Headline Shows
Lights Up…
The Fringe theatre landscape can be incredibly risky. Making a show is expensive, and there is often a real risk that any show won’t manage to find an audience without significant marketing spend (and even then, it’s not guaranteed). Unfortunately, rather than assuming that risk, many venues shove the burden of that risk on to artists. This means artists are often expected to be experts in a number of different fields – from marketing to graphic design to financial management. And it means they don’t get a lot of time to do what they do best – make brilliant art.
To us at LowMAC, that doesn’t make a whole amount of sense. Why should we, a bricks-and-mortar institution, force artists to take on more risk? If we want to create opportunities for artists to grow and develop, shouldn’t we be striving to take some of that risk off their shoulders?
We think so. So, we’ve overhauled our programming model. Rather than asking artists to pay us for the privilege of using our space, we’re offering artists an £8,000 guarantee – £4,000 upfront, and £4,000 on completion – to make a show, and perform it for 4 weeks at LowMAC.
For many artists, particularly in Fringe Theatre, the idea of any amount of guaranteed income to make a show is a luxury. Often, they are stuck in a cycle of repeating one successful show that just about pays their bills (if they keep trotting it out, year on year), or striving to put food on the table, and so not having the time and space to make something new. We want this model to give artists space. We want it to help them make their next show – their dream show. We want them to ask “what brilliant, inspiring, amazing thing would I make if I didn’t have to worry about money for a couple of weeks – if I could just spend that time focusing on my craft?”
We know it’s not a million pounds. We’d really like to increase the pot for every show, and we hope to do so in the near future. But we hope it’s a start towards something. A movement that says – this industry is hard, but it’s a lot easier if we try and tackle it together.
What we’re looking for
First and foremost, this is an opportunity for artists to make a new show. So, when we’re programming, we’re looking for artists that show exceptional promise, and want to make their next thing. We don’t ask artists to pitch to us – we pick artists that we trust to make something great!
Our venue works best in-the-round, so we have a preference for work in this style. We’re interested in work that is ambitious, fun, intimate, impactful, queer, story-led, and audience-focused, and we’re particularly interested in unique stories, told by and for unheard or under-represented voices.
What artists get
Beyond the £8,000 guarantee, artists can expect:
- To keep 60% of the ticket income from these shows above 60% capacity.
- Us to lead on the comms and marketing for your show
- Creative support from conception to performance, to help make your show the best it can be creatively.
We want to be a venue that says “yes” as much as possible, and we’ll be encouraging artists to think ambitiously with how they can use our space!
Want us to see your show? Invite us using this form!
Our Artistic Direction – read more about the types of shows we programme, and what we’re interested in creatively.
Want to learn more about our space? Check out our tech specs?
Questions? Pop in to office hours with our Artistic Director or Programme Manager!
How we programme
We have 7 or 8 guarantee slots available each year. Generally, we fill those slots 12 to 18 months ahead of time. Here’s how we go about selecting our programme.
Short-Runs at LowMAC (3 slots a year): Roughly 3 slots a year are filled by artists who have brought their work to LowMAC already, but as part of our short-run programme. This way, we know they fit well in to the venue, and already have a good idea of how we work!
Awards (1 slot a year): 1 show from the Lower Marsh Arts Festival is selected each year to be a part of our upcoming guarantee programme.
Curation and scouting (1 to 2 slots a year): Up to 2 slots a year are filled by shows that we actively scout – either from industry events, or from seeing shows out in the wild!
Show invitations (1 to 2 slots a year): Up to 2 slots each year will be filled by artists that have invited us to see their shows. Whilst we do occasionally programme shows we’ve been invited to in this way, it’s much more likely we’d invite you to be a part of our short-run programme first.
If you’d like to invite us to see your show, fill out the form linked here! We suggest giving 4 to 6 weeks’ notice. As a small team, we unfortunately aren’t able to see every show we’re invited to, and will only respond to shows that we are able to attend.