Theatre Exterior: Site specific theatre commission for Chorlton Arts Festival 2015

  1. Chorlton Arts Festival – An Introduction
  2. Theatre Exterior
  3. Brief
  4. Application Form
  1. CHORLTON ARTS FESTIVAL – AN INTRODUCTION

Launching the UK Festival season in the North West, Chorlton Arts Festival has become a calendar fixture renowned for showcasing hotly-tipped live music artists, cutting-edge theatre and comedy, visual arts and high quality community arts over 10 days in May.

Now in its 15th year, the festival continues to act as a conduit for the best emerging talent in the region to appear alongside established artists from around the world. As a result, it has become one of the most acclaimed multi-arts events in the UK, attracting audiences of around 15,000 in 2014.

In 2015, the festival will run from 15th – 24th May with over 100 events taking place in venues across Chorlton from theatre and spoken word to live music and visual arts exhibitions.

‘Cross-cultural arts have long been Chorlton’s bag, and it has been behind a spectacular festival for over ten years now – one that supports local talent and charges little or nothing for its shows to enable it to reach out to as big an audience as possible.’

Manchester Evening News

‘I am proud to be a patron, and to see the world class talent coming to Chorlton every May is really something the community looks forward to every year.’

Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy)

‘Chorlton Arts Festival is one of Manchester’s great surviving institutions…it has moved beyond humble beginnings to now be one of the UK’s finest festivals of its type.’

Drowned In Sound

  1. THEATRE EXTERIOR

Theatre Exterior is an exciting and innovative programme of work which will present commissioned theatre productions in unique and site specific locations as part of Chorlton Arts Festival 2015.

The aim of the project is to encourage people to engage with theatre in new and interesting ways by presenting work in site specific yet familiar locations, as opposed to a traditional theatre setting.

We are offering up to£500 to support a commissioned piece of work which will be created and premiered as part of Chorlton Arts Festival 2015.

Whether it be a one person show in a hair salon or a play in the park, we are looking to support 2 organisations/collectives/groups who can deliver new commissions on time and to a high standard.

Additional support

Successful applicants will receive logistical support from the festival in terms of securing venues in the Chorlton area and help locating rehearsal space (if required), as well as marketing support with the commissions featuring in the festival brochure, website and social media platforms. The festival may also be able to provide technical support by providing a PA and projector/screen for the performance, if required

  1. BRIEF

This is a one-off commission to fund a theatre group/collective/artist to create, produce and deliver a new theatre performance in a site-specific location as part of CAF 2015.

The work will:

-Engage with the public, either through an interactive element or by being as accessible as possible in terms of the venue and content

-Be performed in a site specific or unique location in Chorlton which is relevant to the work (dependent on venue availability)

-Be premiered as part of Chorlton Arts Festival 2015 (15th – 24th May)

-Be a one person show or performed by a group of actors, it could also be a monologue piece or an interactive performance

There is no limit to the length of the piece, however, please think of what is achievable in terms of the timescale and budget available to ensure the commission is realistic.

  1. APPLICATION FORM

Name:

Name of organisation (if applicable):

Address:

Email:

Telephone:

Please tell us about your most relevant previous experience including links to your work (if applicable) – 500 words max

YOUR IDEA

Working title
Please provide a brief summary of the performance
Anticipated length of performance:
Anticipated no. of performers:
Target audience:
Synopsis (500 words max):
Proposed venues and address, with 1 being the first choice (please include back up venues if possible)
1.
2.
3.
Please provide a detailed outline of how you would allocate the budget (please note costs need to be inclusive of VAT)
Please outline the anticipated timeline for delivering the commission, including preferred performance dates during the festival. Please also identify how many performances you would envisage (i.e. 10 minute monologue performed 3 times during one day, or, a 20 minute play performed on the first and final Saturday of the festival…)

DEADLINE

Please email allcompleted applications to by 5:00pm Friday 27th February. We will be in touch with successful applicants the week of Mon 2nd March

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact

Theatre Exterior is supported by Arts Council England