Bitesize Festival is an annual celebration of theatre, film and visual art, taking place at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios. This year’s festival, ‘Bitesize Festival 50’, is part of the venue’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and includes a bumper programme of live theatre performances across five weeks this summer.

But with almost 50 shows to choose from, which ones should you prioritise? Check out my picks below!

Week 1: 27 July – 2 August

PalesTEENian (27 July – 2 August)

PalesTEENian is a solo, semi-autobiographical show about Joe Haddad growing up Palestinian in South London. It’s a play about identity, coming of age and Palestine, but where humour and heart are at the centre of it. Joe grows up confused, goes back to Palestine, sees it change, sees himself change, and embarks on a journey to being a stand-up comedy star with the finals of a massive stand-up competition happening…October 2023.

Crush – Studio 3 (28 – 30 July)

A clinic waiting room. Two Somali teens. One awkward meet-cute. Najma has been in treatment for years. Zakariya’s just starting out. She sketches. He writes poems. Neither of them is ready to talk. Until they meet each other. As their sessions continue, so do the chats. And the jokes. And the secrets.

Big Dog – Studio 3 (30 July – 1 August)

Big Dog is a comedy which interrogates the true crime industry, influencer culture and workplace politics. It asks who gets to tell certain stories, who profits from them, and who ultimately bears the emotional consequences.

Age – Studio 3 (31 July – 1 August)

Age charts the relationship between two boys over 24 years, from the blooming of their friendship as innocent 8-year-olds, through the teenage betrayal that tears them apart, to the chance reunion at a busy airport as grown men, where the prospect of forgiveness, reconciliation and healing the wounds of the past feels tantalisingly within reach. Told by a single performer, perspectives and memories blur in this timely and bold story of intimacy, trust and kinship as these men navigate growing up, growing apart and reaching out for connection.

Week 2: 3 – 9 August

Harmonise Or Die – Studio 3 (3 – 6 August)

Harmonise Or Die a dark, side-eyed, comedy, sci-fi set in a post-scarcity utopia where citizens must maintain strict emotional regulation in order to retain their citizenship. 

Trapped in a high-tech correctional facility, Gabriel (Joel Stern) and Lyra (Mila Michael), face the consequences of their “deviant outbursts”. Now, in order to return home, they must co-operate on challenges designed to break them and prove their relationship is “harmonious”, or face banishment into the hostile wastelands forever.

Can I Sit Down Please – River Room (6 – 8 August)

One woman. One badge. One seat.

What’s it really like navigating public transport with an invisible disability?

Described in her medical records as ‘this unfortunate 30-year-old woman’ (yes really), Mia has spent the last eight years navigating London and public transport with an invisible disability. She’s now ready to spill the beans on what it’s really like spending every day asking strangers if she can sit down, to varying degrees of success. 

Republic of Silence – Studio 3 (6 – 9 August)

Based on true stories from Sean Ross mother and baby institution, Tipperary.

When gentle and stoic gardener, Colm, discovers a series of unmarked graves at Sean Ross Abbey, a reckoning with the power of the church and a movement for justice are brought to a head. In 1965, on the same site, two young pregnant girls hear whispers of stolen babies, missing girls and violence within the Abbey. When hardened Niamh witnesses the secrets of the ‘home’, the girls rage against the catholic institution that cages them.

Who gets to decide what history is told, and what stories are kept silent?

A Criminal Melody – Studio 3 (8 – 9 August)

Detective Inspector Paulethiast Razmataz is a self-centred detective in the 1920s, more interested in combing over his life than protecting The City. This is until he’s visited by the ghost of his ex-wife, who warns him of three spirits that will soon visit him. ‘The Spirit of Crime Past’, a paper boy who shows him his time catching crooks as a child, ‘The Spirit of Crime Present’, a mafia boss who messes with the day he receives his detective award, and ‘The Spirit of Crime Yet to Crime’, a businessman, who shows Razmataz a death…but not his own.

Our Mothers’ Daughters – River Room (8 – 9 August)

Our Mothers’ Daughters by Sarah Tara Ray follows three young women navigating friendship, identity, and the pressures of adulthood. At its centre is a tight-knit yet contrasting trio: a promising artist, an insecure jester, and an aspiring homemaker. As their lives begin to diverge—through an engagement, the exploration of queerness, and an unexpected pregnancy—their bond is tested in profound ways.

Week 3: 10 – 16 August

Phantasia – Studio 3 (11 – 16 August)

Phantasia follows Ayaan, a young Somali woman who slips away into Phantasia, a fully realised inner world she builds for herself. For Ayaan, daydreaming is not a habit; it is a form of survival. In Phantasia, the audience are not passive observers – they are characters in Ayaan’s world. They are the ones she performs for, confides in and ultimately has to let go of. At its heart, Phantasia asks: what happens when the world in your head becomes the only place you feel seen, and what changes when someone else finally enters that world and truly witnesses it too? 

The Girls I Look Up To – Studio 3 (12 – 16 August)

The piece delves into the heartfelt friendship of four girls from childhood to adulthood. Set during Evelyn’s birthday celebrations, Bonnie embarks on writing the story of their intoxicating friendship: unbreakable girlhood, grief, and all that exists between. What happens when all you know simply vanishes? 

Take A Seat – Studio 3 (12 – 13 August)

Take a Seat explores copying, imitation and obedience. Using a sequence of bizarre and weirdly specific stock images, two performers attempt to recreate each as precisely as possible. As the copying continues, awkward encounters, fleeting relationships, and unexpected stories begin to arise. Blending movement, mime, voice, and minimal technology, the piece plays with how narratives are formed: not through fixed storytelling, but through the audience’s own interpretation.

The Risotto Is Burning – Studio 3 (15 – 16 August)

A long-standing couple, Annabelle and Benjamin, get ready to host their first dinner party at their new flat. The guest list? Annabelle’s university best friends, Leah and Maddy, and their respective partners. It’s been years since the three of them have been together properly. Tensions run high, and wine runs rampant as Leah arrives with her new girlfriend Layla, a 20-year-old vegan she picked up at a Buddhist retreat. Things take a turn for the absurd when Maddy arrives with her new partner Jeremy – a fuzzy blue puppet.

Week 4: 17 – 23 August

Splintered – Studio 3 (18 – 23 August)

A moving drama set during the Biafran War of the 1960s and post-war Nigeria of the 1970s, following childhood friends Ade and Tolu as they come of age in a world shaped by conflict. The play explores friendship, identity and the lasting impact of war, asking whether two people with opposing beliefs can remain connected as they grow into adulthood.

Custard Tarts – Studio 3 (20 – 23 August)

A witty, heartwarming and gloriously eggy romp that follows Nancy, a young queer woman, as she summons four lesbians from across the twentieth century to her dinner table. At times, Custard Tarts is a poignant look at queer costuming, coding and community-building; at others a campy, raucous spectacle. There are many fingers in many pies. 

Does My Privilege Look Big In This? – River Room (22 – 23 August)

Jess and Millie have lived in Windsor all their lives, partying with the posh boys in the shadow of the infamous Eton College. But this year they will discover the truth about that iconic uniform. And it will turn their worlds upside down. Does my privilege look big in this?, Siân Lawrence’s incisive new satire is gruesome, outrageously funny, and offers a scathing critique of the injustices ingrained in Britain’s education system.

Week 5: 24 – 30 August

The Rise of Josephine Baker – Studio 3 (25 – 29 August)

Set in 1920s Paris, The Rise of Josephine Baker follows African American performer Josephine Baker as she escapes segregation-era America to become an international sensation. Arriving in Paris’ dazzling Jazz Age, she prepares for her breakthrough in La Revue Nègre, a sensational production which ignited controversy and propelled her to fame across Europe. Frequently painted by French artist Paul Colin, the play examines their relationship and how his work, inspired by Cubism and Art Deco, became a vehicle for Josephine’s image to be projected across the world.

Baby Steps – Studio 3 (26 – 28 August)

Georgina is trying to decide whether she wants children or not. The only problem is, she’s currently in labour. Twenty-something years old, spiralling, alone, Georgina travels from London to her hometown hospital with the notion of getting her no-nonsense, midwife ex-best friend, Molly, to deliver her baby. Between contractions, Molly and Georgina dive headfirst into quarter-life existential crises.

More information, including where you can buy tickets and full listing details, is available here: https://riversidestudios.co.uk/bitesize-festival/bitesize-festival-2026/