Creative Programme

We create theatre that reaches wider audiences while ensuring BESEA stories are developed with depth, complexity and creative ownership.

Our work moves beyond representation to centre the voices and leadership of BESEA artists, nurturing the next generation of writers and makers while creating new possibilities for BESEA theatre in the UK.

What’s on

Events

19 June 2026

The Hungry Ghost

19 June 2026

A sexy horror rom-com exploring what takes root in the space between superstition and rationality. Starring Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac, The Hungry Ghost is the debut play from Mei Leng Yew, directed by New Earth Theatre Artistic Director Ailin Conant.

19 June 2026

14 May 2026

Heartwood

14 May 2026

Previously developed under the title The Gift, Heartwood marks our ground-breaking collaboration with Norwich-based curious directive and NHS Blood and Transplant.

14 May 2026

11 November 2024

James Robson Character Encounter

11 November 2024

Meet James Robson, the cook on board the Cutty Sark. We have three actors performing as James in promenade performances on various days throughout 2025.

11 November 2024

Archive

2020 - Present

Events

19 June 2026

The Hungry Ghost

19 June 2026

14 May 2026

Heartwood

14 May 2026

Previously developed under the title The Gift, Heartwood marks our ground-breaking collaboration with Norwich-based curious directive and NHS Blood and Transplant.

14 May 2026

7 April 2023

Worth

7 April 2023

Inspired by true events, WORTH takes a darkly comic look at family loss and sibling rivalry.

7 April 2023

15 September 2022

The Apology

15 September 2022

New Earth Theatre in association with Arcola Theatre and The North Wall present The Apology by Kyo Choi.

15 September 2022

11 June 2022

Sonic Phở - The Audio Dining Experience

11 June 2022

A unique audio experience, bringing food and stories from Lewisham’s Vietnamese community together.

11 June 2022

23 April 2022

Tsunagu/Connect Live

23 April 2022

Four Japanese women are your tour guides on a kaleidoscopic journey across continents and decades, from Shōwa era Japan to the bedsits of 90’s London, via the Empire Windrush’s final voyage and present-day immigration nightmares.

23 April 2022

22 June 2021

Miss Julie

22 June 2021

New Earth Theatre and Storyhouse present the Storyhouse production of Miss Julie adapted by Amy Ng.

22 June 2021

22 April 2021

Chang and Eng and Me (and Me)

22 April 2021

Using puppetry, music and striptease, this is a show about diaspora, assimilation, and siblinghood; about what happens when you don’t know how to read yourself; and about reaching across history in search of a reflection.

22 April 2021

25 March 2021

Triptych

25 March 2021

Triptych is a new trio of short films by Quang Kien Van reflecting on experiences of Lockdown, Quarantine and Isolation.

25 March 2021

22 March 2021

Bayanihan With Love

22 March 2021

Bayanihan with Love is a project made in response to the adverse effects of the pandemic on the Filipino community in the UK.

22 March 2021

15 February 2021

Duck Rabbit

15 February 2021

Pamela Carter's new film explores family and heritage through the lives of her grandmothers, one in Singapore, the other in England.

15 February 2021

31 October 2020

Signal Fires: Beyond Chinatown

31 October 2020

A British East and South East Asian guide to Manchester’s Past, Present & Future

31 October 2020

14 January 2020

Fix 懼

14 January 2020

Responding to a call-out, a repairman finds himself inexplicably drawn to an old woman and her house in the woods. At first it seems like a simple fix, but as a storm starts to close in, he is forced to confront the ghosts from his past.

14 January 2020

2010 - 2019

Events

2 March 2019

Under the Umbrella

2 March 2019

Tradition, Trauma and Triumph in the Art of Finding Love

2 March 2019

17 October 2018

Forgotten 遗忘

17 October 2018

The forgotten story of the World War One Chinese Labour Corps

17 October 2018

1 March 2018

Mountains: The Dreams of Lily Kwok

1 March 2018

Helen has grown up in the UK, but always felt a piece of her story was missing.

1 March 2018

1 March 2017

Tamburlaine

1 March 2017

Yellow Earth presents Christopher Marlowe's thrilling, controversial and compelling masterpiece, Tamburlaine.

1 March 2017

31 January 2015

Yeh Shen: The World's First Cinderella Story from China

31 January 2015

The story of Yeh Shen first appeared in 9th Century China, over 1,000 years before the first European Cinderella story.

31 January 2015

16 July 2014

The Last Days of Limehouse

16 July 2014

Few people today know there was once a thriving Chinatown in London’s East End. Yellow Earth’s recent production took audiences on a journey into this forgotten world.

16 July 2014

29 October 2013

Dim Sum Nights 2013

29 October 2013

Dim Sum Nights was back in October/November 2013 by popular demand. Brand new and fresh bite sized pieces of theatre were served up with a taste of Dim Sum and Chinese tea.

29 October 2013

1 October 2012

Dim Sum Nights On Tour

1 October 2012

Dim Sum Nights, our unique show that delivered fresh tasty bite sized theatre along side a taste of Chinese Dim Sum completed a tour in Autumn 2012.

1 October 2012

1 October 2011

Dim Sum Nights 2011

1 October 2011

The company's first ever Dim Sum Nights. Bringing Yellow Ink, Yellow Stages and Yellow Academy together, a wide variety of short 10 minute pieces of theatre were served up in a restaurant with Dim Sum and tea. A total of 16 new pieces were presented across four performances.

1 October 2011

23 January 2011

Why the Lion Danced 2011

23 January 2011

This delightful show for families toured to schools and theatre venues for two months.

23 January 2011

2000 - 2009

Events

22 October 2009

wAve

22 October 2009

wAve was created and toured with Boom for Yellow Earth’s Autumn 2009 Tour. Two very different plays by two exciting and talented East Asian writers: Boom by Jean Tay and wAve by Sung Rno.

22 October 2009

21 October 2009

Boom

21 October 2009

Boom was created and toured with wAve for Yellow Earth’s Autumn 2009 Tour. Two very different plays by two exciting and talented East Asian writers: Boom by Jean Tay and wAve by Sung Rno.

21 October 2009

7 August 2008

Pangu and Nüwa, Creators of the World

7 August 2008

An exciting new piece of outdoor theatre suitable for all the family, created to celebrate the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

7 August 2008

1 May 2008

Running the Silk Road

1 May 2008

Exhilarating, refreshing and richly visual, Running the Silk Road blends East and West, telling a modern story mixed with Chinese myths.

1 May 2008

1 November 2006

King Lear

1 November 2006

Presented at the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of the Complete Works Festival, this bold UK premiere of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy is given an exciting modern spin with Britain’s award winning YET and China’s contemporary SDAC, featuring Chinese movie star Zhou Yemang as Lear.

1 November 2006

4 March 2005

The Nightingale

4 March 2005

A visually exciting production of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale for family audiences using dance, music and video. Developed in association with Half Moon Young People’s Theatre and co-produced by Hong Kong Arts Festival in association with Chung Ying Theatre Company, in partnership with the British Council Hong Kong.

4 March 2005

10 November 2004

A new play about numbers, immigration and luck. Produced in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Leicester Haymarket Theatre and The Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury.

10 November 2004

1 March 2004

Festival for the Fish

1 March 2004

A glimpse into the dark underbelly of modern life in Japan. The estranged members of a working class Japanese family gather for the youngest son’s funeral. His diary reveals a deeply scarring Oedipal experience.

1 March 2004

1 November 2003

Lear’s Daughters

1 November 2003

What happened to the three daughters of King Lear before they made their entrances in Shakespeare’s classic?

1 November 2003

2 September 2002

The Butcher’s Skin

2 September 2002

A bittersweet Vietnamese comedy of mistaken identity, The Butcher’s Skin tells the story of Truong Ba, a gentle gardener accidentally struck off the Book of Life by careless gods.

2 September 2002

3 February 2002

Face

3 February 2002

FACE was commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Centre for their FESTIVAL NOW in 1998. It was first developed in English with director Chris Harris in Bristol, and then reworked in Cantonese with director Shu-wing Tang, premiering in Hong Kong with great success.

3 February 2002

1 October 2001

Rashomon

1 October 2001

The thief, the wife and the lover: the theft, the rape and the murder. But who did what, and to whom? Do you believe the living or the dead?

1 October 2001

1 September 2000

Play to Win

1 September 2000

Play To Win is a contemporary, accessible and thought-provoking story which shows the temptations and perils every adolescent faces in school today.

1 September 2000

1996 - 1999

Events

19 September 1999

Blue Remembered Hills

19 September 1999

Innocent nostalgia is shattered in a playfully anarchic staging of Potter’s classic tale. Performed by a multiracial ensemble in a highly physical European style on a set of old, discarded mattresses.

19 September 1999