When singer-songwriter Tom Odell first walked into London’s Roundhouse aged 14, it felt like catharsis. It was the first time Odell – from sleepy Chichester in West Sussex – saw his favourite artist, The Kinks’ Ray Davies, performing in the capital. “It was one of those strangely formative moments,” he remembers. “It blew my mind. Where I grew up, we didn’t have any venues as great. It had a huge influence over me.”
Odell is just one of the starry names paying it forward for Roundhouse Three Sixty, a groundbreaking new festival of contemporary culture happening at the Camden landmark this April. Across 30 days, the venue will offer a range of music, spoken word, theatre, visual arts, podcasts, and club nights, led by some of the biggest names in British talent, with the help of hundreds of young people and emerging artists as part of Roundhouse’s youth network.
Bafta-winning Big Boys creator Jack Rooke – a Roundhouse youth alumnus himself – will present a club-cum-cabaret-cum-comedy night featuring fellow comic Mawaan Rizwan, plus DJ sets by Self Esteem and Lolly Adefope. Odell himself has worked with five young musicians to produce a performance showcasing the art of songwriting. Corrinne Bailey Rae will be performing her 2023 Mercury prize-winning album Black Rainbows from start to finish. If that wasn’t enough, Daniel Kaluuya, an associate artistic director at Roundhouse, will be leading his youth theatre company Centre 59 in an originally devised performance. Things will get looser at Sherelleland, a rave “for anybody and everyone” curated by DJ and electronic musician Sherelle, with tickets priced at £10.
Roundhouse’s youth arts programme has been the training ground for some of the biggest names in British talent for decades – Kaluuya, Rooke, and award-winning musicians such as singer Raye and rapper Little Simz are all among them. The magic happens underneath the main house, where you’ll find 24 state-of-the-art studios designed for young people to explore music, acting and arts initiatives. Roundhouse Three Sixty, is really about continuing the organisation’s ecosystem of nurturing and platforming young talent – and creating a third space for young people to consume arts and culture, all without breaking the bank.
Marcus Davey, the CEO and artistic director at the Roundhouse, says that the festival represents the venue’s commitment to uplifting young creatives. “We're trying to free young people's voices and investing in them,” he tells The Independent. “We want to involve them in projects and courses to help them build their self-esteem and confidence, but also to develop a pathway into the creative industries and build a future.”
In the past year, Roundhouse has worked with more than 10,000 young people aged 11 to 30 across different arts workshops. “We show them pathways into work and inspire access creativity, covering the whole spectrum of jobs in music, theatre, podcasting and film,” says Davey. It’s a welcome initiative considering that arts jobs are dominated by those from wealthy backgrounds. (Fewer than one in 10 arts workers in the UK come from working-class backgrounds, according to a 2024 report by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.)
Most of the young people gracing Roundhouse’s stage throughout April have all been involved in the venue’s youth scheme. And for many of them, it’ll mark their first paid gig. Kaluuya’s Centre 59 company have been working in close proximity to the Get Out star since auditions last summer. “They’re rehearsing two evenings a week and weekends, and then it goes full-time at some point,” Davey says. “Daniel was in two or three days a week during the summer auditioning the company and talking to students.” Davey adds that working with Kaluuya has been an education for everyone at Roundhouse since he joined in 2023: “Each time I speak to him, I feel like I’m learning so much.”
Munya Chawawa & Friends is another exciting Three Sixty show, hosted by the comedian and satirist best known for his viral pop culture skits. The show will be an Avengers assemble of sorts – while the lineup is yet to be announced, we’re assured it’ll feature some of the best British talent. It’ll be similar to “The Royal Variety Show, but without a creeping sense of colonial guilt,” Chawawa puts it in his signature comedy style.
For Chawawa, the Roundhouse has been on his vision board for some time. “It’s one of those venues that you step into and think ‘one day’ with a twinkle in your eye. So when Roundhouse Three Sixty reached out, it felt like a divine invitation to create some magic,” says Chawawa. Upon entering the entertainment industry, he experienced a lot of doors closing in his face. “So these opportunities are brilliant because they allow creatives to do what they do best... showcase their unique talents, rather than triple checking the grammar on their CVs.”
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With tickets starting at £10, Roundhouse hopes that young people will flock to the venue to soak up culture – and get inspired by it – to continue the ecosystem. Odell credits the venue for prioritising affordable admission prices in the current climate that sees concert and festival prices continually skyrocket. “We’ve lived through a decade of austerity and the Roundhouse really bucks that trend,” Odell says. “There are so many barriers to the arts that mean only the kids who can afford to get involved are included, which is frankly ridiculous,” he says.
“It’s so inspiring that the Roundhouse is making arts accessible to all.”
Roundhouse Three Sixty runs from 1 to 30 April. The full programme and tickets are available here.
