China Plate

08/09/2026

Our friends at Selina Thompson Ltd are celebrating their 10th birthday on Friday, and there is only a handful of tickets remaining if you'd like to join them! 🎊

Head over to their website for more information ⬇
https://selinathompsonltd.co.uk/work/stl-10th-birthday-party

Babs, we've got one hell of a birthday this year: Selina Thompson Ltd will turn 10 years old - and to celebrate, we've decided to throw a big ole' party!

There will be tickets available to book nearer the time once we've confirmed all the details, but for now, please stick what's set to be the hottest Brummie party of 2026 in your diaries for Friday 11th September 2026.

To make this party really pop, we are launching 10 x £1000 commissions for 10 x artists to help us celebrate! So if you're an artist - or you know one (or even two, or three, etc etc) - check out the artist commissions opportunities below...

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1. Artist Brief: Birthday Party Entertainment
(Open to artists nationally in the UK)

We are hosting a party, and what does every great party need...? Some iconic performances! That's where you come in.

Task: To make a ‘party piece’ that responds to one of the following five works from the Selina Thompson archive:

- Chewing the Fat
- Dark and Lovely
- Race Cards
- Salt
- Pat It and Prick It and Mark It with ‘B’

When we say a party piece, we either mean:

- a short performance piece, no longer than 20 (?) minutes, that can be performed in a cabaret-esque set up. Can have a cabaret vibe, but doesn’t have to.

- an installation that people can leave the main party to ‘do’ or ‘experience’

- a durational performance or experience that lasts the length of the party

- Something else you come up with that impresses us so much that we make an allowance for you.

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2. Artist Brief: Birthday Party Hosting
(Open to artists in the West Midlands only)

You know what else a party needs? Food! Booze! Bouncy Castles! Party Bags! And for that? We need you.

Task: To design and deliver one element of the birthday party as a bespoke art intervention. The themes are:

🍰 Cake
🍔 Catering
🪩 Decoration
🍸 Drinks
🛍️ Party Bags

When we say bespoke art intervention we mean:

- The themes are to be interpreted as live art /performance art / visual art commissions

- They respond to the theme of a 10 year old’s birthday party

- It needs to be functional. So by all means get creative but the drinks can’t be made out of kerosene or something, people still need to have a good time (and stay alive).

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Please visit our website (https://selinathompsonltd.co.uk/work/10th-birthday-party-artist-commission-opportunities) to explore both of these briefs in full and for application details - but as a heads up, expressions of interest need to be in by Mon 1st June, 10am.

We are already excited to see what you come up with!

Team STL x

07/09/2026

If you missed We Had Fun by our Assistant Producer Jack Mullings and his co-writer Emmeline Hartley at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, you can catch it on the 18th September at Royal & Derngate as part of GEN FEST 2026 ⬇

Not long to go until our 2026 GenFest gets underway!

Four days of new work from locally connected artists - and tickets are all £10 or less.

Check out the full line up in our digital programme by clicking the link in our comments below.

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

NEW BLOG!

We’re delighted to welcome Ikram to the China Plate team.

Over the next couple of months, as part of a B-Experienced internship from the University of Birmingham, Ikram will be working alongside the team on our Neighbourhood Creatives Arts Festival 2026, which is coming up in October half-term.

Find out more about Ikram here: bit.ly/NCInternblog

03/09/2026

OPPORTUNITY 📢

We're looking for new Trustees from either inside or outside the arts sector, to join our friendly and dynamic Board. If you’re interested in the ways arts and culture can have a positive impact on the world, we’d love to hear from you!

You could be based in the West Midlands or elsewhere in the UK. You don’t need to have been part of a Board before, and we’ll provide support to help you get to grips with the role.

Trustees are volunteers who help charities think about their vision and their values: what they’re doing, but also why and how they’re doing it. Being a Trustee is a way of giving your time to support charity work – and it can also be an opportunity to develop your own strategic experience and leadership.

You would be joining our Board at an exciting time, as China Plate continues to evolve and grow (including developing our first major musical, touring work across the UK, and connecting artists with community groups in Birmingham and beyond).

Visit our website to download our Trustee Recruitment pack: https://chinaplatetheatre.com/opportunities

📷 Hayley Salter

03/09/2026

Rehearsals are underway for Once Upon a Time in Sokoto!

Opening at Royal & Derngate for its world premiere from 28th September - 10th October, the show will then head out on tour ⬇

13 – 17 Oct | Oxford Playhouse
29 – 31 Oct | Nottingham Playhouse
5 – 7 Nov | Warwick Arts Centre
11 – 14 Nov | Leeds Playhouse
17 – 21 Nov | Brighton Dome
2 – 13 Feb 2027 | Bristol Old Vic

We’re super excited, as this is the first production from Touring Together – a new initiative led by China Plate and Fuel, which aims to bring bold stories which shine a fresh light on the world we live in today to stages across the country.

Find out more & book tickets:
https://chinaplatetheatre.com/whats-on/current/touring-together/

Rehearsals are underway for Once Upon A Time In Sokoto - our Made In Northampton production opens on our Royal stage on Mon 28 September.

Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is presented in association with Touring Together – a new national programme, bringing bold stories which shine a fresh light on the world we live in today, to audiences across the country.

Get your tickets now from just £15

02/09/2026

How can an enslaved woman and her former master become friends?

Writer Inua Ellams shares how Nafisa and Zinari's unlikely relationship develops in Once Upon a Time in Sokoto.

A powerful new play about friendship, faith and the forces that connect us.

📍 Touring the UK from 28 September

02/09/2026

NEW BLOG!

Our producer training The Optimists 2026 wrapped up at the end of the summer, so we caught up with one of our alumni Yǎ, to find out what they enjoyed about the programme, what has influenced their approach to producing, and what are their biggest takeaways.

You can take a read here: bit.ly/CohortReflections26

Interested in applying for our next Optimist course? Sign up for our Training & Development mailer to be kept up to date on applications opening and upcoming opportunities & events from China Plate, our partners and wider producing community: bit.ly/TDOpp

📷 Chris Lincé | Performers: Ya Gao & Ming-Chin Hsieh

01/09/2026

SAVE THE DATES!

The Warwick Christmas Lectures return this year on 2nd and 3rd December at Warwick Arts Centre - expect mind-boggling science and explosive experiments!

Live Labs with Warwick Institute of Engagement will also be in the foyer spaces from 6pm, so you can get up close and hands on with real-life science before the lectures begin.

Book your tickets or find out more: https://bit.ly/WACLectures26

📷 Nicola Young Photography