DARE Festival 5: We Demand A Better Future

Call For Artists

Please note that applications for DARE Festival 5 are now closed, as of noon on 2nd December 2020. We’re leaving this post up for reference purposes only. 

Upstart Theatre are thrilled to announce our call for artists for DARE Festival 5, which will take place at Shoreditch Town Hall from 25-27 February 2021.

We’ll be offering six artists or companies a seed commission of £1,000 to go towards the making of a new, 30-minute, in development piece of playable theatre or performance, on the theme of ‘We Demand a Better Future’. Each commissioned show will be performed three times at DARE Festival 5, and each commissioned artist/company will attend three artist development sessions (with a small fee), expert mentoring, and support from Upstart Theatre’s Artistic Director and Producer.

Upstart Theatre is committed to tackling barriers to progression in the arts, and to building an artist development programme that represents the diversity of UK. As such, four out of six of our commissions will be reserved for artists who are underrepresented in the arts:

– one commission for working, under, or benefit class artists;
– one commission for LGBTQ+ artists;
– one commission for artists of colour or who are from a minority ethnic background;
– one commission for artists who are disabled and / or whose day-to-day activities are limited by a long-term health condition or illness.

The deadline for applications is midday (GMT) on Wednesday 2nd December.

We’ve prepared detailed application guidance, which you can find below in Word, PDF and audio formats, along with the application questions.

We held a webinar on the 18th November to introduce applicants to DARE Festival. You can read the transcript or view a recording.

If you have any questions not covered in the guidance document, please contact our Producer Hannah Tookey on hannah.tookey@upstart-theatre.co.uk. Or, if you’d rather, drop us a line on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Read the commission guidance

Read the application questions

Listen to recordings

View the webinar