About Pitch Up: Beginning
Make connections, start conversations.
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This November we’re bringing Pitch Up to London, with a focus on supporting theatre artists in the early stages of their careers.
Hosted by Stanley Arts, London, Pitch Up: Beginning will help demystify the theatre industry for early career theatre artists new to connecting with venues; helping artists to understand how venues work, learn about their artist support offer, and what effective collaboration can look like.
house have been running Pitch Up for the last 10 years, fostering a collaborative and more open approach to traditional pitching events, creating a space for new partnerships to emerge.
We will be joined by venue representatives from London and the South East region who will share their artist support offer, before giving the floor over to up to 20 early career artists to give a snapshot of their work and plans.
The event will include two panel discussions with industry leaders, covering how to begin relationships and take work to venues plus a practical guide to marketing and selling your show.
Venues who’ll be joining us at Pitch Up: Beginning include: Cambridge Junction, The Garage, Norwich, Colchester Arts Centre, Norwich Theatre, artsdepot, Stanley Arts, Chichester Festival Theatre, Farnham Maltings and Queen's Theatre Hornchurch
Keep your eyes on this list as it continues to grow across September.
FAQ's and useful information
What is the schedule for the day?
Please note this is an outline schedule and subject to change ahead of the day.
10:30am - Welcome
Arrival, teas & coffees
11am to 12pm - Venue Introductions
A selection of venue representatives will talk about their about their venue's artist development and support offers and pathways to engagement with their organisation. Open Q&A forum.
12pm to 1pm - Artist Snapshots
Each artist / company will have a 3 minutes snapshot slot to talk about their work and the opportunities that they are looking for and open to.
1pm to 2pm - Lunch
A vegan / vegetarian lunch provided.
2pm to 3pm - Panel and Practical Guide: How to work with venues
In this practical guide / panel discussion about booking your show, you will hear from house and venues with top tips on how to make connections with venues, ask for what you need, and foster a collaborative and flexible approach to working with venues.
3pm to 4pm - Panel and Practical Guide: How to sell your show
This session will help you think about the marketing and communications assets that you will need to prepare ahead of asking venues to programme your work, plus top tips on how to create a suite of marketing content, work collaboratively with venue marketing teams and to place audiences at the heart of your marketing.
Who can apply?
Applications are open to artists and companies from across theatre disciplines who are in the early stages of their theatre careers and beginning, or hoping to create relationships with venues in the South East of England.
We are particularly interested in hearing from early career artists who may not see themselves currently represented in the theatre.
Your practice can be within any discipline of theatre, for example physical theatre, theatre for families, contemporary theatre or drama.
For avoidance of doubt, applicants can be of any age over 18 years.
How do I apply?
Please complete our Artist Pitch Up: Beginning application below, telling us a little more about yourself, your work and why you’re interested in bringing that work to the South East by 5pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026.
Some useful things to know beforehand:
- We’ve written the application so that it shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to complete.
- You can also choose to submit your application as a video or audio file attached to the application form, instead of providing a written response
Is there a bursary or fee available?
If you are a freelancer and there's a cost barrier to you attending Pitch Up, house have a limited number of bursaries to offer as a contribution towards your usual day rate. You will find more details on the application form.
Accessibility at Stanley Arts, London
Stanley Arts is a Grade II listed Edwardian building and was not conceived as a fully accessible space. Nevertheless, as a radically inclusive organisation, Stanley Arts continues to strive to make as much of their buildings fully accessible as possible. As they continue fundraising for capital improvements, improving access across the site is at the forefront of their future development plans.
The venue has an accessible entrance, accessible toilet facilities and a hearing assistance system.
We will be in the Society Room which is accessible via lift.
A quiet / breakout space is available upon request.
For more information visit Stanley Art's Access Information on their website and if you have any access requirements, please do email us at info@housetheatre.org.uk
Are refreshments provided?
We will supply tea and coffee and a vegetarian or vegan lunch on the day. Please note that the event is only open to successful applicants.
Interested but want to know more before applying?
If you have any questions before applying, or would like to apply or attend, but there’s a barrier to you doing so, drop us an email on info@housetheatre.org.uk
