Artist commissions are now open!

At Front Room Theatre, our goal is to support brand new theatre work made in Weston-super-Mare. We have been allocated funding through Arts Council England to support four commissions for local artists at Front Room this year. This round of commissions will take place between April and the start of July 2026.

For this round we will commissioning:

1 x general commission looking for artists who wish to develop theatre, poetry, comedy, family shows or just any form of performance or live art.

1 x outdoor walkabout commission. This commission is to develop a piece of walkabout theatre with the potential of two performances at community festivals this summer and support with future bookings for your act. 

DATES: 

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 15th April

NOTIFICATION OF OUTCOME: 29th April

DATES OF COMMISSION: Between May and the end of June.

We offer:

• £650 to support your development;
• 1 week (5 days) of free rehearsal space at Front Room;
• Feedback support from the Front Room team on one work-in-progress sharing;
• 1 half-day of technical support, including an operator for your show;
• 1 work-in-progress performance (with a 50/50 ticket split)/Two potential performances at community festivals throughout the summer for commissions

Eligibility:

• You must be based in North Somerset (this doesn’t include Bristol);
• These commissions are open to all ages
• You must be developing a brand-new idea (This can include projects you’ve done some R&D on but not something you have already toured or performed)

Judging Criteria:

We have assembled a selected panel to help us to choose the anonymised commissions. We have decided on this approach as we know many of the artists who are applying personally and would like to decision to be based on the application alone rather than taking into account any knowledge of past work. The elements that the panel will take into consideration are:

• The strength of this commission proposal. 
• The suitability of this commission proposal for Front Room’s programming and audience
• The potential for growth for the work produced.
• How excited the panel are by this commission proposal.

Apply using this form link: https://tinyurl.com/34yme69s