It’s back. The mack daddy of performing arts opportunities… 

We’re working with Underbelly, and some of our performing arts partners, to take a season of our members’ best work to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next August.

We’ll be bringing the pot of £25,000 – Underbelly will be bringing the prime venue slots, priority marketing and mentoring support. 

The budget is fixed, but the number of shows we’ll support within that budget is not – it will depend entirely on the quality and range of applications how this funding and support is divided.

If you win this brief, we will also expect you to raise money, and so, depending on your budget and your fund-raising strategy, we would make a significant contribution to your budget, but not cover all costs.

Each show will be offered a slot in one of Underbelly’s prime theatre venues (60 to 100 seats). We will decide which space is appropriate for the selected shows - though applicants are of course welcome to propose a preferred space if they are familiar with Underbelly’s venues.

We will award money towards the cost of the production, and also cover the cost of the following for each brief-winning show:

1. Venue brochure entry
2. Marketing support
3. Budget and production advice
4. Four workshop sessions on PR, marketing, producing and production

Underbelly will be involved in facilitating the workshops, offering artistic mentoring and support for marketing, press, production and a show technical operator.

While you will be expected to cover accommodation costs, pay your team and take care of press, this opportunity will make taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe not only achievable, but also much less financially risky. You will have direct access to Underbelly’s head of marketing and press, support from the programming team, and each show will also receive on-going mentoring from a selection of IdeasTap’s performing arts partners and Underbelly’s professional contacts.

This opportunity will provide new shows, of any style or subject, with an extraordinary opportunity to make an impact at the biggest arts festival in the world. By covering venue, marketing support and costs towards production we hope to break down the financial barriers that new work often comes up against when deciding to go to Edinburgh.

Before applying, here are some things you should know…

• You can only submit a new play or piece of theatre
• Ideally your play must be no longer than 60 minutes in duration
• It must be “festival friendly”, i.e. taking into account the size and limitations of the venues and the quick turn around times. 

Please make sure you read the terms and conditions before applying.

This brief closes on Tuesday 14 January 2014 at 5pm and is open to IdeasTap members aged 18 to 30. If you have any technical queries, visit the help centre. Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances, including technical issues – so make sure you don’t leave your application to the last minute.

Photograph: Richard Davenport

Follow this brief to download the application form