Open@TheStudio
One of the key performing arts venues in the Scottish capital, The Studio is managed by Capital Theatres alongside the King’s Theatre and the Festival Theatre and this year it celebrates its 10th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, The Studio team is announcing details of it’s Open@TheStudio programme which has been piloted over the last few months with great success.
Open@TheStudio is a unique, comprehensive programme of practical workshops, useful talks, R&D residencies and scratch nights designed to help those in the theatre industry: new graduates, independent artists, companies and self-producers, offering them a complete support package, from advice and networking, to workshops, free to use space and seed money.
Fiona Gibson, CEO of Capital Theatres said: “Everyone at Capital Theatres is hugely excited to continue the vital opportunity that Open@TheStudio offers to performing arts practitioners in Edinburgh and the Lothians, following the very successful pilot earlier this year.
“The Studio is becoming an exciting new hub for emerging creatives – here’s to the next 10 years of celebrating and sharing their fantastic creativity!”
Claire Symonds, Head of Creative Engagement at Capital Theatres said: “We recognise that the pandemic has caused a massive skills drain in the performing arts industry and also broken pathways for early career arts practitioners to emerge from education into professional practice. Open@TheStudio aims to address that.
“Following the runaway success that was the Open@TheStudio pilot, we are delighted to continue the programme which allows the participants to explore their creativity while learning new skills.
“Many arts organisations around the country offer similar support but we think that the comprehensive programme of Open@TheStudio is pretty unique as it addresses so many aspects of creative practice.
“We see it as an important investment in the creative talent of the future and cannot wait to share it with the industry and our audiences.”
The programme includes:
Open Conversations 90-minute sessions on the nuts & bolts of the industry
An insight into how things work and informal networking with local theatre makers and producers, answering questions such as how does tour booking work? How do you get funding? How does programming work? How theatre maths works?
Click here for the latest schedule for Open Conversations. Bookings open on Thurs 6 July.
Open to Ideas residency programme for new theatre makers
The Studio provides 5 free days of space, 2 days free technical support and £2k seed funding. There is no pressure to showcase an end product and the theatre makes no promises to programme. This is a genuine invitation to explore an idea.
Click here for the latest Call for Ideas.
Open Workshops masterclasses and workshops
Taking advantage of the fantastic talent performing at Capital Theatres’ venues, Open Workshops offer a chance to work with visiting companies, from West End touring shows to the hottest new contemporary theatre makers, offering a unique chance to learn from the experts.
Workshop schedule will be announced in due course.
Open Floor scratch nights
Theatre practitioners can test their work in front of a live audience – with the audience giving them constructive feedback afterwards.
The next Open Floor scratch night takes place on 1 November 2023. £5 tickets are available to book here. Bookings open on Thurs 6 July.
Anonymous survey conducted following the pilot of Open@TheStudio reiterated the urgent need for such a programme with the participants saying:
“Please, keep going. Keep offering residencies and space to create and stage our work, keep cultivating connections to grassroots theatre-makers and platforms, keep actually using your venue for the benefit of the local theatre community. (…) Be proud of this and let that pride inform your offerings to the creatives that for so long have been wanting to collaborate with your venue.”
“I think a lot of regularly funded organisations who say that they support local artists, but this doesn’t always translate to real-world opportunities. It is very good to have something open to a range of different theatre makers, rather than very few opportunities which end up going to the expected faces. It allows us to build relationships with a theatre org even if we don’t have a completed shiny product to share right now. I think that’s vital.”
“It feels like there are very few free or cheap workshops for theatre makers in the city. This is the first set of workshops I’ve heard about that offer such in-depth information on a range of extremely relevant and useful topics.”
Open@The Studio is generously supported by Baillie Gifford.
