Voila! Festival Champions London’s Multilingual Theatre Future

Fae Fichtner, Co-Director of Voila! Theatre Festival, advocates for language diversity as the future of British culture, highlighting the festival’s critical role in London’s theatre scene. Despite London being a city of 300 languages, its stages predominantly speak one, often neglecting a vast, diverse audience. Fichtner observes that multilingual shows, like Nomakhwezi Becker’s, often attract only migrant audiences, missing “ordinary British theatre-goers.” This linguistic homogeneity has worsened since Brexit and the pandemic, leading to a drastic reduction in diverse shows and the disappearance of companies that once championed international theatre, such as The London International Mime Festival. Even established institutions like the English National Opera and Greenwich and Docklands Festival face funding struggles.

However, a strong demand for multilingual work exists, evidenced by Voila!’s surge in applications and the sold-out success of productions like the Japanese *Spirited Away*. Voila! champions migrant artists using multiple languages on stage, recognizing that language is a crucial tool for diversity, access, and inclusion. The benefits are profound: multilingual productions make theatre more accessible and attractive, reflecting London’s rich cultural tapestry. Examples like *Xquenda* (Mexican heritage) and *When I Was Backpacking Across Western Europe…* (Cantonese/English) demonstrate how audiences experience powerful moments of recognition, seeing their stories and native languages on stage.

Beyond recognition, multilingual theatre, supported by surtitles and physical expression, breaks down barriers, sharing different cultures and fostering empathy, as seen with *Holding Ground*. Voila! creates unique spaces where diverse cultural spirits blend with British theatre etiquette. Fichtner urges London audiences to embrace these productions, viewing them as an accessible gateway to understanding other realities, much like enjoying foreign TV or cuisine, and ultimately enriching the city’s cultural landscape.

(Source: https://londonist.com/london/theatre-and-arts/voila-theatre-festival-2025)