Ensemble Festival Archives

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

Balance by Brainfools explores attitudes to alcohol via acrobatics and will be appearing at Ensemble Festival - image by Pablo Herrera — Balance by Brainfools explores attitudes to alcohol via acrobatics and will be appearing at Ensemble Festival – image by Pablo Herrera

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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.”

Certain Blacks artistic director Clive Lyttle - image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life — Certain Blacks artistic director Clive Lyttle – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life

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.”

Garbh by Shyam Dattani and Mirat Salat - image by Anne Tetzlaff — Garbh by Shyam Dattani and Mirat Salat – image by Anne Tetzlaff

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.

Fragments Of Us has been commissioned for the festival through Without Walls - image by Ciara Hillyer — Fragments Of Us has been commissioned for the festival through Without Walls – image by Ciara Hillyer

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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Artistic director Clive Lyttle on how acts have been commissioned to get audience’s hearts’ beating

Certain Blacks artistic director Clive Lyttle

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Clive Lyttle is smiling and there’s a glint in his eye.

The artistic director of Certain Blacks is relishing the prospect of putting on four days of completely free entertainment in Royal Docks when the organisation’s Ensemble Festival returns.

Six whistle-whetting performances are set to take place on July 19 and 20, 2023, followed by a further 10 on July 22 and 23, 2023 – all adding up to a brightly coloured spectacle of newly commissioned circus, dance, art and voguing.

The festival’s 2023 programme is its most extensive to date in Certain Blacks’ ongoing mission to bring live performance from the margins to the mainstream.

“I’d spent 17 years working for Arts Council England and I developed Certain Blacks because of the need to support a wide range of diverse artists,” said Clive.

“Our first indoor festival took place in 2015 at Stratford Circus and we continue to showcase work as an arts development organisation.

“At the Arts Council, I was responsible for Newham, so I have deep contacts in the borough – my first job was as a multi-cultural arts officer for the council.”

Having worked extensively in the area, Clive made the move to Royal Docks six years ago and now lives overlooking Excel from the Flying Angel – a former seaman’s hospital for more than a century, converted into residential homes.

Between there and Certain Blacks’ base at The Factory Project in Silvertown, he oversees two annual festivals – Ensemble in E16 and Heroes, last held at Shoreditch’s Rich Mix in February.

While the latter is a platform for artists to explore performances strictly for an adult audience indoors, the former is strictly family friendly and very much out in the open air.

“Certain Blacks is part of a network called Without Walls,” said Clive, who originally wanted to be a rock star before going on to study jazz guitar in Northumbria and embarking on a career in the arts.

Out Of The Deep Blue’s puppet performance will be part of the festival

“It’s a national consortium of 36 festivals that work together to commission and develop innovative new work each year that can then tour the country.

“We’ve got seven new commissions including Gorilla Circus – a large scale show with high wire, trapeze and hair hanging that will be the finale of this year’s Ensemble Festival.

“We’re lucky to have Arts Council funding, which gives us a little bit of money to get these shows made and then a bit of time to put a programme together.

“I travel to various festivals in the UK and Europe where we meet people – we’re always on the look out for artists.

“The festival is also funded by the Royal Docks Team for some smaller commissions that range from a local music collective to a Chinese dance group, an African psychedelic performance and something we’re putting together called Give And Take, which is about the politics and rights and wrongs of giving.”

These performances will mostly take place in front of Good Hotel off Western Gateway, a few minutes’ walk from Royal Victoria Dock DLR station.

The finale, however, is set to take place beside Building 1000 near Royal Albert Dock DLR on the Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s a spectacular show,” said Clive. “I saw it at the Norfolk And Norwich Festival – one of the partners in Without Walls – in May and it was fantastic.

“Of the consortium, we’re one of the few partners putting that show on.

“It gets your heart really beating – the hair hanging may make a few people wince and the high wire act is one of the best in Europe.

“He doesn’t wear a harness and left me with my heart in my mouth when I saw the show last month.

“As for the rest of the performances, a lot of the programme is an open call to artists – anyone who wants to do outdoor work can apply and that can lead to performances at, say, seven or eight festivals nationwide.

“With Certain Blacks, a lot of it is putting on work and supporting artists that I’d love to see – but also pieces that are unexpected and diverse.

Mughal Miniatures is based on tiny pictures seen in Indian temples

“It has to be fun too. We do a lot of live art, a lot of work which might challenge the audience – but Ensemble is very much PG-rated, even if the shows might make people think.

“We have the Sonia Sabri Company presenting Mughal Miniatures – The Awakening, a piece based on tiny pictures you can see in Indian temples brought to life.

“Then there’s Fussy Foodies: Battle Of The Pans where people can learn a few tricks about being a celebrity chef, play a few games and have a good singalong.

“Some of the themes we’ll be addressing through the Royal Docks Team commissions are ecology, being eco-friendly and how we live.

“We’ve got an event anyone can take part in called the Bench Invasion.

“People from Belgium are coming over with 10 benches and we’ll have local volunteers helping to put the benches down, and people can sit and talk to them – then at the end there’s a little party and an exchange of stories.

“It’s about slowing life down and listening.

“We’ve also got a big eco-show with the Austin Dance Theatre called Out Of The Deep Blue – it’s a giant puppet that goes around telling stories about conservation.”

One of the few pieces to take place elsewhere will be dotComedy’s News Desk – a live rolling broadcast about events happening on the streets of Royal Docks presented in front of City Hall, delivered by comedian Richard Sharp.

There isn’t even space here to properly mention the interactive pub serving sounds or the rebellious hip hop dance of S.C.R.U.M.

All in all, it adds up to an extensive, diverse and surprising range of work as Royal Docks beds in as a serious cultural destination in London.

Clive said: “The area is getting to be very much part of the wider events ecology of London and we want to take artists from here out into the wider world.

“One of the points about our small commissions is to start artists on that journey, so they could be commissioned by people like Without Walls.”

Find full listings for Ensemble Festival here

THREE HIGHLIGHTS AT ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL

GORILLA CIRCUS

July 22-23, 8,30pm

The absolutely unmissable finale to Ensemble Festival – expect hair hanging, high wire and much more from this aerial spectacle outside Building 1000 at Royal Albert Dock.

GHETTO FABULOUS

July 22-23, noon-7pm

Four LGBTQIA+ dancers from Manchester and Liverpool strut their stuff in this family catwalk extravaganza. Audience decides the winner. Find this show at Western Gateway.

FUSSY FOODIES

July 22-23, noon-7pm

Just More Productions presents the Battle Of The Pans – a game show themed around Caribbean cooking.

Expect foodie facts, spices and storytelling. Find this show at Western Gateway.