What’s in your blindspot?
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Window 1 now open
To make sure as many people as possible have the chance to apply, whilst also making sure we have enough time to feedback on each application, we’re running two submissions windows. The first of these is for performances in June & July and is now open. It'll close on 20th May. Window 2, for the August & September shows, will open on 19th June 2024.
What do you get?
perform your work
Our scratch night slots are 5-20 minutes long and we have two per event, that’s four in total across window 1 for June & July events (with another four coming up in window 2.)
Performances will take place at our partner venue, The Tin Music & Arts, an incredible local venue in Coventry city centre. You’ll perform to a live audience of up to 40 people made up of general public, fellow artists, and invited industry. We also livestream all of our events, so you can share your work with family, friends, and industry who might not be able to access the event in-person too, and get a potentially unlimited audience for your work.
Fair pay for fair work
Exposure doesn’t pay bills. We don’t do fee-splitting either. Each person in your group gets £126 for your performance, which is the ITC/Equity minimum day rate for performing. That includes everyone in your cast as well as any writer or director (who isn’t already performing.) Everyone gets a fair wage for giving us their time and their work.
If you’ve never heard of ITC/Equity minimum rates before, Equity are the union for performers & the Independent Theatre Council represent and support the independent performing arts sector and are industry leaders in advocating for best practice, ethical management, and fair wages. That’s for all kinds of work, from weekly wages for actors to commissions for writers to prep fees for directors. You can find all the ITC minimum rates on their website, linked here.
4hrs for your development
Every artist that takes part gets dedicated professional development time with the team. And we aren’t stingy with it, you get four full hours to use as you wish. You might want to break that down into a series of mini accountability chats to check in on the development of your work throughout the year, or use it all at once and spend half a day in our studio focusing on your first funding bid. It’s completely up to you. We know everyone has different needs and goals, which is why we let you guide your development time.
Focused feedback
The whole point of a scratch night is feedback, right? Throughout the events we’ll facilitate feedback on your work for you, taking written and verbal feedback from our audiences, your fellow artists, and invited industry. We’ll then collate this for you and send it out after the show, as well as make time to sit down and unpack it with you after.
Even if you aren’t programmed, you still get feedback. We hate cold rejections, which is why we provide feedback for everyone who gave us their time to send an application.
who & wHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:
Blindspot Nights exists to support working/under-class artists in theatre, so please don’t apply if this isn’t you. You can read more about what we mean by this on our application FAQ linked below.
We support theatremakers who are based in/around Coventry - you might be based here, or in Warwickshire, Birmingham, Leicester, or somewhere else in the Midlands.
New pieces of theatre at any stage of development. They don’t have to be text-based either, we’re interested to see work that might be devised, movement-based, or something we’ve never seen before. Do bear in mind what our venue can accommodate though, you can find more info on this in the FAQ too.
Work should be between 5-20 minutes long.
The piece should not have had a production or sharing already.
We aren’t looking for poetry or spoken-word readings, but a theatre/performance piece that is written in this style is fine.
Up to 5 people - This isn’t just people performing, if you have additional members of your team working off-stage you should include them in this number. E.g. However many are in your cast + the writer (if they’re not already performing on-stage) and director, if you have one.