MAW LARP Event: Becoming Boro with Furtherfields

Middlesbrough Art Week 2025, the North East’s leading contemporary art festival, returns for its eighth edition with an ambitious program of artist and community exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks, and public interventions happening across the town from September 25th to October 4th.Middlesbrough Art Week is built on collaboration, support, and the nurturing of creative practices. This year, it weaves together diverse artistic voices and community perspectives into a collective expression of solidarity. Under the evocative theme In All Possible Worlds, the festival dares to imagine a future shaped by creativity, resilience, and hope. MAW25 embraces this uncertainty, offering a space where we see and feel through one another’s eyes. By providing space for mutual support and creative nourishment, the festival becomes a platform for new ideas, new perspectives, and the possibility of new worlds, In All Possible Worlds.Middlesbrough Art Week was born in 2017 as an artist-led festival powered by The Auxiliary Project Space, a small growing team of artists, curators and coordinators, and fueled by wide reaching partnerships. MAW supports artist ecologies in the North East, connecting artistic practice and ideas with like-minded peers nationally and internationally, and is committed to practice and not just preach principles of fair work and social justice.www.middlesbroughartweek.comInstagram: @middlesbrough.art.weekTwitter: @MAW_weekender

Middlesbrough Art Week 2025

'Becoming Boro' live action role playing experience will explore a Middlesbrough of the Future

Middlesbrough Town Hall

MAW25 LARP

Becoming ‘Boro is inviting people to explore the part they play in Middlesbrough’s shifting identity and potential futures. A place-based,  live action role-play - a.k.a a LARP - will be the first event of its scale in Teesside.

What does the future of Middlesbrough look like - and what part will you play in shaping it? Becoming ‘Boro is an immersive, people-powered live action role-play (LARP) inviting you to step into a future Middlesbrough and explore how our town’s identity could change in years to come. Through collaborative storytelling, interactive objects, and time-travelling play, you’ll be part of an intimate, game-like experience where your memories, imagination, and ideas help shape the journey. Expect to be challenged, surprised, and inspired as we explore themes of:<ul><li>Middlesbrough’s industrial legacy</li><li>Our changing environment</li><li>Political and social transformation This isn’t theatre. It isn’t a lecture. It’s a chance to co-create new possibilities, together. No experience required, just bring your curiosity, openness, and a willingness to play.</li></ul><h3> What to Expect</h3><ul><li>Immersive storytelling rooted in local history, present-day tensions, and future visions.</li><li>A small-scale interactive experience designed for 15–20 participants per session.</li><li>Power objects that spark imagination, shift perspectives, and enable “time travel.”</li><li>A chance to rehearse new ways of thinking, relating, and imagining Middlesbrough’s future.</li></ul> About the Creators Becoming ‘Boro is developed by Furtherfield, an award-winning London-based arts collective known for creating playful, participatory experiences, and artist Cecilia Wee, in collaboration with Middlesbrough artists, residents, community organisers, and civic partners. This project is presented as part of Middlesbrough Art Week (MAW), the North East’s largest contemporary arts festival and supported by Borderlands, a creative engagement programme amplifying local voices and stories. Funded by Borderlands Creative People &amp; Places, The CPP Programme for Middlesbrough, Redcar &amp; Cleveland, Funded by the Arts Council England , Running from 26 September to 5 October 2025, MAW is a 10-day festival of exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks, and public artworks that reimagine Middlesbrough’s past, present, and future through creativity. Learn more: <a href="" title="" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://middlesbroughartweek.com</a> If you have any specific access requirements, please contact: theauxiliary@gmail.comPlease arrive 15 minutes before the event starts _ <h3>Follow the Project</h3>Furtherfield → <a href="https://www.furtherfield.org/" title="https://www.furtherfield.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.furtherfield.org</a> Borderlands Instagram → <a href="https://www.instagram.com/borderlands_cpp/" title="https://www.instagram.com/borderlands_cpp/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/borderlands_cpp/</a> Borderlands Facebook → <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsCPP" title="https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsCPP" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.facebook.com/BorderlandsCPP</a> Borderlands YouTube → <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BorderLands123" title="https://www.youtube.com/@BorderLands123" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/@BorderLands123</a>