I’m packing my bags and heading from the Entertainment Capital of the World to the Theatre Capital of the World for the Out of the Wings Festival 2026, July 14 – 18 at Omnibus Theatre, London. The festival is Out of the Wings Collective’s annual flagship event featuring UK premieres of plays from throughout Ibero-America in English translation. 5 nights, 5 plays, from 5 different countries. The festival also includes a translation workshop and kicks off with the annual Worldmaking on Stage Forum.
Many of the plays I have collaborated on with The Asylum Theatre in Las Vegas have travelled with me back and forth to London for Out of the Wings monthly table reads and the annual festival of staged readings: works by Rafael Guizado such as Scherzo, Complemento, Over the Highest Mountains; The Therapist by Gabriela Yepes in my translation; Antígona by José Watanabe translated by Cristina Pérez Díaz, Double Panic by Virgilio Piñera translated by Kate Eaton, The Anemone and the Boar by Monica Maffía translated by Sophie Stevens, to name a handful.
On July 14th, Out of the Wings Worldmaking on Stage Forum 2026 will focus on Theatre Translation Networks in Building Acts of Worldmaking. In the first panel, Staged Readings as Worldwide Encounter moderated by Catherine Boyle, I am delighted to discuss some of these very productions with my colleagues Sophie Stevens and Kate Eaton in the presentation Case studies from Out of the Wings: Play Readings as Acts of Resistance.
Sophie and I will share our experiences of connection, translation and travel with ‘The Anemone and the Boar’ by Mónica Maffía (Argentina). Kate will share insights from travelling internationally with ‘Double Panic‘ and ‘Electra Garrigó’ by Virgilio Piñera (Cuba).
I’m excited to learn from presentations by and discussions with translators from around the globe, including Cheng-Han Wu, Kuan-Ting Lin, Camila González Ortiz, Riocárd Ó hOddail/Richard Huddleson, Gadwill Odhiambo, Silvia Zarzoso Salvador, Ana Bayat, Vicent Montalt, and Jorge Picó.
Worldmaking on Stage Forum 2026 kicks off the week long Out of the Wings Festival of staged readings being performed each night at Omnibus Theatre in Clapham. Celebrating our 10th festival, this year we present readings of plays from Spain, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and Portugal. Visit www.ootwfestival.com to book tickets for the Forum or any of the performances.
When the Forum ends, I will be switching from my translator hat to my performer hat to act in one of the plays. Stay tuned to find out which one!
