Luminate is Scotland’s creative ageing organisation, fostering older people’s creativity regardless of their circumstances, experiences, interests, or ambitions. Luminate and Magnetic North have collaborated on a number of projects since 2016.
6:15-6:45pm INTERVAL
Part 2: 6:45-9.20pm
Aznavour, Mon Amour by Alice Mary Cooper (work in progress, 60 minutes)
A delightfully silly new work from award-winning theatre maker, clown and ‘born storyteller’ Alice Mary Cooper. Experience one woman’s homage to the only Charles you need to know…the late, Armenian-French crooner, Charles Aznavour. Come and be charmed.
Alice Mary Cooper is an English-born, Australian-raised, Scotland-based artist, who creates and performs interdisciplinary theatre exploring sustainability and diverse cultures. Aznavour, Mon Amour was developed at Rough Mix 2023 as part of Alice’s time as Magnetic North’s Artist Employee from 2023-24.
Thabo Mokolobate – Spoken Word Poetry (20 minutes)
Thabo Mokolobate is a South African lyricist based in Edinburgh who harnesses the power of poetry. As a writer, performer, and spoken word artist, he explores themes of love, behaviour, and belief from everyday perspectives. Thabo’s work transcends conventional poetry, often incorporating music and collaborating with artists from disciplines such as theatre and dance.
Triggers: Reference of eating disorders and violence.
Djana-Gabrielle Live Music (solo set)
(40 minutes)
Djana Gabrielle is an Edinburgh based French-Cameroonian musician, composer and singer-songwriter. Her music is a mix of folk and soul. She has been honing her craft on the Scottish music scene since 2015, releasing music and performing at various concerts and festivals. Lately she has been combining her love for music and theatre and has worked with various theatre companies including Magnetic North, Lyra, Imaginate, National Theatre Scotland, and Stellar Quines. She is in the midst of developing her own theatre show and also plans on releasing new music in the near future. Djana Gabrielle worked on Lost in Music in 2022 and was part of Rough Mix 2023.
SOLD OUT.