Friday New Pathways
This week's new development opportunities for artists and theatre professionals
This week on Friday New Pathways, The Bush Theatre is offering three bursaries for trans artists as part of their Protest series. We have some brilliant Scratch Night opportunities to test out new work in front of live audiences in Birmingham with Scatter Theatre’s Draft Includers and in London with the Psychonaut Scratch at Theatre Deli.
In training and development, Hightide are offering a free online workshop for Playwrights on Playwriting, Devising and Collaborating with Aisha Zia. Polka Theatre and Page One Theatre have developed a new 10 week course in Devising work for Early Years theatre, and Babel Theatre company is running a series of Babel Labs, for performance makers working in visual theatre, dance, or movement, across three weekends later this year.
In Scotland, Theatre in Schools Scotland is looking for applications from artists and companies based in Scotland with an existing production to tour to schools, and in Wales, Aberwystwyth Arts Centre are offering one of the Magnetic international residencies in collaboration with Frac Bretagne, Brittany.
The Bush Theatre in London have opened submissions for a new bursary for trans artists as part of their Protest series. There are three £150 bursaries available for artists in response to the changing political landscape for trans people, particularly the Supreme Court ruling on definitions of sex and gender, and the EHRC guidance that has followed.
There is no expectation of a specific outcome attached to these bursaries. The team invite artists to use these funds however feels most meaningful for them. This could be anything from an artistic piece, a community event, or paying for your own rest as a form of protest. Deadline for submissions: Monday 9 June.
Scatter Theatre in Birmingham are launching a new scratch night, Draft Includers, for West Midlands creatives to come together to share work, offer feedback and connect.
Join for an evening of creativity, networking, and inspiration on Tuesday 24th June at The Victoria pub, Birmingham. Head upstairs for a 7pm start. Whether you're a theatre-maker, writer, performer or looking for somewhere to be on a Tuesday night, this is an open and welcoming space to test ideas and meet other artists.
Psychonaut Theatre have teamed up with Theatre Deli to open applications for their second Pyschonaut Scratch Night in London.
This will take place on Saturday 12th July at 7:00pm at Theatre Deli. Followed by a networking event, the community will come together to find new collaborators and share performance in an invigorating, inspiring space.
The team are looking for alternative performance pieces in the early stages of their development, for a showing of 5-7 minutes. The night will feature 8 performances. Pieces will be prioritised that are formally inventive, can benefit from being shown in front of a live audience, and that are often overlooked by traditional scratch night opportunities.
Hightide Theatre, based in the East of England, is running an online zoom workshop, Playwrights East: Playwriting, Devising and Collaborating with Aisha Zia.
This workshop is for playwrights at all stages and experience levels interested in building positive and dynamic relationships with other creatives in their work.
This will take place on 19th June 2025, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, online via Zoom. Any one who books will be sent links for the session via email roughly 3 hours before the scheduled start time.
Polka Theatre in Wimbledon have teamed up with Page One Theatre to announced a new training course in Devising work for Early Years theatre.
This is a 10 week programme for adults, which will cover all the essentials for exploring how to make theatre for an early years audience. Join Chloe Stephens from Page One Theatre and guest speakers from Polka’s Producing and Artistic teams to develop your skills in this practical and joyful course.
Dates - Wednesdays between 24 September - 3 December (no session 29 October)
Time - 7 - 9pm
Price - £264 (£220 + VAT). Book before 1 June and save £24*
Babel Theatre, based in Brixton in London, is running a series of Babel Labs, for performance makers working in visual theatre, dance, or movement who want to deepen their practice, expand their toolkit, and be part of a bold, generous community of makers.
Over three weekends, the sessions will explore a new trilogy of Labs: Elements and Atmosphere (5th & 6th July), Co-Creative Movement (30th & 31st August) and Moment Making (1st & 2nd November) - each one offering practical methods, physical exploration, and space to evolve the artistic voice.
You can attend a single Lab, or join for the full journey across the year.
Individual Lab: £120
Full Series Pass: £300 (instalments available)
Theatre in Schools Scotland is looking for applications from artists and companies based in Scotland with an existing production suitable for pupils within their audience range from Nursery-Secondary 2 (S2) – ages within 4-14 years.
These can be remounted productions suitable for touring into school halls and classrooms from Sep 2026 - March 2027, or associated productions looking to extend existing touring dates. The fee for rehearsal / remount is £6000-£8000 and the fee for touring £1500-£2500 per week Application Deadline: 12:00 noon on Friday 20 June 2025.
Aberwystwyth Arts Centre and Frac Bretagne in Rennes, Brittany, are teaming up for Magnetic, part of the Fluxus Art Projects that brings together ten institutions to create a network of artist residencies in French regions and UK nations.
The team are looking for 2 artists, 1 based in Brittany to take part in the residency here in Wales, and 1 based in Wales to take part in the residency in Brittany.
Societal and environmental issues are at the heart of the programme: the residencies are bespoke to each host institution and their immediate locality, where the artists are invited to respond to specific geographical, historical, social, or artistic contexts.
Artists will receive a threshold monthly fee of 2500 € / £ 2100, as well as accommodation, artist studio, curatorial mentoring and international networking. The call for applications is open until July 14, 2025, with residencies starting in Winter 2025-26. Deadline: 14th of July 2025.