Open Works Festival
Open Works is a bold celebration of theatre, offering a platform for the most exciting and dynamic artists in South Yorkshire.
With a focus on fresh perspectives and powerful stories, the festival will present world premieres, and original plays that bring unheard stories to the stage.
Committed to supporting artists at every stage of their journey, the festival promises compelling performances, and a chance to experience cutting-edge theatre.
The Open Works Festival will take place between Mon 28 September and Sat 10 October 2026 across the Montgomery Theatre and Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse at Sheffield Theatres.
The festival will feature work from our Associate Companies – Forced Entertainment, Roots Mbili, Stand and Be Counted and The Bare Project – alongside work by LUNG and Swans Productions.
Ways To Get Involved
Applications for Performance Ready, Work-in-Progress, and Rehearsed Readings have now closed.
There are four ways for artists to have their work presented as part of Open Works 2026.
Performance Ready, for theatremakers and companies local to Sheffield Theatres to have fully-realised projects programmed as part of the festival.
Work-in-Progress, for theatremakers and theatre companies local to Sheffield Theatres to share up to an hour of in-development work as part of the festival.
Rehearsed Readings, for writers local to Sheffield Theatres to have their work performed by professional actors as part of the festival.
Scratch, for theatremakers and companies local to Sheffield Theatres to share up to 20 minutes of new work as part of the festival.
Applications for Scratch will open this summer.
Open Working
To support the development of new work in our region we will be running Open Working, a series of workshops focused on making and producing skills.
There will be opportunities for up to 25 people to join Open Working, with participants randomly selected from all eligible submitted applications to all of our Open Works opportunities.
We welcome and encourage applications from artists from backgrounds under-represented in the arts, including but not limited to those who identify as D/deaf and/or disabled, neurodiverse, global majority and/or migrant, and LGBTQ+.
In Partnership with New Earth Theatre
We are proud to be partnering with New Earth Theatre to develop a range of opportunities for British East and Southeast Asian artists as part of Open Works 2026.
We want to create a platform for BESEA artists in our region, so we are allocating slots as part of our Work-in-Progress, Rehearsed Readings, and Scratch opportunities for BESEA artists. In collaboration with New Earth Theatre we will also be offering bespoke mentoring and networking packages for BESEA artists.
New Earth Theatre is the leading and longest-running British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) touring theatre company in the UK. Their mission is to bring nuanced BESEA representation to the widest possible audience. You can learn more about their work here.
FAQs
When is the Open Works festival?
From Monday 28 September to Saturday 10 October 2026, with events taking place at different times of day throughout that period.
If your project is chosen to be programmed in the festival we will give you a date, time and location within 2 weeks of selection.
What do we mean by “local to Sheffield Theatres”?
People who have lived, worked, and studied across South Yorkshire.
If you are unsure whether you fit into this definition, please feel free to contact us at talent.development@sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.
What sort of work are we looking for?
We want the Open Works Festival programme to speak to the diverse audiences of South Yorkshire and are looking for imaginative, innovative, and passionate stories.
This will include high-quality work of a variety of styles, genres, and disciplines that will appeal to those audiences.
Will there be more Open Works festivals?
We are currently working on Open Works 2026. We are planning Open Works to be an annual festival that evolves alongside our artistic programme.
Where will Open Works take place?
- Work with audiences, such as Performance Ready, Work-in-Progress, Rehearsed Readings, and Scratch, will take place in our Montgomery Theatre and Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse.
Workshop events and rehearsal spaces will take place in The Bank and the Montgomery Studio.
What technical resources are available?
- For Work-in-Progress and Scratch there are minimal technical resources available. We do not recommend using these programmes to experiment with or explore ambitious technical elements of your work.
For Performance Ready, while our technical resources are limited, we welcome ambition and are keen to accommodate each project’s needs. As part of the application we are requesting information about technical requirements. For successful applications we envision these requirements being the starting point of a conversation about possibilities.
What marketing resources are available?
Sheffield Theatres will be marketing the Open Works festival programme. We will also be supporting artists with work presented as part of Open Works to market their own work.
Can you apply for multiple opportunities?
- The short answer is yes.
The longer answer is that the same lead artist will not be offered multiple opportunities as part of Open Works 2026. We do however understand that freelancers might be attached to multiple different projects in multiple different ways, so being named in different capacities in different applications is fine.
What’s the difference between Work-in-Progress or Performance Ready?
- Work-in-Progress is a project development opportunity with limited funding and technical resources that will create an opportunity for artists and companies local to Sheffield Theatres to involve audiences in their developmental process.
- Performance Ready is a programming opportunity that will support artists and companies local to Sheffield Theatres by presenting and platforming their work as part of the festival.
Are there any restrictions about content or themes?
No - there aren't any content restrictions.
What funding is available?
- For each Performance Ready slot we are offering £650 against a 70%/30% box office split in the artist’s favour. We might offer the same project multiple slots.
For each Work-in-Progress project we are offering £450.
For each Scratch project we are offering £200.
