SWIMP26: Jayda Fogel & Lee Apsey - Beyond Formats, Designing new shows

Beyond formats: Designing New Shows Sometimes we need the practical tools to devise new work or create a show around your group's needs and interests. Designing a new show and format can feel daunting. Taking the seed of an idea, this workshop will leave you with tools, techniques and a basic template of a good format. Making the show better and more appealing for a paying theatre audience or Fringe, if that's the aim. We'll brainstorm and play with technical and artistic aspects of edits and formats, theatrical staging, narrative techniques, and marketing a show--it's a format masterclass if you will. Both Jayda Fogel and Lee Apsey have a strong track record in collaborative co-creation and form creation, including their co-creation "SadoMusical" which debuted at the 2025 Colchester Fringe to five-star reviews and sell out shows. Lee as the co-creator of CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation, winner of the "Best Musical/Improv Show" at Leicester Comedy Festival 2023 and "The Comedy Award" at Colchester Fringe 2024. Crime Scene Improvisation has sold out across Europe since its creation in 2014, including at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2016, Brighton Fringe since 2015, Fresh Fest, and more. His other projects include the highly acclaimed shows "Acaprov," "Multiverse," "Your Flaws: The Musical," and the award-nominated "Slice of Rhyme." Jayda's projects include "Ghost Town," Talk Radio" with Tom Tollenaere, and "¡Horario Estelar! The Improvised Telenovela." ¡Horario Estelar! debuted at Impro Amsterdam 2024, playing multiple festivals before opening at the Colchester Fringe 2025 to rave reviews. Specializing in multi-disciplinary experimental theatre, Jayda has toured and taught her projects across Europe including at the Irreverente International Impro Festival 2024: Experimental Edition, Ithaca Improv Festival 2025, and Brighton Fringe 2023. They have a track record in creating successful formats that draw from a mix of improv, film, clowning, theatre, film, storytelling, and playback techniques to specifically appeal to commercial audiences as well as improv communities.