THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME 2026: THE WINDOW
Six brand new solo shows, specially commissioned for the window at Volcano.
24 SEPTEMBER – 31 OCTOBER 2026
Volcano is delighted to present the shows in our 2026 programme of solo performance commissions, The Shape of Things to Come.
This is the fifth year of this freelance commission series, which began in 2022 as Solo Duets for the Future. The idea is to champion new modes of performance and to make work that looks toward the future.
Each artist creates a brand new original piece in just a fortnight and performs it over three days. All of the shows are short (less than 45 minutes) – designed to fit into busy urban lives and nights out – and we have a range of ticket prices to include everyone.
This year’s performances will all take place in The Window – a prominent and visible space on Swansea High Street, which is more often used as an art gallery. We have chosen work that plays with this location in imaginative ways. You might see shows that venture out into the street and interact with passers-by, shows that use the window like a picture frame, or shows that invite you inside and draw the curtains.
Please note that performance times vary between the different shows.
MULTI SHOW 20% DISCOUNT
Book tickets for two or more shows in the programme* via our Ticketsource page in the same transaction and you will receive an automatic 20% discount.
*excluding Pay-What-You-Can tickets under £5
THE SHOWS…
TIAGO GAMBOGI – Window Cleaner of the Apocalypse
Thursday 24 – Saturday 26 September
The world has ended, but still a migrant cleaner arrives every day to polish the gallery windows. Armed with buckets, spray bottles, samba rhythms, and endless optimism, he attempts to maintain beauty in the face of devastation.
RUFUS MUFASA – Tocyn Iaith
Thursday 01 – Saturday 03 October
Tocyn Iaith is a bilingual show set in a future Wales where the Welsh language is tightly regulated and controlled by official institutions and no longer belongs to communities. You’ll need a valid token to use it. Luckily you have arrived at the correct department.
RACHEL HELENA WALSH – The Swansea Scores
Thursday 08 – Saturday 10 October
Rachel performs a set of original Fluxus scores created especially for The Window. Fluxus is a loose international anti-art movement devoted to democratizing the means of creation by various DIY processes, including the production of simple “scores” or instructions to be interpreted live by performers or audiences.
SAHANA ATHREYA – Monday Morning at Machine Mart
Thursday 15 – Saturday 17 October
In a piece inspired by an encounter in a Cardiff gadget store, Sahana Athreya cuts a slice through daily urban life in the 21st-century High Street, exploring the intersection of migration, climate change and economic life through everyday interactions involving cheap consumer goods.
GEORGIA GRIFFITHS – The Last Place Left
Thursday 22 – Saturday 24 October
In a near-future society where friendship is subscription-based, attention is increasingly monetised, and community is fading – you are part of a small group admitted to The Last Place Left, an underground archive preserving the final remnants of human connection…
ANGHARAD MATTHEWS – If You Had Wings
Thursday 29 – Saturday 31 October
If you had wings, what would you do to change the future? Inspired by the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire, an angel emerges from the rubble of a war-torn future High Street, where she once listened to the thoughts of its inhabitants and comforted them in their distress.
