Supporting Artists in Bristol

Now in its second phase Theatre Bristol’s Artist Support Programme supports around 125 artists, companies and organisations across the city from graduates to established companies. The programme is delivered by three Creative Producers who respond to the individual needs of those they support. They might act as a critical friend feeding back on work they’ve seen or help develop the business side of the work.

In this phase we’ve tied in with Writernet to look at the support needs for writers in the city and looked at how we can diversify the mix of income to support this project in the future.

The Artist Support Programme is delivered by three Creative Producers who work 2 ½ days a week each:

Katie Keeler (Physical and Visual Theatre),
Adam Gent (Circus and Outdoor Performance)
Tanuja Amarasuriya (Live Art and Experimental Theatre)

To contact email firstname [at] theatrebristol.net
Or telephone: +44 (0)117 9166686

Prototype: Experiments in Theatre.

The Tobacco Factory approached Theatre Bristol to programme and manage two pilot events in their 2008 Spring season. Committed to the development of theatre as well as the presentation, Tobacco Factory wanted to offer space for theatre-makers to show work in progress and allow them to receive feedback from an audience.

Both evenings showed that there is a wealth of talent in Bristol and a large audience interested in physical, visual and experimental work. We were able to show work from 9 artists/companies: Olly Smart, Bric a Brac Productions, Fionn Gill, Kettle of Fish, Precarious, Soap Soup, Crack Theatre, Fairground Theatre and Ed Rapley.

The Darkside

A collaboration between Theatre Bristol, The Spaghetti Club, Arnolfini, and New Work Network, The Darkside was a series of performative social events curated by artists, which aimed to stimulate discussion between artists and audiences about different processes for making work and sparking collaboration.

Each event was devised by Spaghetti Club in collaboration with another artist and resulted in an extraordinary series of events taking the shapes of a radio show, a rock gig, an archive and a cabaret. New Work Network supported 10 artists from outside Bristol to come to the events, meet the Bristol community and reflect on the programme from a non-local perspective.

The Darkside also experimented with ways of documenting creative discussion and process, inviting three artists working with text, sound and video to make an alternative document of the project through creative response. You can see the results at www.darksidelive.co.uk.

I Am STILL Your Worst Nightmare: Live Art Platform

Following the success of 2007’s platform, Theatre Bristol and Arnolfini produced a second platform event in April 2008. Over one weekend, we presented 56 pieces – including 20 by Bristol-based artists – ranging from short performances to installation to sonic experiments and playful interventions.

Like its predecessor, IASYWN was not a curated showcase, but instead aimed to be as open as possible, encouraging both artists and audiences to try out new ideas, take risks and dip their toes into live art for the first time.

2007’s Platform led to 8 new pieces being developed by Arnolfini and presented as part of its curated programme in January 2008. It is hoped that a number of artists from IASYWN will also have their work commissioned as part of Arnolfini’s ongoing artist development programme.