Call out: SHIFT+SPACE Seed funded performance opportunity for artists of any discipline, at no cost to the artist with 100% of Box Office split in your favour! Applications for SHIFT+SPACE are now closed. Do you have an idea or work-in-progress that would benefit from £200 seed funding, production support and 2 free performances with 100% of the box office split going to you? Now's your chance to take part in our early-career development programme to receive the live feedback you need to take your project to the next level... SHIFT+SPACE is a free performance opportunity in our central London venue, with 100% of Box Office retained by artists, plus seed funding, in-kind rehearsal space and marketing support, all of which is designed to encourage artists to get live audience feedback at an early stage of creating new work. We are particularly keen to hear from companies that are led by Black, Asian, and/or Global Majority artists, Disabled or Deaf artists, Working Class artists, and/or trans artists. Previous SHIFT + SPACE artists include theatrical new writing readings, drag/character comedy, shadow puppetry, dance and performance art, sound installations and more! What makes our programming different from other work-in-progress festivals is our unique feedback model - where you receive feedback on your first showing and you are encouraged to use your second showing to try out a shifted version the following day. SHIFT+SPACE is supported by Philip Carne and the Garrick Charitable Trust. "SHIFT+SPACE has been great in allowing us to test the show's themes, ideas and content. As the name suggests, the programme allowed us to 'shift' the performance based on the feedback and observations after the first show, and try new and different things the following night. It was a brilliant opportunity to experiment and make mistakes in a safe environment. It has also allowed us to connect with a diverse audience, including those experiencing theatre for the first time. What was especially useful for us personally was getting Muslim audience members in the performances. We wanted to tell a real Muslim story, and to have Muslims in the audience resonate with the story was vindication for us." - Khai and Faizal, Spring 2025 Skip to Section The Opportunity The Format Seed Funding Accessibility The Offer How to Apply Feedback from Previous SHIFT+SPACE Artists The Opportunity We are here to support all kinds of work, and we’re looking for work that has a vital need for an audience in the room in order to exist and move to the next stage of its life. Whether audience interaction/participation is crucial to the experience or your piece can’t progress without being tested in front of an audience, we want to hear how you will use this development space to turn an unexpected creative corner and share what you’ve found. We want you to experiment, explore, participate and take creative risks in an environment where it’s as joyful and meaningful to fail as it is to succeed. This opportunity is intended for new experimental work. The Format We provide space for 2 sharings of your work over a weekend - one Friday night and one Saturday night, with access all day on Friday to 'get-in' and all day on Saturday to absorb, reflect, and react to Friday’s experience so you can make a shift on Saturday. It’s a rapid-response work-in-progress where we emphasise the shift –the change or progress the work can make– from one evening to the next. If the experience being different every night is part of the fabric of your work, then this is a great place to try things out. Full tech spec and room measurements can be found on this page. Seed Funding Theatre Deli is always expanding our opportunities. We are excited to offer £200 seed funding for successful SHIFT+SPACE programmed artists. We recognise that there are many financial barriers in our industry, particularly for artists from underrepresented backgrounds and we aim to create a system which starts a level playing field for all. This funding can go towards anything involved in your productions, including (but not limited to) embedding access, hiring an operator for your tech, marketing, materials or expenses. We want to invest in your work at the beginning of its journey and we hope this contribution helps to take your production to the next level. Accessibility Theatre Deli is committed to increasing access for disabled artists and audiences, and we therefore prioritise work that is accessible. We want to ensure all artists partaking in any of our initiatives explore embedding at least one mode of access within their work. To support this we have created our Accessibility Guidance Document which introduces the different forms of accessible performance and provide some initial hints and tips as to how artists can start to embed elements of accessibility into their work. It also offers some links to other sources of information to further help you on your journey to creating accessible work. You can view the document here. The Offer You will have access to our performance space 10am-10pm on Friday and Saturday to get in, work, share, respond, and share again. £200 seed funding towards any production costs. An additional 8 hours of rehearsal space at our venue. On Friday, you will receive support from our technician throughout the day. You will need to source someone to operate the tech for your show on both Friday & Saturday. Optional technician support during Saturday daytime. This will be at a Deli-subsidised rate of £150 per 8-hour shift deducted from your final box office sales. Ticketing and Box Office will be managed by Theatre Deli, however you will get 100% of the Box Office for your show (after Eventbrite fees and the advance payment, if taken, have been deducted). Marketing support in the form of an event page on our website, social media posts, a mention in our newsletter, and posters throughout our space. We can also offer 1:1 catch ups for advice on marketing. You are responsible for signposting people to your show and driving your own audience engagement. Priority access to drop-in sessions with the Deli creative and producing team to discuss any areas of concern and talk about the development of your project and the type of feedback that you will find useful. A years’ free Theatre Deli membership, including 20 - 30% discount on room bookings. How to apply Alternatively if you would rather enquire via video or audio file please answer the below questions and send your file through to [email protected]. Videos/audio files should be no longer than 5 minutes: Artist / company name Project/Title of Show Tell us about the project/show Why is SHIFT+SPACE important to the development of the piece? How do you intend to make you production accessible for disabled and neurodivergent audience members? (no more than 200 words) Deadline: Friday 28th November 2025, 10am. Feedback from Previous SHIFT+SPACE Artists "As a piece exploring the complexities of chronic illness and visibility, You Look Okay To Me required a space where I could be transparent about my health without pressure to perform beyond my limits. The team’s support made me feel safe enough to fully lean into the realities of my physical limitations rather than masking them. The audience’s response to this reaffirmed how vital it is to create work that reflects lived experience authentically. The accessibility of the space was also hugely important to me. Living with chronic fatigue, I really valued having access to quiet areas where I could rest before or after rehearsals / performances. It was refreshing to work in an environment where my access needs were met with understanding rather than hesitation." - Anna van Miert / Junk Theatre, Spring 2025 "Shift + Space is the perfect incubator for artists eager to develop new ideas. As a company specializing in interactive pieces, we gained invaluable audience feedback on the first night, which inspired a completely reimagined performance for the second. Beyond that, we’ve never experienced a more supportive, collaborative, and welcoming environment- quite literally everyone is just so incredibly responsive and kind. We absolutely love Theatre Deli- the people, the space, and the vibrant community!" - This Company is a Dildo, Spring 2025 "I feel very lucky to be part of the Theatre Deli Shift + Space program. It really feels like a home to us artists. Doing a solo show sometimes could be so lonely but developing my show here feels like I am growing with lots of other like minded friends. From FOH to technician to producers of the theatre, every part of the team at Theatre Deli has supported me with love! I love the people here!" - Haylin Cai, Spring 2025 "Shift+Space was hugely helpful to us, the chance to rework our piece and refine our technical elements based on how it landed with audiences was amazing at this stage in development. Thank you Deli!" - lost boy theatre, Autumn 2025 "Shift+Space gave me the chance to dedicate time to experimenting & exploring, the teams support, the in kind rehearsal space & working w/ a brilliant programmer was invaluable for my shows next steps" - Amy Wrestray, Autumn 2025 SHIFT+SPACE is supported by The City of London, Philip Carne and the Garrick Charitable Trust. Image: Crowded Table - lost boy theatre Manage Cookie Preferences