Pop-Up Plays
Produced by Fifth Word in collaboration with Curve and Derby Theatre, with support by Fuel
Do you want to explore new ways of creating theatre that “pops up” to forge unexpected connections?
Pop-Up Plays is a series of shorter plays that will be produced by Fifth Word, with support from Fuel, in late 2025. The plays will be designed to “pop up” in alternative formats and locations. They will be playful, experimental, and create new interaction and connection for audiences.
Up to three commissions for writers* based in or with a strong connection to the East Midlands are being offered.
Pop-Up Plays will create vital new production opportunities for writers in the East Midlands, bringing audiences across the East Midlands and beyond together for playful encounters.
*This opportunity is open to writers at all stages of their career, and also to co-writers and theatre-makers who write in alternative ways – such as devising or co-creating – and who see their role as “writing” the story / structure of their piece.
What is a Pop-Up Play?
PLAYful!
Pop-Up Plays are playful, creative stories and theatrical encounters that are easy to “Pop-Up” in alternative formats and settings. They can be experimental, fleet-of-foot, and have the potential to tour. What matters is the idea of connection, how this relates to the story that you want to tell, and the experience you want for your audience.
- Your idea should be for 1-2 performers (or pre-recorded material).
- Your Pop-Up Play could take any shape, such as a short immersive or site-specific pieces, audio walking stories / self-guided adventures, installations, outdoor performances, treasure hunt, theatrical conversation, rituals/meals, through to digital-live hybrid work or at-home-kit for audiences to create themselves… Let your imagination play freely. They could take place anywhere that we encounter in our everyday lives – a cafe, a park, a bus stop, a library, or people’s own homes.
- The idea should be able to “Pop-Up” again in the future so should be able to work in multiple locations. For this first edition of Pop-Up Plays, at least some of the pieces will be presented in Leicester and Derby. Where appropriate, engagement work will be supported by and in collaboration with Curve and Derby Theatre, although writers can live in or have a strong connection to any part of the East Midlands.
- Pop-Up Plays can be between 10 and 45 minutes in length, including shorter pieces that could be performed multiple times in a day. Consider what format and length best fits your idea and can have the most impact.
- Please consider the audience, who you want to reach, and any particular groups that you may want to engage with your play and its development, or who could potentially feed into the creation of your piece.
- Please consider how your idea or story is meaningful for Fifth Word’s core audience of young people aged 16-30 years. Stories that can cross generations are very welcome – we understand that many themes and emotions are universal.
2025 theme: CONNECTION
- What does connection mean to you? Who do you rarely see connect with each other, and how could you invite these connections to take place? How/when/where do you connect/disconnect? How do we create space for real encounters amidst a fast-moving world? Who do you wish you took more time to connect with, and how could this happen?
- Are there any spaces, places or times that have a particular connection for the stories that you are interested in? How can your piece create moments for your audience to connect or come together? What are the moments where connection happens, or the missed moments, that your piece would celebrate or investigate?
- What form could help an audience to best experience your story, and engage with it most impactfully?
Fees and Offer
- Commission Fee of up to £4,000 – fees will vary according to the length that best fits the idea.
Example commission fee breakdowns:
-
- Up to 45 mins – £4,000
- Up to 30 mins – £3,056
- Up to 20 mins – £2,150
- Up to 10 mins – £1,000
- Paid Research and Development workshop / processes, to bring in project-specific expertise, or hear the play aloud with actor/s. There is a small shared budget, to be distributed across the pieces according to need.
- Artistic and technical sounding board to support any aspect of the work. This will include voices from Fifth Word’s core team, the project’s broader collaborators and specialised freelancers, such as:
- Designing and delivering an appropriate strategy to market the work to audiences, both live and online.
- Dramaturgical offers, as appropriate to the journey of the idea and play from the Fifth Word team.
- Practical support and delivery for production and technical needs, from an experienced freelance Production Manager, plus freelancers with specialised knowledge.
- Practical support, advice and best practice on community and audience engagement, supported by Fifth Word and the project’s broader collaborators.
- Professional skill-building and skill-sharing opportunities, including 1:1 time with Fifth Word’s team and advice sessions led by your needs to help you progress or sustain a writing career.
- Networking opportunities with other commissioned artists.
- Professional photography of the work.
Key Dates
- 12 noon, Monday 7th April 2025: Application Deadline
- w/c 28 April 2025: Shortlisted Artist Meetings
- w/c 5 May 2025: Application responses & commission offers
- May-Sept: Research and development / workshops, in response to project needs
- Monday 7 July 2025: First Draft Deadline
- Tuesday 26 August 2025: Second Draft Deadline
- Tuesday 30 Sept 2025: Final Rehearsal Draft
- Oct/Nov 2025: Rehearsals
- Oct/Nov 2025, East Midlands: Production
All writers will receive a clear response on the outcome of their application by Friday 9 May 2025.
ELIGIBILITY
- Writers* who live in or have a strong connection to the East Midlands.
- Format: ideas that can “pop-up” to be experienced in alternative ways, without needing expensive technology / extensive production design (though there is some budget for production available).
- Ideas or plays that are not already produced. You can be just at the start of an idea that isn’t written, or submit a project that you have already started to work on: they are both eligible.
*This opportunity is open to writers at all points in their career, and also to co-writers and theatre-makers who write in alternative ways – such as devising or co-creating – and who see their role as “writing” the story / structure of their piece.
How to Apply
Click below to apply online with your Pop-Up Play idea now:
Please ensure you complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form to accompany your application.
Deadline: 12pm, Monday 7th April 2025
Fifth Word encourages people who are under-represented on stages in the East Midlands to apply, including people who have socio-economic disadvantage, people of the Global Majority, people who are D/deaf and/or disabled, people who are LGBTQIA+ or gender non-conforming, although Fifth Word recognises that identity is multifaceted and nuanced.
If you need this information in a different format please contact us and we will do our best to help.
FAQ’s
Pop-Up Plays will include a diverse range of projects, running times and writers at all stages of their career. We are seeking playful, creative stories and theatrical encounters that respond to the idea of connection and that are easy to “Pop-Up” in alternative formats and settings. They can be experimental, fleet-of-foot, and have the potential to tour. What matters is the idea of connection, how this relates to your idea, and the experience you want for your audience. For more information, please see the What is a Pop-Up Play section above.
Each writer/team can only apply with one proposal.
Yes. Please submit a single application, together. Please do contact us at info@fifthword.co.uk if an alternative format is needed.
Yes. Please be aware that you are applying as a writer in the first instance.
No, you are welcome to submit to Fifth Word too, including work that is already in progress that is not already commissioned and/or scheduled for production.
Pop-Up Plays creates commissions and production opportunities for writers who live in or have a strong connection to the East Midlands. We do not want to restrict eligible applicants to postcodes, as we recognise that being from a place can be more complicated. When we ask this question, we want to understand your connection to the East Midlands. This may be because you grew up here, because you lived here, or other reasons. Fifth Word wants to be inclusive of your relationship to the East Midlands, so please do tell us about it in your own words.
If you have any need for this information in a different format or need any access support in applying, please contact nic@fifthword.co.uk who will do their best to help.
All eligible applications will be read by two readers from a team that will include staff from Fifth Word, Curve Theatre and In Good Company, to create a shortlist of up to 15 projects. Shortlisted writers will be invited for a short Zoom meeting in the week of 21st April 2025 to talk about their idea and ambitions for the production. These meetings will include representatives from Curve and Fifth Word, with full details updated ahead. The meetings will be informal and take around 20 minutes. A few questions will be shared ahead to help shape the conversation and there will be space to ask questions back. The panel will discuss and reflect on the meetings, basing decisions on the content of the conversation and ideas. Up to 3 commissions are available, and all shortlisted writers who are not allocated a place this year will be offered a half hour artist meet on Zoom (or alternative, as needed) with Nic Wass, Creative Associate at Fifth Word, which will be led by each writer’s needs and wishes. For example, you might want to discuss a specific idea, questions about your career, the theatre industry, or other projects, opportunities or companies that might interest you. Every writer who applies will receive a clear response by Friday 9 May 2025.
Individual feedback will not be offered. Unfortunately, Fifth Word does not have the capacity to do this but every writer who applies will receive a clear response by Friday 9 May 2025. With your consent, Fifth Word will keep in contact with you by email about future opportunities, productions and news. You can sign up for the mailing list when you apply or by following the link on the “Contact Us” page on our website.
To keep Fifth Word as representative as possible, we collect some information about everyone who undertakes activity and applies for opportunities with Fifth Word. Whatever you tell us in the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form will be confidential and all data is securely kept and anonymised. Data from the form will not be shared with third parties outside of the project partners or funders, and will always be anonymised. Any answers given in the equal opportunities form will not be linked to your application or used to make a decision about commission offers. You have the right to request access to your personal data at any time and can ask to be removed from the database. In addition, we will share relevant information on individual applicants with the partners on this project: restricting this to only the information that is needed to enable them to feed into the application assessment and shortlisting process. You have the right to request access to your personal data at any time and can ask to be removed from the database.
All directors will be mutually agreed. We are open to suggestions and to introducing you to directors whose work you may not know.
This will be in response to the ideas that are selected, and venues/locations will be found that are appropriate for your idea including through Curve’s Neighbour-Hubs and Derby Theatre’s Creative Arts Network. Where relevant, engagement with Leicester and Derby communities is encouraged, although writers can live in or have a strong connection to any part of the East Midlands. It may be helpful to think about the potential for an idea to “Pop-Up” again in the future, in terms of any preferred location to experience it.
Fifth Word is a charity and all of our work is made possible through the generous support of trusts, foundations, funding partners and individual donations. If you’d like to help us fulfil our core mission to commission and produce the most exciting playwrights from the East Midlands and beyond, please contact info@fifthword.co.uk.
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