Are you an artist, performer or maker developing a project inspired by the River Thames or its tidal tributaries? Do you want extra support to take part in Totally Thames Festival 2026?
Totally Thames Festival is an annual season of unique, diverse and accessible arts and culture throughout the month of September.
We collaborate with artists, communities and river interest organisations to explore the river’s past, to celebrate its present, and to protect its future.
Apply to our Seed Funder and receive up to £1000 budget, marketing, and development support.
We are open to ideas across all artforms including theatre, dance, music, visual art, environmental artwork and installation.
What we offer:
Are you passionate about creating characters, worlds and scenes? Do you have a big idea for a theatre script but don’t know how to go about it? Would you like guidance on script writing and storytelling from leading industry professionals?
Script School is a 3-month theatre writing programme for young people aged 19-30* in London who are unemployed or underemployed, and not in education, and do not have a GCSE, A Level or foundation/degree in Drama and performing arts.
Script School is a Level 2, 3-month theatre writing course, run by National Youth Theatre in partnership with UCG (United Colleges Group). Participants work to gain an OCN London Region Level 2 Extended Certificate in Theatre Writing and Storytelling.
Places are available to both NYT members and non-members.
If you have experienced physical, systemic, or attitudinal barriers to accessing the arts, you can extend your opportunity to take part in NYT opportunities including Script School
Examples of people who may have faced barriers to accessing the arts include disabled people, care leavers, young carers, asylum seekers/refugees, people with experience of homelessness, people with experience of the criminal justice system.
NYT has a broad understanding of disability which includes those who are: neurodiverse, chronically ill, have a learning disability, a mental health condition or who are at higher risk from COVID. You might not have thought of yourself as disabled before, but if you experience barriers because of how your body or mind works, you can apply for a membership extension.
The Course will run from the week commencing 23rd February 2026 until the week ending 29th May 2026.
Lessons will be every Monday and Tuesday in person at National Youth Theatre. The hours for these lessons will be 10:30 AM-4:30 PM. There will also be a shorter online Zoom session that will be every Thursday from 5:30 PM-7PM.
The brand-new series of In Dialogue - the podcast for emerging artists, is now here. Whether you’re an aspiring theatre-maker, performer, writer, director or producer, then this one’s for you.
Across four episodes, these five artists dive into topics like nailing your audition, building creative partnerships, touring as a performer and producing autobiographical work.
If you're looking to elevate your creativity and your career, make sure to tune in – this is one series you won’t want to miss!
First episode is now available to stream, search Scottish Youth Theatre wherever you get your podcasts or use the link in the bio to listen now.
Collective Acting Studio's BA Acting degree course offers full-time industry-focused actor-training.
This course places a strong emphasis on screen acting – with 50% of the curriculum devoted to this area of the industry – alongside a rigorous training for the stage.
During our BA Acting you will:
There will also be an emphasis on fostering the skills needed to create your own work – such as screenwriting and producing.
Study in state-of-the-art theatre and studio spaces situated in our beautiful Grade 2-listed building – just 10 minutes from London’s West End.
At Collective we champion groups who have traditionally been underrepresented within the Performing Arts – specifically in terms of ethnicity, disability and class.
Belong to a diverse and inclusive community where everyone is welcome!
Being in a Collective class, is like entering a room full of energy. Where actors will constantly be pushing forward their work as actors – and more importantly as creatives. Everyone is offered a chance for their input on the work, and the teachers set a culture of holding ourselves as a creative to a high standard.
BONY FONSECA, BBC’S EASTENDERS
The Curriculum:
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
During the second year you will undertake more stylised and genre-based forms of acting.
Projects include:
YEAR 3
The final year will focus on public performance and preparation for the industry.
Projects include:
Entrance to the course is via audition.
Seed funded performance opportunity for artists of any discipline, at no cost to the artist with 100% of Box Office split in your favour!
Do you have an idea or work-in-progress that would benefit from £200 seed funding, production support and 2 free performances with 100% of the box office split going to you? Now's your chance to take part in our early-career development programme to receive the live feedback you need to take your project to the next level...
We are now calling out for artists to take part in our Summer season of SHIFT+SPACE, running from 13th February until the 18th April 2026. SHIFT+SPACE is a free performance opportunity in our central London venue, with 100% of Box Office retained by artists, plus seed funding, in-kind rehearsal space and marketing support, all of which is designed to encourage artists to get live audience feedback at an early stage of creating new work.
We are particularly keen to hear from companies that are led by Black, Asian, and/or Global Majority artists, Disabled or Deaf artists, Working Class artists, and/or trans artists.
Previous SHIFT + SPACE artists include theatrical new writing readings, drag/character comedy, shadow puppetry, dance and performance art, sound installations and more! What makes our programming different from other work-in-progress festivals is our unique feedback model - where you receive feedback on your first showing and you are encouraged to use your second showing to try out a shifted version the following day.
Quick-fire scratch nights for adventurous new writing in theatre and performance! The Scrap is an open-access night for writers, actors and directors to try out new ideas, meet one another, and showcase their work in front of an audience. Live music, good drinks, and cool new theatre.
Here we're looking for companies or ensembles to present a short work or excerpt from a piece they've been developing independently - usually about 25 minutes, max 30. These would be pieces that already have a team attached, and which have undergone development, rehearsal, and more thorough preparation. We usually programme one or two scratches per Scrap.
We're looking for work (or an excerpt) that is 20 - 30 minutes in length, that has a team already attached, and has undergone some previous workshopping (but which hasn't received a full-scale production).
We try to place no strictures on form, content, genre, team or style for our scratches: absolute minimal gatekeeping. All we ask is that you be adventurous and try something new!
A CPD opportunity for teachers to embed drama and creativity into their teaching, through working with a Bristol-based theatre company, Travelling Light.
Want to shake up your physics lesson but need some inspiration? Join Travelling Light on an exploration of how to incorporate more Drama into your classroom. Find out how a team of artists and teachers used arts-based learning to refresh their existing curriculum, whilst supporting pupil oracy, emotional literacy and wellbeing.
Key aims of the session:
Slots available in Bristol (8th Dec), Weston-Super-Mare (9th Dec) or Bath (11th Dec).
Please note, this is for teachers only.
Self-Care Workshops for Individual Artists. Artists can sign up for a maximum of 2 workshops – we will be running a waiting list.
This seminar is led and designed by Dr Annette Clancy for artists navigating the highs and lows of a professional career exploring how creative practitioners can work with disappointment to build long-term resilience.
Morning Session - Start time 10am. Finish time 12pm.
Afternoon Session - Start time 1pm. Finish time 3pm.
Tea / coffee provided at registration.
Number of places at each session - 24.
Polka’s Catapult Programme consists of two seed funding strands, which are designed to platform underrepresented Artists and to help bring brand new ideas and concepts to life. Both programmes are open to Artists at any stage of their career, and from any creative discipline.
The TYA sector is currently significantly underrepresented with work from artists from the Global Majority, who identify as disabled, LGBTQ+, or who come from a lower socio-economic background. There is also a real need to identify brand new stories for children – those not adapted from books, tv shows or films or western fairy tales. We are looking for artists who can address these gaps, with the very best innovative new ideas for children’s theatre.
First Steps: For brand new ideas for audiences of 0-6 years
Next Steps: For taking that first draft or second R&D to the next stage for audiences of 0-12 years
Both strands offer mentoring, training, free rehearsal space, scratch performance opportunities and tickets to Polka productions.
The Black Artists Grant (BAG) offered by Creative Debuts as a no-strings attached financial support to help Black artists. They can spend the grant on whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses.
This grant has been set up because Black artists are systematically under-supported by the art world; by institutions, curators, the artist-led scene, major and minor funding bodies, the market, art schools, and by audiences too.
Creative Debuts recognises that a full institutional overhaul and dismantling of racist structures is required to transform the industry permanently, but they hope in a small way that this grant will help enable recipients to continue their artistic practice when the odds are so stacked against them
There is no deadline as this is a monthly rolling grant, no age limit, and the grant does not expect any outcomes or reporting. Please only apply once, if you apply in February for example, you are still eligible for selection in a different month, all applications are kept and reviewed.
