CroydonBites is our programme for local artists who are trying out ideas for the first time. It’s the first stage of our 3-part commissioning pathway which leads to CroydonBuilds and CroydonBeyond.
Abi Studley / Paper Chain Collective - They Only Accept Frauds
Ever since Muka could remember, the world’s been off. Growing up feeling "out of sync," she spent years believing she was simply too loud, too honest, too much. So, she learned to perform. A sharp, irreverent one-woman show about identity, autism, and the exhausting art of masking. Blending stand-up, storytelling, and theatre, Muka unravels decades of social confusion, trying to be a person in a world where everyone else seems to have the script, and confronting an uncomfortable truth: they only accept frauds.
@abi.studley @paperchaincollective
Alex Morrall & Sheree Vickers / Coddiwomple Theatre - Batman Needs A Job
Meet Wayne. A Batman obsessive who tries to start his day with superhero confidence while relying on Alfred, his glitchy AI tech assistant, to hold his life together. As he battles endless alarms, overdue electricity bills, and the looming pressure of an important interview, his fantasy of being “Batman” clashes with the reality of financial insecurity and loneliness. This comedic play explores identity, technology, and the uncomfortable gap between who we want to be and who we really are.
@coddiwompletc
Endy McKay - CELLS
Two women. Two women telling stories. Two women telling true stories about men, betrayal and belonging. But mostly men. One woman is white and one woman is black, and one happens to be the mother of the other. Both women. Both women were left alone in the village. And there are no other black people in the village, now he is gone. Both women are searching ferociously for love and acceptance. But as their stories unfold, time jumps, realities clash and they find themselves facing each other. A theatrical experiment exploring belonging in an interracial mother-daughter relationship.
@from_the_endz
Savannah Kityo / Art in Motion Collective - Aired Out
We follow three participants in the final round of a clinical drug trial. They’re sold a one-time permanent fix for all mental ailments, unbeknownst to them, at the cost of a lot of unravelling. Erasing dissociation reveals some things were buried for a reason.
@savannahkityo
Sharon Barrow / SHAI Studio - 33 Years and Counting (film)
At 2:00 AM, Marcus Bailey sits in a police interview room, accused of a crime that could end his future. Guilty or innocent, that's not the question. 33 years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the McPherson report that named institutionalised racism within the police, 33 (years and counting) asks how much has really changed. Written and created entirely with AI by Sharon Barrow, emerging AI Filmmaker at SHAI Studio, this story is about assumption, prejudice, and the cost of staying silent, and a bold creative experiment in what filmmaking can look like today.
Please note the order here, do not necessarily indicate the order on the night.
