Funded by the Jerwood Foundation, Arvon is pleased to announce the Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies, a new talent development programme for emerging writers. The residencies will support 12 writers working in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting, giving them the opportunity to bring a project to completion over the course of the self-guided 18-month programme.
Each Jerwood Arvon Writer Residency is fully funded and consists of:
Residencies will run from February 2026 to July 2027, culminating in an online showcase event to which literary agents, publishers and other industry professionals will be invited.
Do It Together (DIT) is a peer-to-peer professional development programme that enables artists to explore ideas, aesthetics and sociopolitical realities together.
In collaboration with 19 national partners, LADA invites proposals for 10 peer-to-peer professional development projects designed by artists for artists to take place across the UK between March and September 2026.
We want to hear from artists and practitioners eager to design and lead a peer-to-peer project that benefits your own practice and others’, and explores questions, ideas, tools and methodologies in a shared, process-led space.
DIT is about learning with each other – not teaching others what we already know. Your proposal should set the frame of a collective enquiry for a group of artists to explore together. The most important thing is that you consider why it is important to do the activity with other artists, how you will do it together and what becomes possible through sharing the process.
DIT celebrates the unfixed, the unruly and the unconventional. We are looking for ideas that are rooted in our new realities, and those which create portals into the unknown. This is an opportunity to do things differently, and to support each other to challenge the status quo.
Calling all theatre makers, writers and performers. We’re looking for submissions of new or work-in-development pieces for our upcoming Scratch Night, a relaxed, supportive evening where artists can test out ideas, share work in progress, and receive valuable audience feedback.
We welcome applications from creatives at any stage of their career and are especially keen to hear from local or underrepresented voices in the arts.
Work should be no longer than 10 minutes, require only basic technical support, and be suitable for performance in the Court Room at The Old Town Hall, Trowbridge.
The event will take place on the evening of Friday 21st November 2025.
Selected pieces will receive a £150 fee, rehearsal time in the space, and the chance to perform in a supportive environment.
We are looking for emerging theatre directors based outside London to join Headlong Origins 2026, our year-long artist development programme supporting directors across the UK.
Running January–December 2026, this part-time scheme is designed to fit around your work and help you take the next step toward main-stage directing. It offers a blend of artistic support, mentoring, and practical experience with Headlong’s productions and creative processes. You’ll become part of a small cohort of directors and given the opportunity to explore and develop your own individual practices as a director with the support of your peers and the Headlong team. Across the year, you’ll also connect with our partner organisations, and guest artists, and be able to immerse yourselves in the day to day working of a national touring theatre company.
‘Creative Wellbeing’ – the title seems self-explanatory, but when does it get taught? Talked about? Not only will this workshop examine ways in which we can nurture our stress as artists, but will also look at how to identify and advocate for your boundaries - both in process and practice. What comes after you’ve said “no”? How does creative risk continue? You will be practically exploring exactly that. Other topics may include neurodiversity, burnout and supporting others. Creative Wellbeing aims to give young people aged 14-21 the language and confidence to create theatre healthily, honestly and unbound.
Are you a Wandsworth woman of Caribbean heritage interested in learning more about playwriting? Read on, this could be for you!
Wave Writers is a series of free, playwriting workshops for local women from African and Caribbean backgrounds launching this October at Arches Lane Theatre.
We invite you to have fun while getting creative, learning some new skills, and making new friends.
Local playwright Zakiyyah Deen will lead our meetings, creating a supportive, social environment as we craft stories celebrating African and Caribbean culture. All levels of experience are welcome.
After our four session, Zakiyyah will write a short play inspired by all we've shared. We'll meet up in November to read the play on our mainstage. Fun times!
8, 15, 22 & 29 October 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Can't make all the sessions? Not to worry; join us for the ones you can.
Submissions are now OPEN for the second year of the Bill Cashmore Award: One Act Play Prize
The Bill Cashmore Award, presented by Young Lyric, offers a paid opportunity for two new one-act plays by writers aged 18-30, to be professionally produced at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. The two winning plays will run as a double bill and will be performed by the Lyric’s Springboard trainee actors in Autumn 2026.
The two successful writers will:
We particularly welcome submissions from those who are underrepresented in theatre and/or situated in areas culturally underserved. Please see our FAQs for more details.
Applications are now open for our annual development lab for new work from solo (or duo) theatremakers.
Working alone or in pairs can be hard. Starting Blocks helps with that.
Starting Blocks connects and supports artists who have new, experimental ideas that need development. It invites artists to make a home at CPT for ten weeks, introduces them to others on the same journey, and supports them to realise their creative ideas as ambitiously, and in as supportive and fun an environment, as possible.
In recent years, Rachel Mars’ hit show The Way You Tell Them, Louise Orwin’s Pretty Ugly, Haley McGee’s The Ex Boyfriend Yard Sale and 2018 Underbelly Untapped Award-winner Queens of Sheba by Nouveau Riche have all started life on Starting Blocks and gone on to national and international tours, four and five star reviews, with extended runs at CPT and beyond. Some of our last cohort have now been programmed for longer-running shows this autumn season.
We will support 5 or 6 solo artists, or pairs of artists, across the programme. Each project will receive:
A hands-on and interactive morning of workshops, behind-the-scenes venue tour, music industry careers sessions and career pathway discussions, all leading to a creative challenge for ages 14-18.
Join us on either 19th or 26th November.
This opportunity is part of the West of England Discover! Creative Careers Takeover, in collaboration with: Get Into Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Beacon, The Redgrave, Prime Theatre, The Egg Theatre, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Bristol Hippodrome.
Please note, this is for school groups only. Sign up via the Discover! Opportunity Finder.
Come and find out all about the roles behind-the-scenes in a theatre.
An informative and fun morning for 11-14-year-olds who want to find out more about what it takes to run a theatre – who works behind the curtain, how did they end up here, and what do they actually do each day?
Meet a range of people including backstage technicians, front of house staff, marketeers, fundraisers, events managers, finance team members, actors, directors, and producers...
This opportunity is part of the West of England Discover! Creative Careers takeover, in collaboration with: Get Into Theatre, Bristol Beacon, St George’s, The Redgrave, Prime Theatre, The Egg Theatre, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Bristol Hippodrome.
Please note, this is for school groups only. Sign up via the Discover! Opportunity Finder or via Bristol Old Vic's website.
