Trinity is thinking about the future, and we want to start by hearing from the people that matter - you. We’re asking the people of Bristol to respond to the sentence ‘What I Want to Be, What I Want to See’.

We are asking you to get involved writing, drawing, making or recording something as a way to share what you want to see for yourself and the world around you, post-pandemic.

From 25th March our extended Trinity family of artists and community groups will be sharing their responses to help inspire you including Misfits Theatre sharing their ambitions for a utopian future and top tips on getting creative with artists Grove and Pete Warner.  We’ll be running a series of free workshops with artists including Rider Shafique, Vanessa Kisuule and Gerrys Attic to help you get creative in response to the theme. There will also be an opportunity to take part in socially distanced workshops in our community garden with artist Amy May Ellis to create an art-installation.

Find out more about the project and the events coming up by visiting trinitybristol.org.uk/arts

Ways to #GetInvolved

• Share any content you create with us by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk
• Get in touch by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk to find out how to drop off any physical responses at Trinity.
• Submit your content online
• Share with us directly on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
• Share on your own social media using the hashtag #WhatIWant

If you’re located in BS2 look out for our freepost leaflet, along with a free, especially created, print by Andy Council, coming through your letterbox and post them back to us.

If you live in Newtown or St Judes, keep your eyes open for the newest team member of Trinity - S.U.S.A.N.N the socially distanced robot - who will be out on the streets collecting your responses!

Once we've gathered enough content to represent the diverse communities of the city, we’ll be working with talented local artists to create their own responses inspired by you, to be shared as part of a celebratory event later in the year and to build a lasting legacy of our shared ambitions for the future.

Viki Brown during her Hyper Fem sharing (photo credit @ Khali Ackford)

Viki shared her work: Hyper Fem in early January 2019 at Trinity. Hyper Fem asks whether the performance of femininity through Drag can be as powerful, political or subversive when performed on a female identifying body. It is strongly inspired by some of her recent previous projects which involved epic wigs and performing as a ‘make up girl in a tiny dress’.

Many people came along to Viki's sharing, including Trinity staff (photo @Khali Ackford)

The IGNiTE team attended alongside Trinity staff, industry professionals and members of Many Minds the Bristol based arts and mental health charity that Viki is a co-director of. A sharing is the opportunity for an artist to receive feedback on their work in progress and to develop the piece further. For audiences it is an opportunity to 'contextualize the artist’s vision'.

“I work alongside resident artists helping with admin and logistics. Often we talk about road blocks they are facing and their '’break though moments'’. Because of this when I'm given the opportunity to see sharing's I jump at the chance. It gives me the opportunity to push my boundaries and offer perspective that may not come from the artist’s typical audience. ” - Ripley, Admin Assistant

Viki interacts with the audience after her sharing of 'Hyper Fem' (photo @Khali Ackford)

Looking back on her residency Viki says: "Developing ‘Hyper Fem’ at Trinity has been an incredible opportunity for me. I find the building, its history and its placement in the city truly inspiring. It's political past and its dedication to the multiple communities who use the space have challenged me to think and dream bigger than ever before. I felt safe, supported and welcome in the building which after two weeks of working there started to feel like a second home. We are now excited to begin the next phase of the project: finding partners and commissioners to work with on the show!”

In March and April welcome Roxana Vilk whose residency will focus on the lullabies families cross Bristol sing to their children.

Vicki Hearne is part of this years cohort of  IGNiTE artists in residence (photo @Megan Ashton)

Alexa Ledecky, our very awesome project assistant on our IGNiTE programme, went along to IGNiTE resident artist Vicki Hearne's sharing of the work she is developing here at Trinity - sharing's are an opportunity for artists to receive feedback about their work.

Read on to find out Alexa's thoughts about 'Practically Perfect'.

Last month, Vicki Hearne and her Untold Dance Theatre fellow female performers brought their work in progress to Trinity for a sharing session. Audience members were invited to attend the performance for free and encouraged to share their feeling and impressions about the ideas that have been developed so far. Vicki has been working on “Practically Perfect” as part of her IGNiTE residency with Trinity since early September.

"Unity definitely shone through the dancers and musicians during the performance."

The show uses dance and theatre to explore how most women are often pushed to mould their body into an idea of perfection that society dictates. As the performance began, the lights dimmed and two musicians sat by the side of the scene set the atmosphere with an acoustic guitar and synth live soundtrack. The dancers entered, carried by the ethereal melody and began to tell us their story. A recurring theme became apparent: the female body being objectified with harsh humour and sarcasm.

Vicki had several solid scenes to present to the audience. To mention a few without giving too much away; robotic Barbie dolls, a restaurant serving perfect female bodies on a platter, a “cooking” class on how to make a flawless woman. All those scenes involved folding, crushing bodies and treating them like objects, quite literally making them submit to society’s vision of perfection. The audience was also very receptive to the challenging subjects tackled and invited Untold Dance Theatre to go deeper and make them feel even more uncomfortable. The exploration of a serious subject did not cut out artistic creativity. Each scene was different and the audience stated it will be interesting to see how the “chaos binds with the more flowy parts” in the final performance. Discussing the overall tone of the show, a viewer pointed out: “There are kitsch moments, but those were so precise and clean. The comedy helps with the more earthy parts”.

Vicki and the cast listened to the audience with poise, eager to use this sharing session to develop “Practically Prefect” further. Some open expectations were expressed: “The rhythm was building into something that was establishing. I would like to see everyone go completely wild at some point”. The viewers repeatedly showed excitement about finding out the answers in the finished piece: “What happens the the reject; are they ‘put right’ or are they ‘celebrated for being imperfect’?”.

A woman concluded the discussion by encouraging to celebrate our imperfections rather than to condemn them: “We don’t have to be whole as an individual, we’re whole as a group”. One thing is for certain - unity definitely shone through the dancers and musicians during the performance.

The sharing of the work took place in Trinity's Ffye Hall (photo @Megan Ashton)

Stay tuned for updates on Vicki Hearne and our three other artist residents here on our website.

IGNiTE is supported using public funding by Bristol City Council and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Paradise City

Over ten days IGNiTE summer residents Back in 5 Minutes Squad and Art in Motion will be creating an evolving installation up in our Fyfle Hall.

This is super exciting as Spike Island Residents  - Back in 5 Minutes Squad and emerging not-for-profit participatory arts organisation Art in Motion (AIM) will be collaborating for the first time for this project.

Evolving over the ten days of the residency these two diverse groups will collaborate to portray their vision of an ideal, egalitarian future in which humans of all types and abilities coexist peacefully and purposefully together - the fabric of this future city will reflect the diverse and idiosyncratic interests of all the artists involved.

From Monday 19 the artists invite you to visit during this exciting process and Paradise City will be open to everyone for a celebration event from 5-7pm in the Graffiti Room at Trinity on Thursday 29 June.

Paradise City is supported by Arts Council England via Grants for the Arts and by Trinity Community Arts.

tiata fahodzi presents EVERYWHERE - a triple bill of short plays presented together, driven by a provocation about what we do in what spaces matter.

Drama and conflict are things that we experience as humans everywhere beyond the limitations of a theatre space, and these 3 commissioned writers are exploring what that means to them in short form. Working with brilliant actors and creatives, the triple bill 30-minute pieces will bring some of best established and emerging talent from theatre to tell original and diverse stories that take us from displacement to maternity wards.

The EVERYWHERE triple bills are very much about instigating conversations and curiosity between artists and audiences.

Writers include Yusra Warsama, Magero and Anyebe.

DEAL - 2 tickets for £13 Book HERE

This show is part of Trinity Presents, showcasing the best of performance.

Last year we very excitedly launched our in- house Theatre and Dance and programme - IGNiTE. Our aim - to curate  an exciting programme of work that would resonate with everyone who uses and lives around Trinity.

Thanks to funding from Arts Council, an amazing team,  our programming forum (who have helped steer the programme throughout the year) and every artist, audience member and participant our first step into the world of programming world class theatre and dance , supporting artists to crete new work and ensuring our community benefits from artistic excellence .... has been great.

So while we sit back and make plans for our next programme we thought we'd share some of the best moments and successes.

1.Vicki Igbokwe talking to us about the power of dance

2.  Cardboard Citizens challenging us all in the Forum Theatre section of Cathy.

3. Selling nearly half of all our ticket at concessions rate

4. Meaning that our audiences are reflective of Bristol's inclusive and diverse communities

5. Rider Shafique blowing us away with his solo performance of I-Dentity

6. 1500+ people watching, taking part, dancing, asking questions and celebrating with us

7.  Afreena Islam's honest performance to a room full of our regular centre users

8. Supporting six artists and companies with community & participation at the core of their practice to develop work and deliver workshops at Trinity

9. All the people who stayed for the Q+A's and took part in sometimes difficult but always provoking conversations

Read more about IGNiTE here

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Part TED talk, part history lecture, part folk club sing-a-long, part storytelling session… Come and share in these tales as they have been shared for generations.

See here for more information and frequently asked questions page.

Celebrate flab, double chins and getting semi-naked in Scottee’s Fat Blokes (22 Feb). Laugh at the hilarious Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer, Shane Shambhu's biographical story of cultural fusion and clashes in an East London playground (10 March). Join Darren Pritchard Dance, their artist friends – dancers, singers, musicians and poets in the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance Inspired: Rent Party (16 Mar). Then, explore issues around migration in Toussaint To Move’s autobiographically sourced Windows of Displacement (23 March) where the shifting (and increasingly urgent) politics surrounding the movement of people takes centre-stage.

Explore issues around migration in Toussaint To Move’s autobiographically sourced Windows of Displacement (23 March)

Rent Party (16 Mar): a kaleidoscopic picture of what it means today to be young, gifted, and black – and poor, and gay.

From post-show talk backs (Fat Blokes 22 Feb, Windows of Displacement 23 March) to workshops (Making Stuff About Stuff, Scottee; Creative Dance with Akeim Toussaint Buck; Contemporary Dance workshop with Shane Shambu) there are plenty of ways to stand up and get involved in the season.

Sign up to: Contemporary Dance workshop with Shane Shambu, 10 March, £5

All IGNiTE tickets are £11 / £9 concs (including booking fee) and workshops of £5 (including booking fee). Communities who use Trinity regularly could benefit from subsided tickets, please email marketing officer sarahb@3ca.org.uk to find out more.

Get involved with IGNiTE

Volunteering - from stewarding to photography there are many ways to get involved in IGNiTE. Find out more about the opportunities on offer here.

Test audiences - help shape the work artists and companies create by signing up to be part of an IGNiTE test audience.

Residencies - find out more about our IGNiTE artists in residence here.

One day, a baby clown accidentally bounces off a passing circus train and is left in the middle of nowhere, separated from family and friends.

A little reluctantly at first, the farmer takes the clown in. As time passes, they discover that by being with each other, they find something new in themselves.

Made with consultation from Deaf Access and Visual Language consultants, Flibbertigibbet Theatre has adapted this picture book by award-winning author and illustrator, Marla Frazee, into a new wordless play for all ages.

Playing without words, the show is accessible to a wide range of audiences. They worked with  a Visual Language consultant and Deaf Access Support consultant, to ensure that the physical language created for the storytelling is clear and accessible for all audiences, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Anyone who does not speak English can still enjoy the show as language is not an issue.

The story delicately explores themes of loneliness, friendship, and care, across the divisions of age and community.

‘UTTERLY HEARTWARMING AND RELATABLE…. What Flibbertigibbet have created is a beautiful, simple, and charming piece of theatre, suitable for all.” Bristol 24/7

Buy Tickets

12pm Ticket Link

3pm Ticket Link

This is a Trinity Presents event.

Trinity is thinking about the future, & we want to hear from the people that matter - you.

From March 25 we are asking the people of Bristol to share their hopes and dreams for the future as part of What I Want To Be, What I Want To See. To inspire you, we have teamed up with our extended Trinity family of artists and community groups to create 11 days of free activities, content and workshops.

#GetInvolved

Online - follow us on our Social Media channels for scheduled activity and a daily TikTok challenge. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Sign up to a daily Assembly Monday - Friday by heading to the Facebook group here.

Sign up - click through below for our free workshop programme:

25 Mar - Writing Workshop With Vanessa Kisuule,

29 Mar - Intergenerational Dance Workshop,

30 Mar - Body Percussion Workshop,

31 Mar - I-Dentity Workshop.

Take part - join us on site for our Socially distanced community artwork, Mobilise, in Trinity Community Garden

If you live close to Trinity look out for our freepost leaflet, along with a free, specially created, print by Andy Council, coming through your letterbox. Please add your own responses and post them back to us.

If you live in Newtown or St Judes, keep your eyes open for the newest team member of Trinity - S.U.S.A.N.N the socially distanced robot - who will be out on the streets collecting your responses.

Want to share your dreams for the future? Click here to find out how.

The project is supported through funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund helping Trinity still #behereforculture

We have appreciated over the years the terrific improvements made to the infrastructure and to the increased services to the community. The grand opening of the first floor dance/theatre space was a vibrant event and drew a wide cross section of the community, including the Mayor.

We have great pleasure in supporting the work of Trinity.

Drs Stephen Robins & Emma Kerr, SWhoop

Trinity believes that the best art is created and experienced by the 67 million voices that make up UK society today. This is why we support and nurture creative communities, creating opportunities for artists and communities to co-create and experience culture together.

"I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it. It was perfectly pitched for this age group. This is exactly what we need more of” - Head Teacher from school’s audience group

Collaborating with communities

In March 2021 we launched an ambitious community arts project, 'What I Want To Be, What I Want To See' that asked communities to share their hopes and dreams for the future, post-pandemic. From this initial idea we commissioned community arts practitioner Michelle Roche to collaborate Newton Network and the local community to programme a series of ‘creative happenings’.

Throughout 2021 Michelle, Newtown Network and local residents created a programme of activities including a weekly 'coffee morning and lantern making' session that culminated with a mid-winter Dolphin Parade. Residents also took part in a series of collective actions – a community painting day and a public playlist of their favourite songs – sharing the unique identity of this vibrant corner of Bristol.

Creating opportunities for children and families to access and shape culture

Spilt Ink Theatre Company was awarded the Young Audiences Commission, which was introduced following a consultation, to offer more young people and family activities. Through our on-going partnership with local school St Nicholas of Tolentine, the company delivered a series of workshops collaborating with over 60 children to devise a new work, ‘Home’ that culminated in a public sharing in May 2021.

Trinity joined forces with Take a Part and Hannah Moore primary school to deliver 'Art Club', a project for children and their families to explore what culture they enjoy and what issues matter to them. Art Club took place for 12 weeks after school and included group trips to visit organisations such as Spike Island and The Bristol Museum, meeting staff and volunteers and having an opportunity to ask questions and see behind the scenes of some of the biggest cultural venues in the city. We will also be hosting a pop-up exhibition of artworks created by children and families who took part in the project.

Supporting the development and sharing of new and exciting work

In the summer we welcomed a range of performances in our pop-up outdoor venue, in the community garden and, for the first-time since Mar 2020, inside the building. This included a Trinity ‘take-over’ by associate artist Roxana Vilk, The Vilk Collective and immersive tech-artists Squid Ink with their 'Lullabies Celebration' celebrating the culmination of Roxana’s Lullabies project. The project collected and responded to songs from the many languages spoken in Bristol and beyond. Roxana is continuing to develop her creative practise including performing at St Georges Hall and through her residency at Watershed’s PM Studio.

Through micro-commissions and subsidised space we continued to support the creation and development of new work, including Houston Dance Company who devised Like Mercury in the Fyfe Hall. The show was selected to be programmed as part of the spring season of theatre and dance in 2022 and premiered to sell-out audiences. The show explored gender, sexuality and identity and positive feedback from audiences included people commenting that the show ‘taught me to embody and celebrate my sexuality’. The company will be touring the performance in the UK throughout 2022.

Stand is the product of conversations. The conversations continued long after leaving the Trinity centre, but in silence; an inner-monologue set to my footsteps, set to snippets of strangers passing conversations. Stand made me consider myself, my actions.

It made me proud of that time I stood up to the racist man in the restaurant in Edinburgh and made me see my Mother’s pleasure in witnessing this in a new, brighter light. Stand made me hope that in the future I will be braver in making positive choices and not stop myself due to fear of an unsuccessful ending. Stand made me miss my younger self- the one who could be so riled up about the wrongs of the world.

Stand made my friend sad when she realised later that these were actors, not the activists, performing the verbatim transcript. Stand impressed me that the quality of performance made her think this.

Stand meant I was sure to find a bin to put my cigarette butt in and to feel guilty for all of the discarded ones that came before it and every dropped one that is sure to come. Stand reminded me that I am only human. Stand made me plump-up with pride for people. It made me deflate with despair in humanity.

Stand made me think of my friend who spends weeks, months living in protest sites; of the arrests, beatings, losses and wins. It made me question why I have been so hesitant to join him.

Stand made me wish I’d ordered the vegetarian quiche instead of this open-top ham sandwich but feel a little more at ease that at least the meat is locally sourced. Stand reassured me that standing-up can come in many forms. Stand is simple. It is sensitively, sometimes joyously performed. Stand made me want to know more, to do more. Stand made me want to be better.

Photo: Apple N Spice

Head to Trinity this Spring to get involved with a new season of theatre and dance featuring shows that amplify stories from across the UK and beyond, creating a picture of life in modern Britain.

From shadow puppetry inspired by Indian culture to spoken word, this season is one of highs, laughs and - as always - conversations.

"I loved this from the moment I read this two cultures mixing together with singing and dance and audience participation, great one for the children to get involved in" Forum member feedback on Apple 'N Spice, showing 17th Feb 22

Launching with Apple 'N' Spice (17 Feb), an interactive dance and theatre show inspired by Snow White and Ramayana (an ancient Indian story).

On the Inside (25 Feb) by Untold Theatre transports audiences to a dystopian world where four people are trapped inside and forced to live together and their morals and values are thrown out of the window when their true selves begin to emerge...

Dry Season (06 Mar) is a spoken word show that takes a candid look at the impact of experiencing the menopause in your 30's.

Like Mercury (12 Mar) is a powerful new dance and music collaboration by Emma Houston and Bellatrix. Developed with support from Trinity, the show explores the idea of identity through a queer lens.

The Big Trinity Picnic (26 Mar) is a family show hosted by poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko who will perform alongside a very special invited guest poet and is perfect for children aged 7-11 and their families/carers.

About Trinity Presents

The shows where selected following an open call for artists and companies responding to the theme, 'art of resistance'.

Trinity's programming forum made up of community members and independent representatives chose six shows to feature as part of our latest season of in-house programming.

This work is part of Trinity's commitment to amplifying the diverse voices of groups and communities who make UK culture today. To read more about what this means, see: #67MillionVoices.

All tickets are priced as 'pay what you can' starting at £7 + bf and all shows will feature a BSL interpreter.