Application FAQ — Blindspot Nights

Check out our access for artists page to see if we’ve already covered some of your access needs here. Please use our contact page or email us to chat about your specific needs at hello@blindspotnights.co.uk.

‘Working-class’ is defined differently in a lot of ways by a lot of people. It gets proper confusing and the way it’s quantified isn’t always appropriate or doesn’t reflect the reality of class experience. For instance, the typical forms that ask what your parents did when you were a kid rarely try to identify stability, debt, credit, being in care, security, arrest history or time in prison, single-parent households, and a whole host of other things we know inform and impact how we experience class. They also never ask about the job you do now and how your relationship to class has evolved since you became an adult. And these kinds of questions generally leave off under-class experiences altogether.

When we say working-class we mean a few things. Yes, we mean what job(s) your parent(s) or carer(s) had. We also mean the job you have now. How you relate to the idea of stability - in finances, housing, work, and more. But these things can be in flux too, the reality is that most of us in the arts have also experienced being under-class at some point…

While we all know the phrase ‘working-class’, some of us might not have heard ‘under-class’ before. When we say under-class we mean people who are cut out of the class system because their ability to work has been undermined, unsupported, or cut off outright. So many things come under this, these are some of the main examples that you’ll be familiar with, many of which can intersect and compound eachother:

Benefit class, where people have either grown up in a benefit household or they’re currently surviving on benefits now as an adult. Benefit payments are an unlivable amount as a result of targeted cuts, caps, and sanctions. Housing costs are capped based on postcode and property type, utility bills are never covered in full, and living costs are not based on the cost-of-living. A lot of disabled people are forced to live this way because of a lack of accessible work opportunities or because they are simply unable to work/work sustainably. Also, a lot of us in the arts have been on benefits at some point or another and have had to survive in this way when there is no work.
Asylum class, where people who have fled their home countries because of war and persecution are refused work because of the UK asylum system. Contrary to mainstream media noise, asylum seekers receive at most £49.18 per week to live. If they are being housed in a hotel then this is reduced to maximum £8.86 per week. They are unable to change their situation as they are refused legal rights to work pending a decision from the visas & immigration office, which can take over a year.
Criminal-class, where people are refused work because of their record and are excluded from the class system, or are forced to depend on criminalised activity to support themselves/their families.
Homeless class, where a lack of a fixed address can reduce or remove someones ability to hold a bank account, get and sustain work or even claim benefits, maintain their health, have any financial stability or security, and get back into fixed housing in future.

While it’s important we’re clear on what we mean by ‘working/under-class’, we let you define your own relationship to class in our application form. Because however many stagnant little checkboxes we create, we’ll always miss somebodys experience out. We only really know what class means to us, but it might mean something different to you.

You can have up to 5 people in your team. Remember, this should include everyone both on and off stage, so make sure to also include any writer or director who isn’t also performing.

If your writer and/or director is performing, please make sure you tell us.

We suggest you write this on your application form like this:

‘4x people total in our team (3x performers, 1 x writer/performer)’
‘2x people total in our team (both deviser/performers)’
‘5x people total in our team (3x cast, 1x non-performing writer, 1x non-performing director)’

We do not provide rehearsal space for you, but if you need some and would like us to help you find & book somewhere then please include this in your application.

We have a basic wash lighting for all slots and can accommodate a few simple sound cues.

If you have important technical cues that are integral to the plot of your piece - eg a blackout - then you should let us know in your application so we can arrange time & budget for the venue technician to work with you on this. The most time we could provide will be 15mins on the night of your event, which you will need to arrive earlier for.

It can be funny or it can be serious, it can be a musical, a story based on real life, it can have words but it doesn’t have to, those words can be English but they might not be, you can have made it by yourself or made it with others (as long as you’re all applying together.) We want to be expansive in the kind of work we support.

We have a few basic guidelines for what you’re submitting:

Time: Your piece should be 5-20 minutes long. This can be the full length of the piece or an excerpt of it.
Your piece does not have to be finished. The whole point of a scratch night is to share works-in-progress and to experiment with something. We don’t want you to feel pressured to share a finished product, we’re here to support development and help things grow. You probably won’t get the best out of our night if you want to put on a polished, finished piece. Please note that if you are selected we will ask you to send us a script, if your piece is spoken, before the performance. This is so it can be passed to the BSL interpreter to prepare in advance.
New ideas: Your piece doesn’t even have to have been written/made yet, it can be a concept at this stage. If there’s a new idea you want to play with but you haven’t had the space to start yet, don’t let that put you off.
Genre & style: Your work can be in any genre, any style, any form, and be created by any means.
Past performances: If it is something that is already made, it shouldn’t have been performed elsewhere before. If it’s only been performed at other scratch nights then we don’t count this and you can apply with this work.
Theatre pieces: It should be for theatre. We accept pieces written with spoken-word, poetry, or rap elements, but we aren’t a poetry slam.
Small space: Please remember our performance space is not huge, what you do still needs to fit in it! (We talk about this in the next section.)
TWs: If the content or themes of your piece contain trigger warnings please let us know. This doesnt impact your application and is more about the comfort and wellbeing of the team when reviewing your application.
Set & Props: Scratch nights are stripped back, so we can’t support with set. Your piece shouldn’t require any set and any props should be very minimal. We can provide chairs and a table, glasses from the bar, etc if needed. There isn’t secure storage for props at the venue either, so please bare this in mind, and do not try to bring large props or furniture as we cannot accommodate these.
Costume: You can have costume, but as we explain in a later section, there are very limited options for changing places
Language: Your piece doesn’t have to be in English, but your application will need to be. You can swear in your piece, but you’ll need to tell us if you use any slurs. Let us know how they are used and what the context is. Using slurs for comedy effect or ‘punching down’ is not something we allow.

Our venue is The Tin Music & Arts, you can find out more about them and their space on their website.

The performance space is only roughly 4m X 4m. This is why we cap group sizes at 5x people - you won’t fit more than that in the space!
There are three steps up to the stage. These are on the opposite side to the green room, so you will cross in front of the stage as you come on.
There will be a BSL interpreter downstage-right, they will take up 2msq of the stage (programmed artists will be sent a floorplan of the stage so they can plan their blocking & sightlines around them.)

If you require step-free access then we can easily create performance space on ground-level in front of the stage for you.

There is not a dressing room. There is a small ‘green room’ behind the stage that can be used as a changing space if needed, but it is only roughly 2m X 4m and will be shared with the other artists performing at the event. For this reason we do not suggest changing at the venue.

There are also toilets available if space in the green room is limited, but you are not to change in the accessible toilet.