Call For Submissions – Come As You Are Scratch Night

Published August 22, 2018

Call for submissions – Come As You Are Festival

Scratch Night
Sat 17 Nov

When did you come out as male? Or female?

From 17-18 Nov, Exeter Phoenix and Camden People’s Theatre are presenting Come As You Are, a festival of adventurous performance addressing attitudes towards and understanding of gender. We’re on the look out for local artists to feature in our scratch event where you can show 20 minute extracts of new work-in-progress performances. Your performance should fit with the themes of the festival – interrogating and celebrating gender from cis to trans, from binary to beyond.

We particularly encourage applications from trans, non-binary and gender-queer artists, but we’re interested in hearing from anyone. 

About Come As You Are Festival

Come As You Are, Camden People’s Theatre and Exeter Phoenix welcomes a host of gender-anarchists with more questions than answers, as we confront (and solve?) all the world’s issues regarding male, female, between and beyond. It’s not going to be pretty – but it might just be beautiful.

In the last few years, progressive thinking about gender has gone mainstream, and understanding has developed of gender as infinite variety. More and more individuals are reclaiming the right to define their genders, their bodies, themselves. Some have called this ‘the ultimate forum for self-expression’, some ‘the next civil rights frontier’. Either way, it’s a destabilising and liberating cultural change. 

Come As You Are will feature work by the UK’s most exciting theatre artists. The festival is headlined by Milk Presents’ critically acclaimed show BULLISH, and features performances by Ray Filar, Tom Marshman and Liz Clarke alongside a panel discussions and our scratch night. 

We are seeking

  • In-development or short performances
  • Extract of longer shows still in development
  • Performances exploring themes directly relevant to our festival
  • Other unusual performance events that may work in the context of this festival

All performances / sharings should be no more than 20 mins long. Please note, the festival is primarily concerned with gender, not sexuality. 

Please also bear in mind, we are particularly interested in innovative, unconventional theatre. We will consider devised, self-made and solo work, interactive work, virtual work, live art and cross-disciplinary work, multimedia work, etc. We are unlikely to consider ‘new writing’, formally conventional work, straight monologues, or any work made according to the usual writer-director-actor hierarchies. 

What we provide

  • £165 fee for the performance
  • Extensive PR and marketing support, inclusion in brochures, website, social media activity
  • Technical support

Come As You Are is a UK wide festival taking place throughout autumn 2018. The festival in Exeter will take place at Exeter Phoenix between 17-18 Nov 2018

How To Apply

If you would like to apply for this opportunity, please complete the application form here >>

Deadline for submission is 12pm Thu 4 Oct.