Scratch Nights

Key Nights is a scratch-style performance opportunity for creatives based in the East of England who are making theatre-based work.

Perfect for those looking to test ideas in front of a supportive audience and take original work to the next level.

What is a scratch night?

Scratch nights act as a sharing platform for artists to test their work with a supportive live audience and the work presented is often at the early stages of development.

Selected artists will have 20 minutes to present their work, which is followed by a feedback session with the audience. After collecting the feedback, artists can choose to develop their piece accordingly.

For audiences, scratch nights are a great way to see new work, contribute to the development of a piece and support local artists.

We are looking for

Artists producing new theatre-based work
Performances no longer than 20 minutes
Artists who want to test out theirwork in Oct 2026
Artists based in and around Peterborough
Those aged 18+

What we offer

A commission of £175 for successful applicants
Free rehearsal space at the Key Theatre
In house dramaturgical support

Timeline

July 2026 – Applications open
August 2026 – Applications close & Introduction Meeting
September 2026 – Two in house dramaturgical support sessions
October 2026 – Key Nights performance Saturday 3rd October 2026
November 2026 – Debrief/evaluation meeting with Landmark

Scratch Night Application Form

To apply, please complete the form below. Deadline Monday 3rd August 2026 – 12:00pm. If you require more information or additional support with your application, please contact our Talent and Participation Associate Sonny Nwachukwu on sonny.nwachukwu@landmarktheatres.co.uk

Artist Information

Lead Contact Name(Required)

Company Name

Location(Required)

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Website

Social Media

Project Information

Working Titles(Required)

Please list any performers and/or creatives involved(Required)

Tell us a little bit about you and your company’s work (100 words max)(Required)

Tell us about your proposed project (300 words max)(Required)

What do you hope to learn from staging your project at Key Nights? (100 words max)(Required)

What is your plan for the future development of the project? (100 words max)(Required)

Please tell us about any technical requirements you may have, bearing in mind that this is an early stage, work-in-progress sharing with technical and turnaround time being limited.(Required)

If your project is selected for Key Nights, you will be offered up to 4 days’ rehearsal space to allow companies time to develop work. Please indicate your preference for what rehearsal time/days you.

(Development/rehearsal time in our space is optional, don’t worry if these don’t work for you)

If you prefer to submit an audio file for this application, please feel free to do so.

Max. file size: 5 MB.

If your file exceeds 5 MB you can email it to george.barnett@landmarktheatres.co.uk

You may provide additional information that you think will be helpful to us in considering your project. We can accept up to 5 images, script extracts (up to 10 pages) or a short video (no longer than 5 mins).

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 5 MB.

If your file exceeds 5 MB you can email it to george.barnett@landmarktheatres.co.uk

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