Apply now for the Mercury Creatives Directors programme
The Mercury Creatives Directors Programme enters its sixth year and will be led by the Mercury’s Artistic Director, Natasha Rickman.
The programme will support a group of ten people to guide and mentor them through the page-to-stage directing process through a series of nine workshop sessions.
The successful cohort will also have opportunities to take part in a number of masterclasses led by experienced directors and creatives across the commercial and subsidised sectors facilitated through the Mercury Creatives programme.
Applicants do not need to have any previous directing experience.
If you would like to apply, we ask you to:
– Be over the age of 18
– Complete the form below in as much detail as required
– Tell us about your connection with the East of England – as all applicants must be from or currently live in this area to take part.
The directors’ cohort sessions are from 6-8pm as follows and will take place in person at the Mercury Theatre and/or Zoom:
Wed 8 Jul 2026
Wed 22 Jul 2026
Wed 5 Aug 2026
Wed 19 Aug 2026
Wed 2 Sep 2026
Wed 16 Sep 2026
Wed 7 Oct 2026
Wed 2 Dec 2026
Wed 6 Jan 2027
Applications are now open!
Applications are open from Fri 15 May 2026 and the deadline is midnight on Fri 12 Jun 2026.
Confirmations of your place will be provided by Fri 26 Jun.
In addition to 18 hours of mentoring, Mercury Directors benefit from:
If you have any queries, please contact mercury.creatives@mercurytheatre.co.uk.
20 July - 7 August 2026
We are excited to open up space at the SPILL Think Tank, Ipswich, for another series of artist residencies. If you’d like to spend a week in our White Room, researching and developing a new idea, then we’d love to hear from you. We provide an honorarium of £1000 for each residency, and the deadline for applications is Monday 15 June at 12pm.
Who is it for?
Would you like to see your writing performed by professional actors? Are you interested in learning more about writing for stage?
Wac Arts is thrilled to continue our intergenerational series with a free creative writing project exploring how theatre and storytelling can promote positive conversations and relationships across the community.
We are looking for young people aged 16 – 24 with an interest in creative writing and theatre to take part in a series of weekly workshops with members of the University of the Third Age at Wac Arts. Under the guidance of playwright Beth Flintoff, Associate Playwright at The Royal Court, the group will explore key aspects of writing for theatre, receive 1:1 script development support and create a series of pieces that will be performed by professional actors.
Workshop Dates & Times: Monday 1st June - 13th July 16:30 - 18:30
Final Sharing Date & Time: Sunday 19th July 13:00 - 17:00
Location: Wac Arts, 213 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QP
Cost: Free
Application Form: https://forms.office.com/e/GQeAuaEEuA
No previous experience needed.
For more information please visit our website.
Would you like to see your writing performed by professional actors? Are you interested in learning more about writing for stage?
Wac Arts is thrilled to continue their intergenerational series with a free creative writing project exploring how theatre and storytelling can promote positive conversations and relationships across the community.
They are looking for young people aged 16 – 24 with an interest in creative writing and theatre to take part in a series of weekly workshops with members of the University of the Third Age at Wac Arts. Under the guidance of playwright Beth Flintoff, Associate Playwright at The Royal Court, the group will explore key aspects of writing for theatre, receive 1:1 script development support and create a series of pieces that will be performed by professional actors.
Dates: 1 June - 13 July, 16.30pm - 18.30pm
Final Sharing Date: 19 July, 13.00pm - 17.00pm
Location: Wac Arts, 213 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QP
Theatre Making: the Designer-Director Collaboration is a one-day workshop aimed at early career theatre designers and directors. This workshop uses practical exercises to interrogate the process of making work collaboratively.
As an early career director, you may have graduated from a related directing course and made work in:
Please note we are only looking for directors as the designer places are now full.
This workshop will take place on Monday 15 June, 10am – 6pm.
This workshop has been developed by long-time collaborators: designer Georgia Lowe and director Anthony Lau. We hope this workshop will be a space for designers and directors to meet and begin new partnerships.
Participants will be asked to read a one act play in advance of the workshop.
There will be optional networking drinks after the workshop from 6pm. There is also an optional breakfast from 9.20am.
This project is free to take part in. We can offer support access support and financial aid for travel bursaries are available to those in the Greater London area.
We are offering funding for two artists/collectives to work towards a piece that they would want to share with young audiences. You will not be expected to end the project with a finished idea, this is about having time to think about what you want to create, to spend time on an idea you’ve had for a while, or a new one, and to explore ideas for how and where you would want to present the work to a young audience.
Project Outline:
Application Deadline: 11:00, Monday 18 May 2026
Conversations with Catherine Wheels Team: 15 & 16 June 2026
Artists Announced: Friday 19 June 2026
Project Runs: September 2026 – March 2027
Fee: £5,000 per project
Who We Are Looking For:
● We want artists and individuals from any creative background to apply. Whether you are a
theatre maker, writer, director, musician, choreographer, lighting or set designer, technician,
or someone who doesn’t fit neatly into any description, we would love to hear from you.
The one key requirement is that you have an idea that you want to explore and share with
young audiences.
● We want our children to hear different stories and ideas, from a variety of voices and
perspectives, that reflect all of Scotland. With this at the forefront of Make Space 2026, we
are keen to hear from a diversity of viewpoints. This could include, but is not exclusive to,
artists who identify as Black, Asian, minority ethnic, D/deaf, disabled, LGBTQ+,
neurodivergent creators, and creators from socio-economic backgrounds who have been
historically under-represented. At least one of the artists supported will come from an
under-represented group.
● Our environmental ethos, and focus on how we can reduce our environmental damage,
influences our decision making in all our projects. We will actively support artists to work as
environmentally consciously as possible.
● We are keen to broaden our ideas and thinking, and invite projects which might challenge
our assumptions.
● You need to be based in Scotland, and we encourage artists from East Lothian, our local
community, to apply. Please note that you will need to work in East Lothian at times during
the project.
What You Can Expect From Us:
Each idea will be awarded £5,000 which you can use to pay for your own time, working with others,
materials and/or associated costs. On top of this we can offer:
● Artistic, technical, producing and marketing support
● Access to resources – sound and lighting etc.
● In person or online sessions/workshops, led by experts and focusing on areas of interest to
the 2026 cohort. Previous sessions included discussions on environmental impact, diversity
and unconscious bias, and working in the community
● As part of the funding we will create ways for all the artists to be connected. This will be
through informal meetings and other events, created to meet the needs of the individuals
and group
● Sharing our connections, with schools, venues and arts organisations
What We Expect of You:
You will need to commit to doing the following over the project:
● Spend time working towards an idea that could be presented to young audiences
● Attend meetings with the Catherine Wheels team
● Attend workshop sessions
● Provide materials for social media so we can share your ideas at key points during the
project
● Prepare a Sharing at the end of the project, to be shared with an online or live audience. This
could include a work-in progress of a live/filmed work, a presentation of what you have been
working on, or a combination of the two
Are you a playwright based in the UK who would love to work with Middle Child? From next week, for one-week only, we're accepting scripts so that we can get to know writers we may work with in the future.
All of the details, including what we are and are not looking for, and where to send your script, are on our website (link in bio).
Pictured is our 2025 production of Biting Point by Sid Sagar, who participated in our 2020 associate writer programme following an open call out.
In the first week of May, Middle Child will accept submissions of full theatre scripts, for our literary manager to read. All you need to do is send it to scripts@middlechildtheatre.co.uk with your name and a location. Please include page numbers.
We want to read a script that shows off your voice and what you like to write about. We’re interested in untold stories that make sense of the world today. We are also only looking for one script per writer.
This Masters gives you a practical and theoretical engagement with the many forms of writing and production for theatre. Blending practice, theory and history, the programme is designed for those wishing to develop playwriting skills and knowledge of script development and support, opening the way to many theatre roles, including dramaturgy. You will learn about the changing roles of the playwright and dramaturge in contemporary theatre in the UK and elsewhere around the world, and be supported to define your own creative practice while developing valuable transferable skills in research, project management and critical reflection.
WHY THIS PROGRAMME
In this course, you will develop your skills in writing for radio, theatre and screen with an emphasis on your individual voice and style.
You will graduate with a portfolio of pieces and an understanding of how to approach theatres and film and TV production companies and work towards securing commissions as a professional playwright or screenwriter.
The MLitt will provide you with technically-oriented tuition by leading contemporary and award-winning playwrights, with an emphasis on best practice in recent and contemporary writing.
At RADA, you learn by doing. You will engage in creatively rigorous and fulfilling vocational training that immerses you in the world of the professional playwright, ensuring you're artistically and practically equipped for the industry. Through continuous reflective practice you will workshop your writing, gain feedback and develop your creative work.
Teaching will be delivered by seminar (lecture and discussion), masterclasses, one-to-one tutorials, group tutorials and writing workshops.
Throughout your training, you will receive personalised feedback and career guidance to develop your expertise, resilience and leadership. The course will also include theatre trips, and prioritise an understanding of access, diversity, and inclusion.
This MA programme will enhance your creative and collaborative abilities while developing your playwriting craft. You will establish your identity as a creative practitioner with the skills and confidence to take an original idea from conception to production.
You will consider the role of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, and the impact they may have on the writing process and creative practice and industries.
Through this course you will write two plays; a one act play for a showcase reading, and the first draft of a full-length play for submission to professional production companies.
