New Earth Theatre

19/06/2026

🥁 NEW additions to our 2026 season 🎉

🎭 Creative Programme:
Oct 1-31: The Hungry Ghost
Tickets on sale for Mei Leng Yew’s sexy horror rom-com Bush Theatre

🚀Artist Development:
Jul 2: Climate X Musical Theatre
Workshop w/ for 25 music/theatre artists from diverse backgrounds to explore musical theatre about climate change & migration

🌱 Sector Development:
2026 Constellation Winner: 🎉 the £1,000 prize brings the best BESEA performance graduate into an audition panel with heads of casting National Theatre Royal Shakespeare Company BBC

Jul 13-14: Table Reads - Climate Playwriting Prize edition
For BESEA writers submitting to Climate Playwriting Prize and want to hear their work & gain feedback

Jul 18: Inter-Waves Bagri Foundation Kakilang
Sector leaders presenting panels on international collaboration in theatre & live art between UK & Asia

Oct 20: Shakespeare and Race Festival by Shakespeare's Globe
Tickets go on sale at the end of June

📢 The rest of our previously announced season:

🎭 Creative Programme:
[PAST] Heartwood: collaboration between curious directive/49 Elm Hill Norfolk & Norwich Festival NHS Blood and Transplant & New Earth

James Robson: our year-round interactive, promenade experience at Cutty Sark & Royal Museums Greenwich

🚀Artist Development:
Academies: 7 free courses across the UK for BESEA theatre makers developing skills in performing, devising, writing & self-producing. In partnership with Royal Central London LOWRY York Theatre Royal Everyman & Playhouse theatres Welcome HOME Birmingham Hippodrome Factory International

Open Works Festival: partnering with Sheffield Theatres to commission local BESEA artists to create new work

BESEA Artist Hubs: workshops, play readings, 1-1 mentoring, artist support surgeries & networking events

🌱 Sector Development:
Deadline Sep 1: Climate Playwriting Prize Shakespeare's Globe Climate Spring Fern Culture. As an Associate Partner, we will help with shortlisting & BESEA writing development

🛠️ PLUS R&Ds & table reads for our work w/ Zoo Co Headlong Shakespeare's Globe Everyman & Playhouse theatres

19/06/2026

🥁 The 2026 Constellation Creatives Bursary winner is Ashleigh Lai 🎉

Congratulations, Ashleigh!!

Ashleigh Lai (she/her) is a graduating actor of Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (BA Hons Acting, 3 years, 2023-2026). She's performing in Feral Threads (new writing by Rebecca Jade Hammond) directed by Patricia Logue, at New Diorama Theatre (running until 20 June). Also, she is currently filming on a limited series over the summer/autumn.

“Wow. Receiving the Constellations Creatives Bursary is a wonderful proud moment to honour the last three years of drama school. As I enter my next chapter, I feel grateful to join a community full of curiosity, presence and talent. New Earth Theatre, thank you for creating a space where we can celebrate our Asian heritage. I’m excited to join a new wave of voices and proud to be a part of something so special.”

This year's sponsors are Orion Lee (cash prize), Spotlight (one-year membership), Jeremy Ang Photography (headshot package), and The Acting Habit (Casting workshops)

This year's panel was:
🟢 John Cannon (Casting Director, BBC)
🟢 Ailin Conant (Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre)
🟢 Matthew Dewsbury (Casting Director, Royal Shakespeare Company)
🟢 Sarah Leung (Freelance Casting Director)
🟢 Martin Poile (Casting Associate, National Theatre)

"The Constellation Creatives Bursary is a highlight of my year and a great privilege to be on the panel. It’s amazing to see the brilliant new talent graduating in 2026 from the British South East and East Asian community.

Ashleigh performed beautifully with two contrasting pieces. She had great instincts, a real playfulness and truth to her work. I look forward to following her career over the next few years." - Matthew Dewsbury, Casting Director, Royal Shakespeare Company

The bursary is funded by Orion Lee and awarded by New Earth Theatre.

18/06/2026

We're so excited to be heading to the Bush Theatre this autumn with our next production: The Hungry Ghost by debut playwright Mei Leng Yew 🎉

A sexy horror rom-com exploring what takes root in the space between superstition and rationality. Directed by our very own Ailin Conant, starring Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac.

https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/the-hungry-ghost/

16/06/2026

🖊️ Writers Plus UK
Course Dates: Sep 2026 – Mar 2027
Locations: offices & online
Experience Level: Early-mid career writers who have written a full-length play

🗓️ Deadline to apply: Tue 30 Jun at 10am
🔗 Link in bio to find out more and apply (under Training)

11/06/2026

🎭 Navigating the industry as a BESEA theatre maker? We're here to help 🌱

On the first Wednesday of the month we run an artist support surgery. This is a space for you to call the shots, you can:

🌱 Request feedback on a pitch,
🌱 Discuss creative ideas
🌱 Brainstorm fundraising opportunities
🌱 Or seek career development advice.

While we cannot look at materials in advance, we are happy to use the time in the way that is most helpful to you.

No agenda needed. Just come with your questions.

Next Session: Wed 1 Jul, from 11am – 12pm
Register by: Mon 29 Jun at 12pm (places are offered on a first-come, first-served basis)

🔗 Sign up here: https://www.newearththeatre.org.uk/artist-support-session

08/06/2026

The Hungry Ghost: Production Casting Call Out

We're looking for an actor for The Hungry Ghost by Mei Leng Yew, for a London theatre production run this October (with a potential 2027 tour).

The Hungry Ghost is a comedy-horror-romance inspired by traditional Chinese belief systems surrounding ghosts, ancestral worship and the afterlife.

🚨 Production Dates
Rehearsals: 7 Sep - 5 Oct
London run: 6 - 31 Oct

🎭 Casting Details: GHOST (female, Chinese, immortal)
Playing age: 20s
Height: any
Gender: Female
Appearance: Chinese, East Asian, Southeast Asian
Accent: Chinese (must be a native Cantonese speaker)

🗓️ Deadline to apply: Monday 22 June at 10am

🔗

We are looking for an actor for The Hungry Ghost by Mei Leng Yew for a production at the Bush Theatre in London in October. There is the potential for a tour in 2027. 

02/06/2026

is back and we're taking part!

STAMP Connects is THE not-to-be-missed annual event for new, early, and mid-career artists. Attend panel discussions, meet with London-based arts organisations and find out how they support artists and produce new work.

See you there ✨

📅 Thursday 2 July
📍 Shoreditch Town Hall
🎟 £3
🔗 Find out more: https://www.newearththeatre.org.uk/news/stamps-connects-2026



📸 Photos by Marshall Stay

21/05/2026

📸 Lovely photos from our Theatre of Decomposition workshop, led by Haeweon Yi at HOME Mcr last weekend 🍄 Thank you to theatre makers in Manchester who joined us!

About the workshop:
Drawing on Haeweon's ethnographic research among the old forests and logging roads of Mi’kma’ki, this workshop offered a somatic and poetic exploration of fungal imagination.

Haeweon (이혜원) is a theatremaker, writer, and researcher from Korea, currently based in Manchester. Her work aims to share the lesser-heard voices of the more-than-human world, both within and beyond traditional theatre spaces. In 2015, she co-founded Blooming Ludus to address climate justice and environmental issues through community-based theatre practice. Haeweon’s short plays were featured in Climate Change Theatre Action in 2021, 2023, and 2025.

20/05/2026

🖊 Are you writing a play to submit for the Climate Playwriting Prize?
Would you like to hear an excerpt read out loud by actors and get feedback on what was read?

Sign up to our Script Development Table Reads! Taking place on July 13-14, in our office by London Bridge.

As an Associate Partner on the Climate Playwriting Prize, we’re hosting 2 days of table reads for writers of ESEA descent who are submitting a play for the prize. This is to help with the development of the scripts.

To be eligible you must:
🌱 Be of ESEA descent
🌱 Be available on 13 or 14 of July 10:30am-12:45pm or 1:45pm-4pm
🌱 Be eligible to apply for the prize
🌱 The excerpt must be from a play you intend to submit to the Climate Playwriting Prize

🗓️ Deadline: Thursday 11 June at 6pm
🔗 Find out more: https://www.newearththeatre.org.uk/news/climate-playwriting-prize-script-development-table-reads

Please note that even if you aren’t selected for the table reads, you can still apply for the prize.

19/05/2026

🎉 TEAM NEWS: We’re thrilled to announce that Jasmine Chong is joining New Earth Theatre as our new Creative Engagement Associate.

Jasmine Wing To Chong is a Hong Kong-born and raised theatre fundraiser writer and maker based in Yorkshire.

She is a New Earth Theatre Alumna and has a keen interest in empowering other ESEA artists and community building. With the support of other creatives, she is building a network for Yorkshire-based ESEA theatre makers, writers, visual artists and activists to showcase ESEA talents in the region.