I will be appearing at Counterplay International Festival of Play, in Denmark in May! Come along! It sounds like it's going to be A LOT of fun.

CounterPlay ’26: And so we play…

Dates: 7-9 May, 2026
Place: Kolding School of Design, Ågade 10, 6000 Kolding, Denmark

CounterPlay is a festival of play, based at Kolding School of Design in Denmark. Here's what they say in their blurb:

"We look forward to welcoming you to three inspiring days dedicated to celebrating and exploring how play can help us live better lives together...

"At Kolding School of Design, we believe play is not a distraction from the serious challenges of our time, but a powerful way of engaging with them. By hosting CounterPlay, we aim to create a shared space of inquiry – a space where designers, researchers, educators, and practitioners come together to investigate how play shapes communities, sparks new thinking, and opens pathways towards more imaginative and sustainable futures."

More info and booking here.

What Get's In The Way Of Play?

I will be presenting an improvised performance lecture and a workshop explore the theme: What gets in the way of play?

Performance Lecture: What gets in the way of play?

Thursday May 7th 16.30

Meet Holly's inner cast of characters; there's Patricia, Holly's inner academic, Del, Holly's inner critic and a huge selection of other parts who might turn up to explore our theme: what gets in the way of play? 

Drawing on Internal Family Systems (IFS), mixed with Fooling, this performance-lecture will be largely improvised by Holly and her inner cast. There will be optional audience interaction, as you'll be invited to dive into the inquiry alongside Holly. How do your inner parts stop you from playing? And how might curiosity and compassion towards these parts be the gateway to more play?

Workshop: What gets in the way of play?

Friday May 8th 10.30

This workshop will offer a creative exploration of the parts that pop up when we play. By “Parts,” I mean our inner voices, i.e. the inner critic, the inner perfectionist, the inner child, the inner cool cat, etc. Drawing on Internal Family Systems (IFS), dramatherapy and play, we'll be exploring: how do our parts hinder our play? And how might getting to know our parts bring more play?

For more info and booking, click here.

Hope to see some of you there!