At the Young Vic, we receive many great ideas, proposals and plays, as well as invitations to see artists’ work. We want to be transparent and open in how artists can reach out to us, and how we consider submissions.
Please read all the information on this page before approaching us, to make sure your submission or enquiry goes to the best point of contact. You can find large print and dyslexia friendly copies at the bottom of this page.
What we're looking for
We want to be more transparent and accessible to freelance artists and producers who wish to collaborate with us. What we are interested in, are artists and their ideas: their proposals for how their work speaks to our audiences, and to our times.
We want to hear from artists with a clear vision and ambition to tell stories for the stage, or who want to work on the intersection of live performance and other art forms, as well as anti-disciplinary artists. We are interested in creators of work from all disciplines, and at all stages in their career.
Inviting us to see your work
The best way for us to get to know you as an artist is through your work. At the Young Vic, we are interested in artists at all stages of their careers. It doesn’t matter whether you are just starting out, or have decades of experience. We just as frequently, and happily, attend workshops, work-in-progress sharings and short runs – at all ranges of venues.
The easiest way to tell us about upcoming work is through e-mailing programming@youngvic.org.
You can invite us to your work at any point; we advise people to send invitations a minimum of four weeks prior to an event. We share the invitations we receive with members of our artistic team, so you don’t need to e-mail us individually.
To make sure we see as much work from as many artists as possible, we rarely attend more than one iteration of a production; we are, for instance, unlikely to see a production if we have already attended a rehearsed reading of it. We therefore ask you to think carefully about the stage at which you wish to invite us, and whether that is the piece of work you want the Young Vic to engage with; is it reflective of the work you wish to make, and the questions you want to ask about the world?
We try and see as much work as we can, but we can’t guarantee that we will see everything to which we are invited. Although we are a theatre based in London, we do our best to see work beyond the capital, and we have members of our artistic team who live across the country. At regular meetings, members of the Young Vic’s artistic team share what they have seen so this knowledge is rippled out across the theatre. We will also watch video recordings of productions or sharings where appropriate, for instance in cases where geographic distance makes it harder for us to come and see work live.
We don’t expect you to provide us with complimentary tickets.
Submissions of Ideas and Proposals
At regular periods over the year, we operate an open submissions policy for project proposals, ideas and approaches. The submissions window is currently closed. Please refer back to this page to be informed when the window re-opens.
At the Young Vic, we recognize that great stories for the stage don’t always (have to) start from a script. And, while we create new work, the Young Vic hasn’t historically had a Literary Department. This has meant that in the past, we have not always been able to consider unsolicited submissions of scripts; we did not have the resources to read, evaluate and respond to these in ways that we felt was supporting their writers.
Instead of submitting scripts, we invite artists who want connect to the Young Vic to send us project proposals and plans. We believe this makes it easier for us engage with artists and their ambitions.
How to Submit your Proposal
How you share your work, is up to you. We encourage you to make the format and content of your submission reflect your voice and vision – whether that is through visuals, video, audio, or in written form.
Please create one document for your proposal, and save it with a file name that includes your full name and the title of your project. Also make sure you include your name, the project name, and a contact e-mail address within your proposal. Please note that we don’t accept unsolicited scripts, or work for the screen.
We ask you to adhere to limits in length and size:
- For visual proposals (for example vision boards or decks) – no more than 5 pages or slides.
- For proposals in video or audio – no more than three minutes long.
- For written proposals – no more than 1 sheet of A4, normally spaced out and easy to read.
Please make sure the file size of your document does not exceed 50MB.
We do invite you to tell us a little bit about yourself within your proposal, but you don’t need to submit a CV or portfolio; feel free to include links to places where we can find your other work if you want to.
When the submissions window is open, you can send us your proposal through Dropbox. There is no need for you to have a Dropbox account; simply click the button below and then click the ‘Add Files’ button or drag and drop your file in the window. Click the ‘Upload’ button, and your file will be uploaded securely to us.
The submissions window is currently closed. Please refer back to this page to be informed when the window re-opens.
What happens next
Your submission will be reviewed by one or more members of the Young Vic’s Artistic Development team, who will feed back on it and share it with the rest of the artistic team. We will reply to every submission; however, we may not be able to provide feedback on all submissions. We will follow up for further contact where we believe we can take the conversation further.
If you are a creator of work for the stage, you can learn more about the opportunities offered by our Creators Program here.
Our creative engagement department Taking Part works with young people, adults, schools, and our local community.