Being a designer is expensive. You need a powerful computer. You need costly software. There’s always a new version you have to buy, and every company is trying to scam you into their subscription model. Too many brilliant creatives are being gated out, so we’re knocking down the gate.
This season, we're launching the pilot of Universal Basic Assets for theatre designers, an initiative through which we'll offer free access to tools, equipment, software, and desk space that might otherwise be cost-prohibitive for artists looking to learn, grow, and develop their craft.
Introducing: The Freelancers' Laptop. We've got a high spec MacBook Pro with licenses for AutoCAD, QLab, Logic, Capture, and the full Adobe Suite. And we want you to come and use it. For free. While you're with us, you'll be welcomed into the daily life of the New Diorama, where the coffee flows and theatre makers are devising the future of performance.
If you’re a theatre designer who would benefit from using the laptop and its software, and has found cost to be a barrier to accessing these resources, this one’s for you. We're currently accepting applications for use of the laptop between 19th October - 18th December 2026.
The Offer:
Eligibility:
This opportunity is open to freelance theatre designers working on research and development or currently engaged in the production process on new theatre and performance work. If successful, we ask that you commit to spending the majority of your working hours onsite at New Diorama during your allocated weeks, making use of the laptop resource. In order to maximise the impact of this resource, designers who hold full-time salaried positions within the field are not eligible to apply.
We are particularly interested in supporting designers at earlier stages of their practice, as well as designers who are working on devised, collaborative or non-traditional processes for whom this resource might support experimentation and the testing of ideas.
Given that the laptop and software are communal resources, the programme may best suit designers working on projects at earlier stages of development, rather than delivering work that is near completion or subject to strict deadlines. We're open to a wide variety of usages, but it's worth taking into consideration whether your projects will suit the boundaries places around the programme — the laptop will need to remain onsite at NDT and access to the laptop is limited to Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm.
We will not be asking any questions or doing any screening around financial need, but ask that you please consider whether this is a resource that you already have access to before applying. The laptop is primarily intended for designers for whom equipment and software access have been limited and cost-prohibitive.
We will reserve 50% of the allocation for designers who are Black, Asian, and/or Global Majority, Disabled or Deaf, Working Class, and/or trans.
Selection Process:
Access to the laptop will be allocated through lottery selection in two phases: one launching in September 2026 to cover the autumn period and the other launching in December 2026 to cover the spring.
Each lottery will take place in two stages: the first will allocate priority spaces and the second will cover the remaining pool of applications. Anyone who is unsuccessful in the priority draw will be placed in the wider pool for the second draw.
The draw will take place immediately following the end of each application period, with successful applicants confirming their usage weeks and signing a letter of agreement with New Diorama.
Apply Now!
Applications for the first phase of lottery selection (October - December 2026) are now open. The deadline to apply is Thursday 1st October 2026 at 6:00pm. All applicants will be notified of their lottery outcome by Friday 16th October.
For more information and to apply, click the Opportunity Info link below!
