Resources

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support

A list of companies, orgs, resources

A list to help you discover other orgs, companies, and resources that you may find useful, or want to be aware of.

Many (but not all) of the orgs/resources on this list are ones we know well and/or have worked with, or use/recommend regularly. However, inclusion on this list is not an indication of affiliation, or an unfettered endorsement. It’s a pointer to the fact that these organisations & resources exist, and either have something in common with us, and/or do something we think is good.

We haven’t included our favourite artists or venues here, because the list would be endless! If you follow us on social media, listen to our podcast, or read our blog, you’ll soon have our fave people and places on your radar.

We’ve loosely categorised everything for navigation, but there's some crossover between areas (producing companies who also do great advocacy/community work; theatre companies who also make films, etc).

Groups

Organisations, collectives, companies, and networks dedicated to making theatre & performing arts more equal, representative, fairer and accessible through campaigning, lobbying, teaching, mentoring, researching, facilitating, creating opportunities, making space, and building community.

Act For Change

Campaign for better representation across the live and recorded arts.

A Good Night Out Reading Group

A monthly reading group that discusses topics of relevance to socialist theatre workers.

Arts Emergency

Help young people get a fair start in the arts and humanities.

BEATS

Advocacy organisation founded by British East and South East Asians working in the Theatre and Screen industry.

Black Ticket Project

Creating cultural access points for Black young people across England.

Black Womxn In Theatre

Hosting and holding spaces and campaigning for long-lasting sector changes.

Blacktress

Grassroots network and support group for self-defined black/mixed race womxn actors of the African diaspora.

Brighton People's Theatre

Shining a spotlight on the stories that created the people of Brighton.

Burn Bright

Driving positive change for writers who identify as women in theatre.

ERA 50:50

Campaigning for 50/50 gender balance on British stage & screen.

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

A community for self-employed & freelance workers from all areas of theatre, opera & live performance.

Fringe of Colour

Dedicated to supporting Black people & People of Colour at arts festivals in Scotland & beyond.

Funny Women

Amplifying female voices through comedy.

Inc Arts

Championing creative, contractual & economic rights of the UK's African, Asian, Caribbean & ethnically diverse arts sector workforce.

MAIA

Group of people & projects. Building, investing in & making things for justice. Programmes, art, spaces, support, & infrastructure - based in Birmingham, UK.

Mainspring Arts

Dedicated to increasing neurodiversity in the arts through workshops, mentoring, producing publications, performances & showcases.

MENA Arts

UK-based not-for-profit Arts organisation for professionals who work in Live & Recorded Arts and are connected to the Middle East, North Africa or the surrounding area.

Migrants In Culture

Organising to create the conditions of safety, agency and solidarity in the culture sector for migrants, people of colour and all others impacted by the UK’s immigration regime.

Migrants In Theatre

a grassroots movement to buoy representation and support for migrant theatre artists living in the UK

The Mono Box

Workshop programme & play collection. Responsive, continual training and community.

PiPA

Promote best practice employment & support for parents & carers in the performing arts sector.

Power Play

Creating platforms for women to express their lived experiences.

Quiplash

Taking space for queer crips (quips), furthering queer crip performance, queering accessibility, and fucking shit up.

Raze Collective

Charity established to support, develop and nurture queer performance in the UK.

Rumah Khai

Re-imagining a space for artists from the various Asian diasporas in Britain to integrate & collaborate.

Something To Aim For

Charity devoted to supporting public health and (re)building social fabric by harnessing the playfulness and innovation of the creative industries.

Sour Lemons

Dismantling systemic racism in the arts and culture sector.

Sphinx Theatre

Promoting, advocating and inspiring women in the arts through productions, conferences and research.

Theatre Queers

A regular meet up for queer, trans, non-binary & GNC folks in theatre.

The Queer House

Artists’ agency and producing house for LGBTIQ+ actors, writers and makers.

Tonic Theatre

Supporting the arts and cultural sector to achieve greater equality, diversity and inclusion.

Working Class Artists Group

33 working class artists and producers in the UK. Volunteer-led since 2018.

Unions

Join a union! Find out which one is recognised in your workplace, or join one of these.

Artists Union

Workers in visual art, applied arts, socially engaged art, moving image, sound and performance.

BECTU

Staff and freelancers working non-performance jobs in broadcasting, entertainment, cinema & theatre - including backstage and front of house theatre workers.

Equity

Actors, singers, dancers, designers, directors, stage managers, puppeteers, comedians, voice artists, and variety performers.

Musicians Union

Employed and self-employed musicians working in every area of the UK music industry, including music education.

PCS Culture Group

Workers in the UK’s museums, libraries, galleries, heritage, cultural & sport institutions.

Stage Directors UK

Representing UK Directors, Choreographers and Movement Directors

UVW DCW

Grassroots trade union of low paid, migrant & precarious workers.

Anyone who considers themselves a cultural worker is welcome to join UVW-DCW.

Writers Guild

Writers in TV, film, theatre, radio, books, comedy, poetry, animation and video games.

Producing Companies

Companies & groups making work on stage that we like. Theatre, live art, cabaret, comedy. If we see these names on a poster, consider our interest peaked!

Breach Theatre

Devising company making politically engaged, formally exploratory shows that blend drama and documentary.

Broccoli Arts

Presenting and nurturing work by/for/about lesbian, bisexual and queer women across stage and page.

Chinese Arts Now

Produce and present to the public, work that explores Chinese themes, stories and art forms, and work that blends Chinese and other contemporary art forms.

Clean Break

Women’s theatre company changing lives and changing minds – on stage, in prison and in the community.

Damsel Productions

London-based theatre company bringing together women artists, directors, designers & producers to develop & produce scripts by women.

Deafinitely Theatre

The first deaf launched and deaf led professional theatre company in the UK producing bilingual theatre in BSL and spoken english.

Extant

Professional performing arts company of visually impaired artists and theatre practitioners, producing touring productions and delivering training regionally and internationally.

Foc It Up Comedy

Celebrating & centering comedians of colo(u)r who aren't cis men unapologetically.

Fuel Theatre

Producing fresh work for adventurous people by inspiring artists. Supporting and stimulating artists to develop their own ideas through provocation and challenge.

Futures Theatre

New writing company producing work that amplifies women’s voices and creates a space for change.

Graeae

Placing Deaf and disabled actors centre stage and challenging preconceptions.

Improbable

Improvisers, theatre makers and conversation facilitators.

In Bed With My Brother

Performance trio with a ‘fun’ website that makes it hard to find a summary sentence to copy, but we like their work.

LUNG Theatre

A national, verbatim theatre company. Campaigning for hidden voices to be heard.

Milk Presents

Enable people to queer their world through theatre, performance, film, audio-plays, workshops, club nights, symposiums, book groups and more.

Nouveau Riche

Create and nurture new writing that is thought provoking, challenging and culturally inclusive.

Paines Plough

Find, create and tour powerful new stories, performing them wherever you are.

Pecs Drag Kings

All-female/non-binary theatre and cabaret company, creating shows for the LGBTQ+ community since 2013.

RashDash

A company of performers, musicians and makers.

Sh!t Theatre

Performance Art duo exploring the political, the personal and the down-right perverted.

Shotgun Carousel

London-based, queer led theatrical entertainment company and multi-disciplinary performance collective.

Talawa

Championing Black Excellence in theatre; nurturing talent in emerging and established artists of African or Caribbean heritage and telling inspirational and passionate stories.

The Bitten Peach

Pan-Asian cabaret collective of performers of Asian descent working in a variety of nightlife performance genres, including drag, burlesque, dance, comedy, music, and circus.