Certain Blacks’ free programme of performances is set to return on July 25 and 26, 2026, to the quayside at east London’s Royal Docks
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Get Clive Lyttle talking about Ensemble Festival and, before long, he’ll be overtaken by a surge of enthusiasm and anticipation.
As artistic director of Certain Blacks, the company behind the free summer event, there’s a sense he almost can’t believe the variety, quality and mischief he’s about to unleash.
Gearing up for its seventh edition, the programme is once again a celebration of circus, dance, comedy and theatre that promises to be “bold, joyful and thought-provoking” while remaining suitable for all ages.
“This one is going to be a bit of a treat,” said Clive.
“It’s bigger this year and we’re lucky to be stretching out our footprint with performances outside City Hall and all the way round the docks to include Cris Clown’s Unidentified Flying Object (In Female) who’ll be suspended in the middle of a public space, interrupting the everyday with absurdity and surprise.
“What we want to do is to reach out to everybody to come along. In troubled and worrying times, come down and have some really good fun over the weekend.
“We’re working in partnership with the Royal Docks Team and the festival coincides with the launch of the Royal Docks Summer Splash free lido and the T100 Triathlon at Excel.
“I live locally in Royal Docks and we’re all mates – we all talk to each other and it’s in everybody’s interests to make the area a really happening place.”
new commissions through Without Walls
Originally a jazz guitarist, Clive founded Certain Blacks after 17 years working for Arts Council England with the aim of supporting a wide range of diverse artists.
This year’s Ensemble Festival is no exception with a free weekend programme that features five new commissions through partner Without Walls which specialises in helping artists to make new work and then perform it in collaboration with 35 festival producers including Certain Blacks and the Greenwich And Docklands International Festival.
Clive said: “I was recently asked by a group of young black men where I was from – ‘Are you from Somalia? No. Are you from Jamaica? No. So you think you are British? Why? You aren’t from here?’.
“I was born in Lewisham Hospital, the same place my mum worked all her life and where she died, so this is where I’m from.
“The work in the festival touches on this conversation of identity and what it is to be diverse, or different or care about the world.
“There are so many highlights, but I’m really looking forward to a collaboration between Talwa Theatre, Fubunation and Sonia Hughes called Fragments Of Us.
“It’s a piece that asks questions about how you react when you see a group of black boys, black men – about people’s inner fears.
“But it’s fun too, it’s not just heavy – it puts these topics into a contemporary outdoor theatre context.
“Then we have a show called Garbh, which means womb.
“It’s by Shyam Dattani and Mirat Salat and mixes contemporary and Gujarati folk dancing to give voice to an under represented ancestral form using sound and movement.
“Something I’m very pleased with is our joint commission from Daughters Of The Wire.
“It’s called ElevateHer and features female artists on tightropes.
“It asks lots of questions about women’s roles in society and there aren’t many female high wire artists so it’s wonderful to host a group like this.”
building artists up at Ensemble Festival
The commission is also evidence of Ensemble Festival helping artists flourish.
One of the co-founders of the collective, Poppy Plowman performed a smaller solo work at last year’s event and appeared as part of Gorilla Circus in 2023.
While she’s not appearing in this show, Clive said he was delighted the company had gone on to win a larger commission.
“Out final show in partnership with Without Walls is The Torch by Nigel ‘Kobby’ Taylor, which is all about whether he’s going to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather or be a bit more realistic about life in Hull,” said Clive.
“It uses afrobeat, hip hop and storytelling to explore heartbreak and displacement and it’s got a really fantastic female bass player.”
But the festival doesn’t stop at these commissions, offering a wide selection of attractions to see over the two days.
Other highlights include Stick And Stone by Ferdinando + Bernstein, which uses physical comedy and imagery to “confront the loss of all wild things” and Balance by Brainfools, where performers use beer kegs, bottles and planks to create a playground and explore attitudes to drinking.
“This year we’re also bringing over three shows from Catalonia, which includes Cris The Clown,” said Clive.
“Each year, I visit Catalonia for a showcase of performances from all around the world as well as work by local artists and we’ve selected these to be a part of Ensemble Festival.
“One of the shows is called Domte, by Nacho Flores, which is performed by a street circus duo and features live music as well as playing with mythology.
“It has real echoes of Don Quixote and is about tilting at the modern world, the slowing down of stuff and the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
“The other piece we’re bringing over is called Water Silhouettes, by Teatro En Movimiento Callejerx.
“It’s about water waste and we’ll be finding a few thousand plastic bottles to use as part of the show.
“It brings together Spanish contemporary theatre with ideas of conservation and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Also performing at the festival will be Cormac Mohally, whose Captain C-Man show promises audiences the chance to help him achieve “the greatest and most dangerous juggling trick in the universe”.
Famous as one half of Britain’s Got Talent contenders Lords Of Strut, Cormac is all set for a performance that comes out of a suitcase and aims to act as a showcase of skills as its eponymous hero spreads the appeal of circus far and wide.
key details: Ensemble Festival
Ensemble Festival runs from noon-8pm on both July 25 and 26, 2026, at various locations around Royal Victoria Dock.
Visit Certain Blacks’ website here for full listings across the weekend.
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