Discover Residencies

Residencies

This year we are offering 2 Discover Residencies. These are for doing research and the initial development of an idea or new project.

Each residency has a budget of £5,000, which covers the lead artist fee (for 2 weeks of their time), project costs and materials.

These residencies take place over 3 months. You can decide how to use your 2 weeks of paid time.

For example, you could work for 2 weeks straight, or on single days spread out over the 3 months). You can also use some of the money to work with actors or a director/dramaturg. Or you could use it for research time.

Discover Residencies will take place between January and March 2025.

|Discover Residency (Writer)

This residency is for writers who want to start work on a piece of new writing for theatre. Writers need to have had at least 1 written professional work made. This can have been in any form.

The goal of this residency is to write a complete first draft of a play. Apply to this if you have an idea you would like to develop into a script for performance.

| Discover Residency (Dumfries & Galloway)

This residency is open to an artist or group of artists who live in, or want to make work for, Dumfries and Galloway. The goal is to create a new performance work that can tour rurally in Scotland. It is for artists with lived experience of the challenges of living in a rural area. We are working with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival and The Stove Network (through the What We Do Now project)

The goal of this residency is to work towards sharing the work or details of your residency in an informal setting with other artists and invited guests from the theatre industry. Apply to this if you are looking for a residency which helps you to explore your artistry, ideas and process of making work. This could be doing some research of a new work, or developing those initial ideas on your own or with other people.

| What other support will I get?

As well as the £5000 fee, we can also give you other kinds of help. These are some things we might be able to give you. It will depend on what you need and what is available.

  • access to rehearsal space at Rockvilla in Glasgow (for both residencies), or space in Dumfries & Galloway region.
  • 1-2-1s to focus on your next steps for developing the work once the residency has ended. For example advice on producing the work, or help from a dramaturg.(including producing and dramaturgical advice)
  • technical support and advice
  • bespoke opportunities like process pop ins (where you get to visit other shows rehearsing)
  • advice sessions with National Theatre Scotland staff team. For example, how to market your show, how to raise money, how to take your show on tour, or how to get people to engage with your work.
  • meeting with us at the end of the residency to talk about how the project went and explore what the next steps of the work could be.
  • We can also help you to write an access rider, which you can use in the future. This is a document that lets people know your access needs.

Applying for Discover Residencies

There will be a separate, 1-stage application process for each Discover residency.


| Discover (Writer) - artists will be selected by a panel made up of artistic advisors and members of the National Theatre of Scotland team.

Application deadline: Tuesday 3 September 2024 at 10am.

Artists will be contacted about the outcome by Friday 25 October 2024.


| Discover (Dumfries & Galloway) - artists will be chosen by a panel including artistic advisors and members of the National Theatre of Scotland and Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival and The Stove Network team members.

Application deadline: Tuesday 10 September at 10am.

We will contact you to tell you our decision by Thursday 31 October.


We will choose 1 artist or group of artists for each residency.


How to Apply

  • You can submit your application as text, video, or audio.
  • You can apply in your first language, but please contact us before you apply so that we can find interpreters.

If you need help to submit your application, please contact us at artistresidency@nationaltheatrescotland.com.