Seed Commissions

These commissions, supported by funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, recognise that artists from the Global Majority, Deaf and disabled artists, and artists from working-class backgrounds are under-represented in contemporary theatre – and addresses this under-representation.

CPT acknowledges the significant barriers to professional participation in theatre, particularly post-Covid-19, for many artists, especially those from under-represented backgrounds.

Successful projects emerging from the scheme in recent years include Flawbored’s It’s a MotherF**king Pleasure, Lanre Malaolu’s Elephant in the Room, Lagahoo Productions’ Bogeyman and Paula Varjack’s The Cult of K*nzo.

What we’re looking for:

• New work: new ideas, or projects still at the early work-in-progress stage
• Work that reflects CPT’s focus on current social, political or cultural concerns
• Bold, unconventional and innovative work, that takes the artform in new directions
• Devised, self-made and/or solo work

Please bear in mind, we are unlikely to consider ‘plays’ as traditionally understood, ‘new writing’, formally conventional work, straight monologues, or any work made according to the usual writer-director-actor hierarchies. We cannot accept scripts with your application. Please click this link to familiarise yourself with CPT’s artistic priorities.

What we’re offering:

• £1000 seed commission
• One week’s R&D space between May – Sept 2024
• A performance at a CPT scratch night between June and October 2024
• Dedicated producing support from CPT’s in-house producer
• Connection to a network of commissioned artists
• Mentoring from CPT team; marketing support in advance of public performances; technical support; support with access needs where required
• Ongoing development opportunities. CPT hopes seed commissions will lead to longer-term relationships with artists, and has funds allocated to support this. We will do what we can to offer projects further support.

These seed commissions are only open to artists from marginalised backgrounds, specifically global majority artists*, disabled artists, d/Deaf artists and/or artists from working-class backgrounds.

*This includes people of Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, East Asian, South East Asian, Middle Eastern, Arab, Latinx, Jewish, Romany and Irish Traveller heritage.