Successful applicants will receive a yearlong creative attachment to Landmark Theatres and the majority of the work will be based and delivered at the Key Theatre.
We are looking for
- Artists/companies who want to make work between April 2026 and November 2026
- Ideally those who have previously made work professionally although we welcome applications from early or mid career artists/companies
- Those who are looking to use this seed commission to secure additional funding to support the development of their work
- Work that speaks to the multiculturality of Peterborough and the spirit of the community. We want to hear from artists who have something to say and want to make vibrant, engaging and accessible work for diverse audiences
What we offer
- A seed commission between £1500 and £2500 to go towards your development/production budget for the sharing
- Free rehearsal space at the Key Theatre
- Mentoring support
- Access Support
- Dramaturgical and developmental support for your idea
- Work in progress programming at the Key Theatre in November 2026
- Support with inviting industry professionals to see your work
Timeline
- November 2025 – January 2026– Applications open
- February-March 2026 – Interviews
- April – June 2026 – support with project planning
- June – November 2026 – Development & Rehearsals
- November 2026 Work-in-progress sharing at the Key Theatre
- November- December 2026 – Support on next steps for your project.
How to apply
Applications for Key Seeds have now closed.
Current Key Seeds Artists
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Emma Vieceli
Emma Vieceli
Emma is a theatre-trained, sometime-performer, full-time comic book writer and artist by trade.
Known more as the award-winning writer behind the Life is Strange comics or the artist and co-writer of YA drama BREAKS, among other titles, now she’s bringing together the threads that make up her life’s passions by writing and composing Unfolding; her first full musical.
She first entered this new and exciting field with a win at the Stiles+Drewe best song prize in December 2024 for It Starts Small. A year-and-a-half later, the show has enjoyed a workshop, readings and a four-night run in Cambridge with Between the Bars theatre company and a host of local talent on and off the stage. Emma is currently in planning for a London industry sharing of the work, and recently even enjoyed an incredible recording collaboration with Ramin Karimloo.
She has been overwhelmed at the welcome and support Unfolding has seen in this fabulous medium and community of ours, and is very excited to continue developing the piece with Landmark Theatres and the Key Seeds programme.
Her work: Rose is turning forty. Stuck in a dead-end job and living in the shadow of her father’s suicide, she escapes into her letters with Mark, a man on the other side of the world who she’s never met. For nearly thirty years Rose has been braver on paper than in person, but when Mark’s letters suddenly stop, everything changes.
Life-affirming, healing, and featuring the award-winning song It Starts Small, Unfolding is a new and original story engaging in a conversation around mental health and abuse that’s not often seen on musical theatre stages.
Take one step. What’s the best that can happen?
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Jessy Roberts
Jessy Roberts
Jessy Roberts is currently Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar Warehouse. She is a director and dramaturg and was previously Senior Reader at the National Theatre Studio and Literary Assistant at Soho Theatre. She is an Associate of New Perspectives, and Associate Director of Bomb Factory Theatre and The Rondo Theatre.
Theatre Credits as Director includes: The Incredibly Scary Object (Jack Studio Theatre); Tap Root (The Glitch); THIRST (Vaults Festival); Untitled Sparkly Vampire Play (Omnibus Theatre), Girls With Wings & Trauma and BRANDED (Bomb Factory Theatre).
As Associate Director: (the) Woman (Royal & Derngate Northampton/New Perspectives).
Assistant Director credits include: Octopolis (Hampstead Theatre); Everybody Wants To be Ronaldo (Tectum Theatre/Birmingham Rep); Broken Lad (Arcola Theatre); Crimes Camera Action (Theatre Royal Bath)
Teastain Theatre’s mission is to create plays which make our audiences feel more connected to the world around them. We make form-breaking new-writing, which we co-create with writers. We like grappling with topics which give us a headache through shows which are love-letters to life. Previous shows include Thirst (Vault Festival), Untitled Sparkly Vampire Play (Omnibus Theatre), Hitchhiker (Rondo Theatre) and Wild Thyme (and Heather) (York Theatre Royal Studio).
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Ryan Gilmartin
Ryan Gilmartin
Ryan Gilmartin is an award-winning actor & writer from Lincolnshire, who’s work puts fire back in bellies & rekindles belonging.
He turns community history and shared experiences into live events that increase belonging and identity.
He is developing a new piece of gig-theatre about football in the Fens, combining iconic tracks from the FIFA games with original music.
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Tara Quinn
Tara Quinn
Tara is a writer from East Anglia whose work explores identity, relationships, and the human experience in an evocative and lyrical fashion. She graduated with a first-class degree in Film and Television from the University of Lincoln and completed an MA in Drama Writing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After graduating, she began working as a television researcher, entertainment editor, and copywriter, and hopes to continue developing new and exciting work for stage and screen.
D*ke Play follows two sisters, 17 year old Izzie and 27 year old Courtney, who discover that their 10 year age gap spans a whole world of differences in their daily experiences and their first serious relationships as lesbian women.
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Tear it Up Theatre
Tear it Up Theatre
Tear it Up Theatre is a female led theatre company on a mission to ‘tear up’ expectations, misconceptions and dance floors! Our company is comprised of four female theatre makers from different regions of the UK, all past graduates of East 15’s Acting and Community Theatre course. Due to our shared background, we have a passion for creating work with a strong community impact that aims to evoke change.
BATTERED is a punchy musical comedy set behind the counter of a fish and chip shop. Powered by an iconic soundtrack of reworked Girls Aloud songs, it uses girlband energy, sharp character comedy and quick-fire shifts in tone to explore what it’s like to be a young woman navigating the world of work. The show spotlights contemporary issues including inequality, harassment and insecure working, but through the lense of a counter job. The style is warm, witty and accessible, where a familiar pop chorus can flip into a moment of truth, and a laugh can land right beside a gut-punch.
