Applications are now open for The Shape of Things to Come 2025 - our annual solo performance commissions.
This is the fourth year of this freelance commission series, which began in 2022 as Solo Duets for the Future. The idea behind this initiative is to encourage performers to develop new performance modes in front of small, enthusiastic audiences.
We’ll be shaking up the brief a little this year – instead of asking you to choose from a smorgasbord of performance spaces, we’ll be introducing some formal constraints (or “obstructions” – think Lars Von Trier / Jørgen Leth, but less cruel and demanding).
Your performance must use THE ROOM.
The Room will be an unadorned set built onstage, with four walls and various windows. It will measure approximately 4m x 4m. It will have access at several different points. It can be adapted to your performance idea, using set dressing, painting, lighting choices, and various audience configurations. You will have a menu of objects and furnishings to choose from.
We’ll be looking for five pieces that use the set in different and imaginative ways. The performance can be about anything you wish, but (as in previous seasons) we will be looking for work that looks outward rather than in, that communicates with audiences, and that points to the future rather than dissecting the past.
Each commission will be two weeks long. Artist fee £1500 + expenses.
EQUALITY / DIVERSITY
To reduce systemic barriers to professional opportunities and to help achieve a plurality of voices and perspectives, the following commissions will be reserved for artists with the following lived experience or identities:
- At least one commission will be awarded to a Black, Asian or Dual Heritage artist.
- At least one commission will be reserved for an artist creating work in Welsh (or bilingually with Welsh pre-eminent).
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At least one commission will be awarded to a d/Deaf or disabled artist
You may submit an idea at any time from 01 February 2025 onwards. We review and shortlist applications on a rolling basis, so please get your application in as soon as you are ready. The provisional deadline is 08 March. However, applications may remain open beyond the deadline at our discretion.