Doorstep Arts, Exeter Northcott, Alibi and Villages in Action are offering a bursary opportunity in 2026 to support the development of original theatre for young audiences in Devon. ‘Young audiences’ are defined as: children ages 0 – 5, 5 – 11, or young people ages 11 – 16 or 16 – 25. These targeted bursaries aim to deepen the quality of work that is available for families and young audiences in Devon and to provide progression support to exciting regional artists who are keen to grow their practice and make work. We will provide support for exciting ideas for performances which honour children’s creative and critical potential, and for artists who are making work which respects children & young people’s intelligence, capacity and active agency.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Funded by Arts Council England, Exeter City Council and Exeter University, Doorstep Arts, Alibi, Villages in Action and Exeter Northcott, this bursary will offer the selected artist/company the support to further develop a piece of theatre for young audiences. This support comes in three forms:
1. Time, advice, mentorship and producing support from the Doorstep Arts, Alibi, Exeter Northcott, and Villages in Action teams. This includes up to five free days of rehearsal space at Exeter Northcott’s Barnfield Theatre or Emmanuel Hall, subject to availability.
2. First Steps bursary for touring, up to £1,000, which will be granted to an exceptional proposal where work requires resource for travel costs, production design or touring. These bursaries are granted to work which show potential to move beyond scratch stage and into an extended life. It is vital that the performances are suitable for flexible spaces; they should be light/agile and easy to tour into spaces without theatre infrastructure, i.e. village halls or school halls. Deadline is 24th April 2026 and touring will take place in late May & early June 2026.
3. Through Village in Action’s From Devon with Love programme, and Exeter Northcott’s Elevate programme, further performance opportunities can be provided for successful applicants to share/tour work in development across (primarily rural) Devon.
If you have any further questions, please get in touch with Erin Walcon at Doorstep Arts.
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The deadline for the First Steps Touring Bursary is Friday 24 April 2026.
· The online application form is HERE.
· An example practice sheet with guiding answers (in a downloadable and editable Word Doc) is available here, for guidance on the First Steps touring bursary.
Alternate submission: if you would prefer to submit a 2 minute video answering the questions in the online form, you can elect to submit this as your application format instead. If you prefer a video format submission, please make sure it does not exceed 2 minutes in length, and email your submission to [email protected] by the deadline.
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