Ensemble Not Found’s show, Woo Woolf, returns to London next month as part of the Voila! Festival.
“This is not a Virginia Woolf bio-play. Devised by an all migrant ensemble, Woo Woolf is a playful protest that reaches across time, culture, and language to meet Virginia Woolf in mischief and metaphor. Tracing gendered histories, fleeting memories, and migrant feelings through bodies, screens, and shifting voices, the piece invites new ways of seeing, feeling, and remembering across language and tradition.
Created by Ensemble Not Found (ENF), a collective of first-generation ESEA artists, Woo Woolf draws inspiration from Woolf’s diaries and gender philosophy to explore fluid identity through movement, multilingual text, and audiovisual performance.”
Where: The Cockpit
When: 4-9 Nov
Ticket link: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/woo-woolf-3/
Director Xiaonan Wang tells more about the show.
Tell me a bit about your show. Where did the idea come from?
Woo Woolf has been developing since 2023. It’s made by an all-migrant, all-female collective, and we draw inspiration from Virginia Woolf — her ideas on gender and identity really resonated with us.
The piece mixes movement, multilingual text, and visuals. It blends everyday conversations with surreal images, so it feels both familiar and dreamlike.
Some of my filmmaker friends actually called it “speculative fiction,” which I love. The idea started from Woolf’s rhythm and thoughts, but really, it comes from our own lives — and the women around us.
We wanted to bring that rhythm, that pulse of her writing, onto the stage.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve read Woolf’s work or not — the story isn’t about her, but about three imaginative characters.
I believe that after watching this show, you’ll feel Woolf is somehow familiar when you meet her again.
Why should audiences choose your show? How would you sell it in one sentence?
Because it’s fun, it’s beautiful, and it makes you think. It’s playful with language and visually rich. Something you can enjoy with both your eyes and your heart.
In one sentence:
A visually stunning, movement-filled reimagining of Virginia Woolf. From everyday life where dreamlike fantasies and fluid identities come alive on stage.
What does being part of the Voila! Festival mean to you?
We’re so happy to be part of Voila! Festival. When we saw what the festival is about multilingual, multicultural voices, we thought, “This is exactly where Woo Woolf belongs.”
Performing at The Cockpit is also amazing. The space really lets the piece breathe. And it’s such a joy to meet other artists, share energy, and just be surrounded by that creative fire during the festival.
How did you make a start in the industry?
After I graduated from East 15, with a few friends we started a collective called Ensemble Not Found to make the show Project Atom Boi. It actually began as one member’s degree show, but then it won an award at VAULT Festival, which was a big surprise for us.
That gave us some attention and momentum, and we’ve just kept going since then. Making work, learning, and supporting each other along the way.
And because of this team, I started working as a theatre-maker rather than just an actor. Woo Woolf was my first work in that role.
What’s next for the show?
We’d love to make a longer version of Woo Woolf. During rehearsals, we discovered there’s now more space for it to grow, but for the festival version we had to keep it tight.
We’re also planning a double-bill tour outside London with another piece – Fancy a Bite?. That one also looks at women’s perspectives, but from a more intimate, internal angle.