Opportunities for Emerging Artists

Opportunities for emerging playwrights, directors and theatre makers exist within Next Stage.

Next Stage is Sydney Theatre Company’s artform development arm which presents a number of full productions each year. The season is specifically intended to provide a platform to emerging artists, smaller companies and experimental work. 

The Next Stage Season and the four annual Rough Drafts (see below for more information about these) are programmed by the same committee of STC artistic staff that determines our Main Stage Season. We hope that this will strengthen the connection between Next Stage and the Main Stage by helping us to build relationships with theatre makers whose work may later graduate to the Main Stage.

We will generally invite pitches from theatre makers who we consider to be of interest but will also consider pitches submitted by agents or emerging artists. There is no formal pitching process.

If you are an emerging playwright or director you will have already begun showcasing your talents, in which case it is likely that members of the STC artistic team will be familiar with your work. We collaborate with artists who have a proven track record so strongly recommend that practitioners invite us along to see their shows. Get in touch with us via nextstage@sydneytheatre.com.au

Rough Drafts are a strand of our Next Stage program. Essentially, Rough Drafts are week-long creative developments which give theatre makers the opportunity to try out new ideas, new ways of working and new collaborations.

The emphasis of the exercise is on process rather than product; it’s about giving artists a space in which they can experiment… and perhaps even fail!

Participants will be encouraged to be autonomous in their use the time and resources but will be asked to agree upon a loose structure for the week with the Company beforehand. Some practitioners may decide to research a fledgling idea while others may prefer to work on a script that they have written in advance of the Rough Draft week. 

Some Rough Drafts may be led by a director or creator whereas some may be led by a playwright, musician, puppeteer...
 
Although a playwright is an essential member of the creative personnel, Rough Drafts are not just about developing scripts; they are about creating theatre.

The same submission guidelines exist for Rough Drafts as for the rest of the Next Stage program.

For more information about STC’s initiatives for playwrights and the development of new work click here.