Shows at Lionhouse

Miss Havisham's Clothes Swap

Miss Havisham requests your presence at an evening devoted to the exchange of garments and the offering of sartorial wisdom. Confined to her gently rotting bridal attire for a mere 200 years, she now contemplates (oh the horror) getting dressed. Having heard speak of a modern affliction named “fast fashion,” she seeks enlightenment. You are therefore required to bring one item of clothing that you are willing to exchange at that curious altar of cast off selves we call 'fashion'. Inspired by Dickens iconic character, this is an interactive show about getting dressed. The joy of self-expression is set against the impact of global supply chains. And yes, there will be an actual clothes swap. This is a work-in-progress performance. Created and performed by Edinburgh Fringe First Award winner Helen Tennison, supported by Stanley Arts, London Metropolitan University and Actors of Dionysus.

Lionhouse • 19 May 2026 - 20 May 2026

Forgive Me

This project brings together award winning collaborators. Written and performed by Tamsin Shasha and directed by Helen Tennison with sound design by Matt Eaton, Forgive Me follows on from the critical success of double award winning, Everything I See I Swallow (Shasha & Taylor Productions) and similarly responds to the challenges and turbulence of the world today. Forgive Me is an intergenerational dialogue between a mother and her autistic son, an avid gamer, and explores our individual and collective need to fight monsters. We follow the journey of a mother as she tries to understand the specialist needs of her child, while all the while navigating her own late ADHD diagnosis. Her son meanwhile navigates a digital world of online gaming, hyperfixating on YouTube and gaming. As the two worlds converge fantasy and reality become intertwine and mother and son discover that they need every weapon in their arsenal to fight an epic battle.

Lionhouse • 15 May 2026 - 17 May 2026

Arias in the Garden

Come and join us for a magical afternoon of Arias in the Garden featuring a diverse array of opera singers in a magical garden setting. Have a wander in the garden, G&T or Elderflower fizz in hand, and see the summer colour on show. Then sit back and bask in the beautiful sounds that greet you! The pigeons, swifts and sparrows might even join in too. "A gorgeous afternoon of performances". Sophie (audience member 2025) "A beautiful programme in s gorgeous setting" Marina & Rory (audience members 2025) "Brilliantly good to see and hear such a great programme performed by singers at the top of their game" John (audience member 2025)

Lionhouse • 10 May 2026

Lionhouse Cabaret

An evening of comedy, cabaret and music hosted by The Actors of Dionysus in their award-winning Lionhouse venue (audience choice Best Venue 2024 & 2025). Comedy from Anthony "Lou" Macari and Mark Katz and a smorgasbord of special guests. Watch this space for further details! Licensed bar, a beautiful garden setting and an evening of laughter, physical comedy and music. "Uplifting" "atmospheric" "entertaining" (audience members 2025)

Lionhouse • 8 May 2026 - 9 May 2026

Stories in the Garden

Join our story Archeologists on a magical interactive adventure and help them rediscover a forgotten hero and play games along the way. Full of bubbles, fun and puppet mayhem! Explore Greek myths and local legends from the perspective of unsung heroines in an engaging, imaginative and immersive way. "Funny, imaginative and really quite brilliant. This show was a real highlight of Brighton Fringe. Funny, imaginative and really quite brilliant. My 4 year old was absolutely captivated." Audience member. "Fun, exuberant, immersive. Our 3 3/4 year old loved it, it’s the best kids theatre she’s seen; wonderful how you sustained her interest with such fun participation interwoven in clear and interesting storytelling." Audience Member

Lionhouse • 2 May 2026 - 10 May 2026

Verity

Stuffed and bound into a dress or is it a bed, rubbing on the ribs and like a hippo on the hips. Verity is stuck! With only a TV for company, is she in control, out of control or being controlled? What’s the story looming in shadows? A debut performance, devised and performed by Scotland based artist, Sarah Cosgrove, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Princess and The Pea : exploring the objectification of women; the influence of mainstream media and the performer’s own experience of being bed-bound with severe asthma and her fight for breath. The show blends physical theatre and storytelling, with a dramatic soundscape from award winning composer Jem Kelly. Original R & D & Design Sarah Cosgrove & Shona Reppe Dramaturg Dylan Read Design Sarah Cosgrove ; Design Creative Nicola Milazzo Choreography Suzi Cunningham Thank you to Liz Strange; Mim King & Tamsin Shasha Supported by Creative Scotland

Lionhouse • 24 May 2025 - 25 May 2025

Lionhouse Cabaret

Comedy cabaret hosted by Actors of Dionysus featuring a host of local Sussex talent. Previous guests have included the brilliant comedy duo, Dyball & Kerr debuting new work from Bumfluffery ‘A field guide to the idiot British male’; Stand Up comic Anthony Ayton; Performer & Guitarist Clint Westwood and singer songwriter Tina Bell. A confirmed line up will be announced nearer the time.

Lionhouse • 23 May 2025

The Labours of Hercules

The Hercules story Disney didn't have the guts to tell! Placed under a curse by Hera, queen of the gods, the hero Hercules must perform twelve impossible tasks to gain his freedom. Master storyteller Joshua Crisp brings his dynamic storytelling style and gallery of impressions to create the entire cast of this epic myth himself, filled with unbelievable monsters, superhuman feats, and enough property desctruction to rival a Michael Bay movie. Co-founder of the Ropetackle Storytellers club, Joshua Crisp has been a rising star on the storytelling scene, recently telling at the Get A Word in Edgeways Spoken Word Festival and Green Gathering. He is a mentor for the Step Up Spoken Word Commission, and shares original stories on the podcast 100 Words of Astounding Beauty.

Lionhouse • 16 May 2025 - 18 May 2025

Dionysus

"Dionysus thrice-born. Dionysus girl-child. Dionysus vine-maker. Dionysus mountain-shaker..." On a mountain called Meros, a young girl is dancing. She is a sacred dancer to the gods, and life on the mountain is all she has ever known. But her journey will take her far from her home, across the seas, and deep into the life story of Dionysus, the god of wine, revelry, dance and divine madness. Unstopper the life story of the Greek God of the Vine with non-binary storyteller Amelia Ace Armande, pouring out a heady tale of ecstasy, madness, queer love and resurrection. Founder of Shoreham's 'Ropetackle Storytellers' club and a mentor for the 'Step Up' Spoken Word Commission, Ace (they/them) is a champion of queer folklore and mythology. They brought the story of non-binary deity 'Asu-Shu-Namir' to Xanthe Gresham's Goddess Lounge during lockdown, and shared tales of transformation at Trans Pride Brighton.

Lionhouse • 16 May 2025 - 18 May 2025

Arias in the Garden

Come and join us for a magical afternoon of Arias in the Garden featuring soloists fresh from Glyndebourne’s recent new opera, Uprising, joined by Brighton Springboard award-winner Molly Baker. Enjoy a gin and tonic or Elderflower fizz and sit back and enjoy the beautiful sounds that greet you!

Lionhouse • 11 May 2025

Doggerland

A PowerPoint presentation gone wrong, a surreal geology trip and a large plastic bag. Discover Doggerland, a utopia that stretched between the UK and Europe until almost 8000 years ago, when melting ice sheets flooded the land, drowning its last remaining people. At the Doggerland Administration Bureau, we invite you to examine notions of boundaries, the implications of ecological barriers, the arbitrary concept of borders, and the threshold to your own private Doggerland. Doggerland includes audience interaction, power-point mishaps, physical storytelling and oddball characters on an absurdist adventure. BYOB (Bring Your Own Biro). ' a mad beauty of a show'. Nominated for best show of the fringe, Stockholm Fringe Festival. Helen Tennison is an Edinburgh Fringe First Award-winning theatre-maker working in the UK & internationally. Created and Performed by Helen Tennison Dramaturgy & Direction Arjan Gebraad Composition & Sound Designer, Technician Matt Eaton Set & Costume Simin Ma Creative Consultant Roel Swanenburg Movement Consultant Olga Masleinnikova Dialect Coach Katherine Heath Photography Andy Barker Doggerland is supported by Arts Council England, Het Zuidiljk Toneel Netherlands, Bathway Theatre at Greenwich University, Actors of Dionysus and The Festival of Europe.

Lionhouse • 18 May 2024 - 19 May 2024

Doggerland

A PowerPoint presentation gone wrong, a surreal geology trip and a large plastic bag. Discover Doggerland, a utopia that stretched between the UK and Europe until almost 8000 years ago, when melting ice sheets flooded the land, drowning its last remaining people. At the Doggerland Administration Bureau, we invite you to examine notions of boundaries, the implications of ecological barriers, the arbitrary concept of borders, and the threshold to your own private Doggerland. Doggerland includes audience interaction, power-point mishaps, physical storytelling and oddball characters on an absurdist adventure. BYOB (Bring Your Own Biro). ' a mad beauty of a show'. Nominated for best show of the fringe, Stockholm Fringe Festival. Helen Tennison is an Edinburgh Fringe First Award-winning theatre-maker working in the UK & internationally. Created and Performed by Helen Tennison Dramaturgy & Direction Arjan Gebraad Composition & Sound Designer, Technician Matt Eaton Set & Costume Simin Ma Creative Consultant Roel Swanenburg Movement Consultant Olga Masleinnikova Dialect Coach Katherine Heath Photography Andy Barker Doggerland is supported by Arts Council England, Het Zuidiljk Toneel Netherlands, Bathway Theatre at Greenwich University, Actors of Dionysus and The Festival of Europe.

Lionhouse • 18 May 2024 - 19 May 2024

Stories in the Garden: Atalanta the Adventurer

Stories, games and puppets! Join our team of Story Archaeologists on a magical adventure into the world of Greek myth and help us recover the story of a forgotten hero! Returning to the Brighton Fringe after our award winning show exploring the myth of Ariadne (FUSE International Best of Brighton Fringe Children and Families) we're back with a new myth to uncover! Atalanta: she sailed with Jason and the Argonauts and defeated monsters across the land. Oh, and her mother was a bear! But why isn't her story better known? With your help, our specialist team of story-tellers will uncover the story of of one of the greatest heroines of Greek myth - who you've probably never heard of... Join us for an hour of stories, games and puppets!

Lionhouse • 20 May 2023 - 21 May 2023

Lord God

When Lord God is persuaded by retainer Gabriel to take a holiday in a Devonshire seaside hotel (to get Him out from under His angels’ feet), He looks forward to a fortnight filled with tennis, cream teas and the latest Agatha Christie. But the presence of campaigning atheist Prof. ‘Minty’ Tweddle and her fiancé, caustic drama critic Rex Addison, leads to all manner of supernatural scrapes, japes and narrow escapes and the invention of a hot new global dance craze. 1920's-set comic musical from best-selling author Philip Reeve and playwright/composer Brian Mitchell, writers of the 'Pugs of the Frozen North' stage show and 'The Ministry of Biscuits'. The cast includes comedian Joanna Neary (BBC2s 'Ideal'), Murray Simon ('Underdogs') and Emma Wingrove ('Sweethearts' & 'The Hooligan'). Produced by the Argus-Angel-winning company, whose many awards include OffWestEnd.com's prestigious OffFEST Award for Theatre, Brighton Fringe 2022. "Classic songs and tippity-top performances. Plus some rhyming that made my toes curl with pleasure! It was delicious." (Terry Garoghan). "The latest vintage-inspired slice of Englishness from the engagingly skewed Foundry Group.... Clever lyrics and sparky lines... Sweet, gentle, full of heart.... a huge hit with the crowd." (Philippa Hammond, Sussex Playwrights Reviews). "Absolutely fantastic! Brilliant performances and excellent songs. Still raving about it..... Really brilliant show." (Nick Pynn). The show lasts 1 hour and 55 minutes including a 20 minute interval. Performed outside in a garden.

Lionhouse • 19 May 2023 - 21 May 2023