News

S.I.T.E. (Space, Ideas, Time, Expertise)

Tobacco Factory Theatre and Theatre Bristol are working together to provide a studio residency programme for 1 company/artist in 2011/2012. The programme includes producer support, space and a fee of £3000. It is an open, international call aimed at mid-career artists (people with at least 3 professionally produced shows to date) wanting to make a NEW show. Makers of all kinds of live performance work (dance, theatre, live art, circus, puppetry etc) are encouraged to send in a proposal.

Here are a few guidelines to let you know what we’re thinking:

• SITE is about providing resources to work on a new show or show idea

• We’re looking for artists and companies who have made at least three professionally produced pieces.

• We’re looking for ideas that you are committed to taking to production in the fullness of time, even if they are in the early stages of development.

• Your ideas must be original, exciting and of the highest quality

• You must be clear about how this residency will help you develop the quality of the project at this point on its road to production. This might mean learning new skills, working with professional equipment, bringing in mentors etc.

• We are interested in different kinds of performance work (dance, theatre, live art, circus, puppetry etc), including shows that might happen outside of a conventional theatre space.

• You do not have to bring any other funding to the project….

• …but you can if you want to. If your project is also funded from other sources you must tell us where this funding comes from and, if this funding is unconfirmed, when you will have it confirmed and what you will do if you don’t get it.

• You should be committed to working in partnership with Tobacco Factory Theatre and Theatre Bristol.

• If you are based outside of Bristol, you should be clear about how your residency will benefit and engage Bristol’s artists and audiences.

• The resident company/artist will be expected to get involved in the Tobacco Factory’s other professional development and training initiatives by, for example, offering a workshop for other artists.

• It is not an absolute requirement of the scheme that a show developed through SITE will be presented in the Tobacco Factory Programme, but it is expected on each side that there is a very good chance of its doing so. It’s not even out of the question that we would programme a project to run at Tobacco Factory directly after the residency, if that were appropriate.

NB This residency programme is intended to help towards making a show but it will NOT cover final production costs.

The SITE residency will be bespoke. We will discuss your requirements with you in order to create a package that best meets the needs of you and your idea. The budget for the package is £3000, including artists’ fees.

Alongside your package you can expect to receive:
• Rehearsal space (up to 4 weeks). Times/space to be negotiated.
• A producer offering creative and management support.
• Marketing, technical and fundraising advice from the Tobacco Factory Theatre in-house team.
• Reasonable travel and accommodation expenses for artists living outside Bristol.
• At least one work in progress performance opportunity with an invited audience who can feed back and feed in to your process.

The Tobacco Factory will aim to be as flexible as it can with residency scheduling, given its programming commitments; however you should plan for the residency to take place between October 2011 and 31 March 2012.How do you apply?
1. Write a short proposal telling us what you want to do (max 2 sides of A4). Please use these prompt questions:

• Tell us about the project you will develop during this residency. Please tell us about the idea behind the work and how you currently imagine the finished show might be like. What might your audience experience?
• What makes this residency the right one for you? What makes you the right artist to be working with the Tobacco Factory and Theatre Bristol?
• If you are not based in Bristol, how will you ensure that your residency will benefit and engage Bristol’s artists and audiences?
• Name 3 artists who have inspired your work and why?

2. Tell us how much studio time you would like (up to 4 weeks) and your preferred time between October 2011 and 31 March 2012.
3. Please briefly set out a draft work schedule for the 4 weeks
4. Please enclose a professional c.v.
5. You MAY attach links to online information about your work and/or up to 3 still images of previous work, but this is not compulsory. Please do NOT send DVDs.

Email your proposal to SITE@theatrebristol.net by 9am on Monday 1st August 2011.
Shortlisted applications will be invited to meet the panel to discuss their proposal on Wednesday 7 September 2011.

If you have any further questions, please check the FAQ sheet, which you can dowload from this page. If you can’t find the answer there, please email your question to SITE@theatrebristol.net and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Theatre Bristol and Tobacco Factory Theatre want to be as fully accessible as possible. If you would like this information in a different format, or would like to complete your application in an alternative format, please get in touch with us to discuss.

Read about SITE on Theatre Bristol.
Find out about this year’s SITE companies/artists.