TBTL exhibitions bring stories of joy, community and Cumbrian life to Keswick this season

Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) is inviting audiences to explore two exhibitions from August to November, offering visitors the chance to engage more deeply with the stories and themes at the heart of the theatre’s programme.

Alongside performances on stage, visitors to TBTL can discover Every Brilliant Thing, an exhibition celebrating the things that bring us joy, and Forty Farms, an extraordinary photographic exhibition by award-winning photographer and Cumbrian livestock farmer Amy Bateman.

The exhibitions complement two of TBTL’s productions, extending their themes beyond the stage and into the theatre’s gallery spaces, as well as out into Keswick’s Hope Park.

From Wednesday 12 August to Saturday 5 September, TBTL’s Mezzanine Gallery will host the Every Brilliant Thing Exhibition, created by the creative team behind the returning production of Every Brilliant Thing.

Inspired by the play’s celebration of the everyday things that make life worth living, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on what brings them joy and contribute their own “brilliant thing” to an ever-growing collection.

Visitors can spend time reading contributions from people in the community, listen to a selection of vinyl on the exhibition’s record player and add their own thoughts to the display. The exhibition can be enjoyed before or after a performance, or visited independently during its run.

Meanwhile, Forty Farms is on display across TBTL’s Circle Gallery and outdoors on the railings of Hope Park until 7 November 2026, presented by TBTL in partnership with Keswick Town Council.

Created by award-winning photographer and Cumbrian livestock farmer Amy Bateman, the exhibition documents forty very different farming businesses from across Cumbria. Amy spent more than a year travelling throughout the county, creating intimate portraits of the people behind its farms and exploring the realities of modern farming.

The exhibition forms a natural companion to TBTL’s world premiere production of The Farmer’s Wife, inspired by Helen Rebanks’ Sunday Times best-selling memoir and running in the Main House from 18 September to 10 October 2026.

During the development of the play, playwright Hannah Khalil and TBTL Artistic Director and joint CEO Liz Stevenson met women from across Cumbria’s farming community, including women featured in Forty Farms. Their stories, experiences and perspectives helped inform a new drama celebrating the often-unseen labour, resilience and strength of farming women.

Liz said: “The Farmer’s Wife was created through listening. Hannah and I spent time with Helen Rebanks on her family farm, as well as with many other women across Cumbria whose generosity in sharing their lives shaped the play in countless ways. Amy’s photographs celebrate many of those same communities, making Forty Farms the perfect companion to the production. Together they offer audiences a richer understanding of contemporary farming and the remarkable women at its heart.”

Together, the two exhibitions reflect TBTL’s commitment to creating experiences that allow conversations sparked on stage to continue throughout the building and beyond: from recognising the small, everyday sources of happiness explored in Every Brilliant Thing, to encountering the people and stories behind Cumbria’s farming landscape through Forty Farms.

Both exhibitions are free to visit, giving theatre audiences, Keswick residents and visitors to the town an opportunity to experience them whether or not they are attending a performance.

Every Brilliant Thing Exhibition runs in TBTL’s Mezzanine Gallery from Wednesday 12 August to Saturday 5 September 2026 and Forty Farms runs in TBTL’s Circle Gallery and on the railings of Hope Park until Saturday 7 November 2026. For more information about TBTL’s exhibitions and programme, visit the Theatre by the Lake website.