China Plate

02/06/2026

✨ Team Spotlight ✨

Meet Fiona Bradley – joined the China Plate team in 2023.

“I am the Senior Producer at China Plate which means I produce a range of shows at different scales for China Plate, from one-person studio shows to full scale musicals. I also manage the producing team to ensure we have capacity to keep doing everything we want to do, and we keep connected across projects.

I really enjoy the range of work I get to do and that it allows me to keep learning. For example, our show Swansong involves working with a Symphony Orchestra which is a whole new world for me! I also really enjoy working with artists to nurture the early idea of a project and watch it come to fruition.”

📷 Hayley Salter

29/05/2026

Our friends at BLINK Dance Theatre are looking for new Trustees to join their board and support their mission to centre Neurodivergent and Learning-Disabled voices in arts & culture.

Deadline for applications is Monday 8th June ⏰

Check out the link below for more information:

BLINK have big plans to radically change arts leadership, and we need trustees with finance and legal experience to join us and make that possible.

29/05/2026

✨ Team Spotlight ✨

Meet Josie Lena Davies – joined the China Plate team in 2024.

“I am a PhD researcher (through a Midlands4Cities Collaborative Doctoral Award), investigating China Plate’s practice.

I am invested in finding models of theatre making that enable positive social change - so I love having the opportunity to examine how China Plate does this in various ways across many projects. I enjoy how practical the research is, as I get to see lots of China Plate’s work in action as well as having time to read, write and reflect.”

📷 Hayley Salter

29/05/2026

FRIDAY NEWS✨

It’s amazing that the Rural Touring Dance Initiative begun over 10 years ago - here’s a fantastic series of reflections on the programme so far, on the National Rural Touring Forum - NRTF website, including from our Co-Artistic Director Ed ⬇

A ten-year programme which brought leading dance artists to rural communities has been heralded a major success.

26/05/2026

Our friends at Selina Thompson Ltd are turning 10! 🎉🪇 and they're having a party! To make this party really pop, they launched 10 x £1000 commissions for 10 x artists to help them celebrate, full details of commissioning opportunities are on their website: https://selinathompsonltd.co.uk/work/10th-birthday-party-artist-commission-opportunities

Check it out and spread the word! 📅 Deadline: 1st June 2026.

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...

---

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.

---

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).

---

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

26/05/2026

✨ Team Spotlight ✨

Meet Jade Samuels – joined the China Plate team in 2022.

“As an Associate Producer, I work alongside China Plate to deliver projects that sit within China Plate’s wheelhouse. I feel like we have an established relationship now of creating and developing projects told specifically through the Black Brummie lens.

What do I enjoy most about my role? The ability it has given me to develop and grow as a producer. Having an organisation like China Plate in my corner allows me to dream big, as I know they will support whatever I want to do with my projects.”

📷 Hayley Salter

26/05/2026

25/05/2026

APPLICATIONS CLOSE TOMORROW ⬇

China Plate's producer training programme The Optimists offers an introduction to the craft of producing in a professional context and building professional networks by de-mystifying the financial, administrative, and organisational aspects of producing.

Our Summer 2026 course will run between Sat 13th June and Sat 1st August: https://chinaplatetheatre.com/opportunities

Bursaries are available, covering the course fees, to those who face cultural barriers and inequity due to factors including (but not limited to) race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. If this applies to you, we encourage you to apply for a bursary.

Get your applications in before 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 26th May!

23/05/2026

CLOSING SOON 📢

Are you an emerging artist, creative practitioner, or aspiring producer hoping to develop your professional producing skills in the subsidised arts sector?

You have until 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 26th May to apply for our producing training course The Optimists!

ℹ️ 10 in-person sessions over 7 weeks
🗓️ Between Sat 13 June to Sat 1 August 2026
📍 At venues across the West Midlands
➡️ For up to 20 participants
📌 £480 Freelancers/individuals
📌 £660 Organisations
💫 Bursaries available

Find out more: https://chinaplatetheatre.com/opportunities

📷 Arnim Friess

22/05/2026

📣 WE’RE HIRING: DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER

Fuel is looking for a Development Producer to spearhead our artistic development activity and help shape the future of ambitious, artist-led live performance.

This is a key role within our team, working closely with our Artistic Director & CEO and producing team to support artists, develop new ideas, secure resources, and help brilliant projects grow from early-stage research and development into extraordinary work.

✨ We’re looking for someone with:
At least 3 years’ experience in artistic development
A passion for contemporary theatre and live performance
Experience managing R&D processes, budgets and fundraising
Excellent relationship-building and communication skills

📍 Hybrid role - applicants can be based anywhere in the UK
🏢 Office base: Somerset House, London
💰 £32,000-£35,000 FTE depending on experience
⏰ Full-time, permanent (flexible/part-time options considered)

At Fuel, we actively welcome applicants from backgrounds currently under-represented in the arts sector.

🗓 Deadline: 10am, Monday 22 June 2026
🔗 Full job pack + application details here: https://fueltheatre.com/get-involved/

There will be an information session held on Zoom Friday 12 June at 5pm - see the job pack for more details.

Image: Neil Bennett