Yes, Croydonites is back and is celebrating turning ten! Our favourite festival of theatre and performance takes place this Autumn from 8-18 October in venues around the town centre and South Norwood, with a mission to showcase local theatre makers, and bring some of the best contemporary performance work from around the UK to Croydon doorsteps.

Featuring Sh!t Theatre, Selina Thompson, In Bed With My Brother, Hannah Maxwell, Tom Cassani, James Rowland, Tom Yum Sim Theatre, Simple Cypher, Adeola Yemitan, Catherine Pestano, Jack & Antonia, Norvil & Josephine, Dick’s Pick and local artists as part of CroydonBites, tickets go on sale on Monday (1 September) at 9am. Be quick!

We catch up with festival directors Anna Arthur and Katie Hurley to find out more.

Left: Fatiha El-Ghourri; right: Selina Thompson

Croydonist: Ten years! Happy big birthday – any special celebrations this year to mark a decade of Croydonites?

Katie: You know what, I actually hadn’t thought of that! The whole festival is our big celebration. But now you’ve mentioned it… Anna, maybe we need a cake!

Anna: Just our usual lineup of exceptional cutting edge performance! We have actually slimmed the programme down a bit this year after we went mega in 2024 with the launch of the fringe. The quality is right up there though.

Croydonist: Tell us a bit about this year’s programme to whet our appetite?

Katie: There’s magic, a film screening, and a multi-award-winning show fresh from a sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run!

Anna: We have some of our all time favourites including Sh!t Theatre who use us as a bit of testing ground before they smash Edinburgh and sell out at Soho Theatre, Hannah Maxwell and hottest ticket in town right now In Bed with My Brother.

Left: Jack and Antonia; right: Sh!tTheatre

Croydonist: If someone reading this has never been to a show at Croydonites, why should they book a ticket?

Katie: Because you’ll see things you won’t find anywhere else in Croydon – brilliant, bold performances that will make you laugh, think, and maybe even cry (in a good way). Plus, our audiences are the best!!! It’s like being part of a big creative family. Just come along, try one show… We promise you’ll be back for more.

Anna: Why pay a lot more for a ticket and have to travel into London when all this is on your doorstep, and usually you’ll see it here first!

Croydonist: Where are the performance spaces this year?

Katie: We’re at Braithwaite Hall, The Front Room (our festival home), Stanley Arts, The Oval Tavern, and – for the very first time – The David Lean Cinema!

Anna: plus some amazing outdoor work in North End on the 11 October.

Left: IBWMB; right: Hannah Maxwell

Croydonist: Are there any Fringe events this Autumn?

Katie: No fringe this year, but we’re bringing back Super Saturday! That means free outdoor performances, Croydonites Bites (our local artist showcase), and the return of legendary comedy night, Dick’s Picks – with star-studded guests at Croydon’s favourite pub!

Anna: Not this year, it’s on hiatus but it’ll be back!

Croydonist: Probably a supremely difficult question – but what’s your biggest highlight/standout moment from the last ten years?!

Katie: Yikes, Anna, how are you going to answer this one? 🤣

I’ve got two. The first festival I did with Anna in 2022 was a huge highlight – I was just so excited to be involved! The second has to be our 2023 opening night at Fairfield Halls during Croydon’s Borough of Culture year. The show started outside, a car pulled up, the boot flew open and a dancer tumbled out to booming drum and bass music. It was wild! Bringing that piece from France to Croydon was a lot of hard work, but totally worth it for the look on people’s faces.

Anna: Lucy McCormick was a bit of a coup for us, it’s one of my favourite shows EVER and she brought it back for a one-off especially for us. Also Figs in Wigs at the very first festival in 2015, it was so wacky and off-beat and got a great reception, I remember thinking that this Croydonites thing could really have legs!

Left: James Rowland; right: Tom Cassani

Thank you to Anna, and Katie for chatting with us. Check out the 2025 programme and book your tickets on their website here. Be sure to follow them on Instagram and Facebook for more updates.

Images courtesy of Croydonites.

Posted by Julia