Elevate Festival - Horizons

Red Clay Theatre bring their new piece Horizons to the Barnfield Theatre on Wednesday 4 November, as part of the Elevate Festival. It's a new performance that looks at young ambition and coastal communities, and it's one of the highlights of this year's festival.

The play follows siblings Adam and Kay as they grow up in the same town, and from there it opens up to a bigger question: how do young ambition, opportunity, and the particular pressures of coastal communities shape a young person's ability to fulfil their potential. It's the kind of thing that hits home if you've spent any time in a town where the horizon feels a bit too fixed, and it doesn't shy away from the tension between wanting more and the reality of where you're from.

One thing that sets Horizons apart is how it came together. Red Clay Theatre developed it in conversation with young people from Torbay, so the voices and the perspectives it draws on come from the very communities it's talking about. That's a good thing to know before you go in—it's not just a story told from the outside looking in.

As for the bigger picture, Elevate Festival is the Exeter Northcott Theatre's annual celebration of South-West artists and their work. It's staged at the Barnfield Theatre and runs through a programme of performances, workshops, and meet-ups, so Horizons is one part of a wider season. The show starts at 5pm on Wednesday 4 November at the Barnfield Theatre, which is part of the Exeter Northcott site.