Durham Drama Festival is back for 2026 with a week-long celebration of the best new plays and musicals from across the University scene.

In the Collingwood Arts Centre, we are welcoming three new productions:

Infested

Set in WW1 November 1916, the wife is at home in England when during the Battle of the Somme the husband gets sent home because of an arm lesion and with extreme shell shock. The wife starts to question whether the person who has come home is really her husband that she loves or whether it's a mimic (due to shell shock and the mental effects of the war) that's infesting her home with malicious disease which manifests in the form of a deformed rat.

Part of Me

Jamie is a teenager – young, free, and on top of the world. Surrounded by his family and friends, things should be carefree and easy, but not everything is as it seems. Teenage life is confusing and we never know the full story of what goes on inside someone’s head. ‘Part of Me’ is a play about the teenage experience, mental health, growth, and most importantly, recovery.

Poetry Club  

When Martin’s wife passes away, he’s left at a loose end that he intends to tie up by starting a poetry discussion group. Playing out over the first meeting, 'Poetry Club' (working title) brings together a group of unusual people who readily make assumptions about one another.

You’ve met them all before, and you might even have been one of them. How do our first impressions of people guide the way in which we interact with them? What causes us to change our minds?

£10 Standard

£9 Concession

£8 Performing Arts Members

This show is taking place at the Collingwood Arts Centre, Collingwood College Durham

The performances will last approximately 3 hours total (approx 50 minutes per play, with an interval after each performance).