The Criterion Theatre, Earlsdon - Event - a performance of: Springboard Festival 2025

Friday 16^th 'Unmute & Reclaim' Running Order

Poetry (10 minutes): Shaniece

Shaniece Martin is a poet and researcher whose work explores memory, identity, and diasporic belonging through the lens of the mental return—a concept she develops in her practice-based PhD at Coventry University on Indian English poetry. Her poetry engages with ancestral lineage, migratory histories, and the fluid spaces between East and West, Global North and Global South. Drawing inspiration from her family archives, including photographs taken by her ancestors in Nairobi, Kenya, her work blends image and word to navigate the in-between space where personal and collective memory meet. Poetry, for her, is not only a creative act but a form of research—a way of returning, reimagining, and remaking identity across generations and geographies.

Drama (10 minutes) : 'The Passing' By Wendy McNeilly, Directed by Andrew Sharpe, Cast: Talya Rajagukguk

Wendy McNeilly's short monologue play 'The Passing' is inspired by the plight of refugees around the world and the effects of climate change and of humanity's actions on others and on wildlife and nature. Wendy writes poetry and is working on further monologues, as well as a full-length play.

Music (20 minutes) LiGi

LiGi is a singer-songwriter, musician and fashion designer from Cross River, Nigeria, who uses her art to inspire hope and resilience. Now based in Coventry, her versatile sound blends indie, alternative, AfroPop and AfroR&B, captivating audiences with powerful vocals and heartfelt storytelling.

Poetry (5 minutes) Rowan McDonnell

Music (20 minutes) Kimberley

INTERVAL

Drama (20 minutes): 'One Thousand and One' by Camilla Whitehill, Directed by Gennie Holmes, Cast: Maya-Morgan Blundell-Smith, Iza- Olivia Simone, Doctor- Chris Ingall, Sam- Rob Bell

Maya is taking therapy one step at a time. A funny and uplifting play about mental health and friendship. Maya has bi-polar disorder and this sharp funny play shows how she steps back into the world with the support of those around her.

Music (20 minutes): Serena

Drama (15 minutes) 'There is Always a Choice' by Andrew Sharpe, Directed by Jo Emery/Lucy Hayton, Cast: Katie Hamilton

Trapped by the horror of evil in her past, Erica (Katie Hamilton directed by Jo Emery) seeks strength in denial. Condemned by society for ‘poor lifestyle choices’, her anger and isolation grow. But her bonds only tighten and, trapped in a life she hates, she is faced with one final choice. This self-contained extract includes two new scenes, not yet seen in Coventry.

Music (20 minutes) Nyotaa and Credo

R&B soul full rock set accompanied by heavy guitars and powerful vocals.