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ESEA Theatre at VOILÀ! Festival 2026: 18 Shows to See in London
Penang Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Korean will all be spoken on London stages this November.
VOILÀ! is London's multilingual theatre festival, produced by The Cockpit. This year it runs from 2 to 22 November, with nearly 100 shows in around 60 languages across eight fringe venues. We went through the full programme and found 18 shows made by East and Southeast Asian artists. Twelve of them put ESEA stories, languages or rituals at the centre.
Tickets for most shows are £12 to £16, and runs are short, often one to three nights. Book early.
ESEA shows at VOILÀ! 2026, in date order
Proud Mary | 2–3 Nov | Etcetera Theatre, Camden
MJ Lee's love letter to an immigrant mother, following a family from Korea to Canada and the three offerings of a Korean farewell rite. In English and Korean.
Blondie Blue Eyes | 4–10 Nov | Canal Cafe Theatre, Little Venice
Romeo Lau's slapstick drag satire about chasing the White ideal until you become its caricature. Audience participation is mandatory.
(M)Others Between Shores | 5–6 Nov | The Playground Theatre
Movement-led documentary theatre from Resonant Shore Theatre, built from migrant mothers' real stories, with puppetry and live sound. In Cantonese and English.
The Radical Wedding Engine | 7–8 Nov | The Cockpit, Marylebone
Ensemble Not Found, five first-generation ESEA migrant artists, take wedding ritual apart, from Chinese banquet etiquette to dress codes. You're cast as one of the guests.
Do You Know Where To Go From Here? | 8–14 Nov | The Space, Isle of Dogs
In Stephanie Renae Lau's play, Sophie wakes up trapped in a room full of clothes and starts tidying, coming face to face with love, loss and what she can't let go. In Cantonese and English.
We Are All Fish | 9–10 Nov | Theatro Technis, Camden
YA-TA Collective's visual theatre piece: two lonely cats try to find each other while a hapless caretaker jams the cogs below, paced by Edo-period Japanese time. The audience decides where the story goes.
User Manual for a Broken Machine | 11–12 Nov | Theatro Technis, Camden
KASSNA turn a broken vacuum cleaner into a story about disposable migrant labour and whose work counts. In Korean and English.
LIBERATING: She Dances (in Chains) | 11–14 Nov | Etcetera Theatre, Camden
Xiaoyao Luo's physical theatre with chains and masks, tracing the roles a woman is taught to play, from daughter to mother. In Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
Lament of the Wandering Head | 12–14 Nov | Barons Court Theatre
Taiwan's Sun Son Theatre take the Southeast Asian flying-head ghost and turn it into a story of the Malaysian Chinese diaspora, with live gongs and drums. In Penang Hokkien, Mandarin and Taiwanese.
The View | 12–21 Nov | The Space, Isle of Dogs
Chloe Shyan's experimental nature documentary, in which a young woman tries to tell an old tree she loves it, in a language she can barely speak. In Teochew, Mandarin and English.
Rhino! | 20–21 Nov | Theatro Technis, Camden
Node Theatre rework Ionesco's Rhinoceros for the algorithm age, with dance, text and live projection. In English and Japanese.
Between Worlds | 21–22 Nov | Barons Court Theatre
A new devised play from Tiny Human Dramas, based on true stories of queer Asian Brits. Feng Long brings his partner home: can he come out to his family without losing their love? In Chinese and English.
More ESEA artists in the programme
These six shows are led by ESEA artists, with stories that reach beyond heritage.
Wind Me Up | 3–5 Nov | Barons Court Theatre
Man Yun Ku's interactive solo with live violin, in which the audience winds up a human music box.
Much Crazy About Nothing | 3–4 Nov | The Playground Theatre
Shhh Theatre's surreal comedy set in a world where you hire professional agents to end your relationships for you.
naked | 5 Nov | The Cockpit, Marylebone
Rabbit Hole Ensemble's love story about a couple who are getting married, and maybe shouldn't be.
July 15th to… | 11 Nov | Theatro Technis, Camden
Stephanie Chu's one-woman physical theatre piece about living with bipolar disorder.
Blessed Forgetful | 13–14 Nov | The Playground Theatre
Peculiar Matter's devised physical theatre about two immigrant artists, grief, and a machine that erases memories.
The Café | 16–17 Nov | Etcetera Theatre, Camden
Roccia Zhang and Jiho Park's play about a café where strangers find family away from home.
Which one are you booking first? Tell us below 👇
Find It
📍 Eight venues across London, including The Cockpit, Barons Court Theatre, Theatro Technis and The Space
🕣 2–22 November 2026
👉 @voilafest · Full programme and tickets at voilafestival.co.uk
Images courtesy of VOILÀ! Theatre Festival and the companies.
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