Want to tell your story at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Or looking for ways to make touring work a possibility?
First time? Or did maybe “first time” go not so well?
We know how you feel. We’ve been there. And now we’re able to help.
The BoonDog Theatre Mentorship Scheme
BoonDog Theatre have been producing theatre since 2007. We have a long history
performing at the Edinburgh Fringe and have since toured new writing work across the
UK. Over this time we have learned many things about putting on work in this most
beautiful, wondrous and terrifying of eco-systems.
Our practice is focused on making intimate, character driven pieces working with a team
of collaborators from various disciplines to bring them to the stage, telling stories that
start conversations that last long beyond the audience leave the theatre. We are
excited by character driven new writing, and see this as the genre of work we are best
set up to support.
As we finish off another Edinburgh Festival and heading into 2027 we are offering to
mentor 3 companies/individuals through to their next steps as artists.
Who you are:
We are looking for an early-career act who reminds us of ourselves back when we
started and had no idea what we were doing - we want to give you a head start on
catching up to where we are an entire voting-age later (blurgh). We are looking for
artists who have a show they would like to produce, in at least a first draft stage. Ideally
your show will be a small-scale theatre (one or two hander) or storytelling piece. We’ll
even entertain comedy shows if they have a significant dramatic component. Yes, even
comedians are welcome to apply!
We particularly welcome applications from artists who are currently underrepresented
within theatre, including artists from Global Majority and working-class backgrounds,
and those who have had limited access to established industry networks.
We recognise that these experiences are not interchangeable. Intersectionality reminds
us that different aspects of identity and structural disadvantage can intersect, shaping
and sometimes compounding people’s experiences of access, opportunity and
exclusion. We therefore want to remain attentive to the different ways these barriers
may be experienced, rather than assuming there is a single experience of being
underrepresented. We want to acknowledge that identity and the terms we use to
describe ourselves are often nuanced and personal. If you feel that the language we
have used does not reflect your lived experiences, we will take your lead.
Similarly, we are aware that even with good intentions, programmes like this can end up
asking their participants to be the face of inclusion. We want to name this risk rather
than avoid it, and are committed to providing the resources and bespoke mentorship to
ensure this programme serves mentees first.
In previous renditions of our mentorship scheme we have focused on supporting artists
bringing work to the Edinburgh Fringe festival. This is where we got our start as a
company and have a long history of bringing work, the ins and outs of Edinburgh feels
like the biggest vat of knowledge in our possession that we can share. But we want to
acknowledge that fringe might not be where you want your work to go, and that is okay!
We want to be transparent that the resources offered to mentees previously have been
fringe specific, but if you feel like you could benefit from this programme and have no
interest in taking work to fringe do reach out and apply.
What we can offer:
We’ll adapt our package of help depending on your needs, but here’s what we think we
can offer you:
The most valuable stuff, and your least favourite thing: Admin. Ohhh we know
production admin. We will use our network of programmers across Fringe and the wider
UK theatre sector to help identify suitable opportunities and venues for the work. We’ll
help you through the application process, aid the accommodation hunt, help you
manage all your paperwork, risk assessments, insurance, set ticket prices...
We’ll help with your Marketing and PR efforts to make sure that your show is ready to
SELL and help organise print and socials, as well as marketing briefs for the venue.
We’ll also help to try and get the right press in to your show (this can be a lottery, but
hey - we’re in your corner on it.)
We can offer creative feedback and consultation throughout - We won’t lead on this: it’s
your show, but if you need sounding boards, dramaturgy, technical advice etc then we’ll
have regular check-ins for that.
We will give you a participation payment of £375, plus travel and accommodation as needed. This is estimating about 25 hours of time with us at £15 per hour, either joining us in our
rehearsal room or having a 1:1. This could also cover time working towards any admin
or applications you want us to feedback on or assist with during the mentorship. We
expect for most 1:1’s to happen virtually, but any travel or accommodation needed to
join us in the rehearsal space can be covered.
Noah Xavier was our mentored artist for 2026
“Taking this show to Edinburgh Fringe was always something I knew I wanted to do, but as a full time drama school student, I would never have had the time, resources or know-how to do it without BoonDog. Thanks to the incredible hard work of Jamie and Lucy, we were able to focus fully on the creative part of the show, as well as learning an unbelievable amount about the production side, meaning the journey was about as stress free as an Edinburgh Fringe show could possibly be - A truly incredible experience!”
Application Process:
We’ll be accepting applications until Friday October 16th.
Decisions will go out on October 24th, with the mentorship programme running from
October 2026 - February 2027.
To apply:
● What story do you want to tell?
● Tell us about your company/organisation/self: How many people will be involved
doing what?
● Any non-negotiable practical considerations? Any complicated technical
requirements, unusual set pieces, “show must be performed in zero-gravity
conditions” etc.
● What stage is your work at? Have you done any WIP shows or is it still in early
rehearsals?
● What do you want out of a mentorship scheme? We are here to help you, so be
ambitious!
● We would love to have you join for one of our workshop days for our next show
(travel and accom if needed paid for), are you available November 2nd -
6th? We just want to gauge availability to hit the ground running!
Email the above to BoonDogTheatre@gmail.com with any supporting documents you
think useful, links to previous work, websites, etc. We are also happy to accept video
and audio-recorded applications.
We do not expect you to have a polished website or a professional history of producing
work, whatever materials you think best represent yourself and this work will be
perfectly fine!
Feel free to reach out in advance of submitting an application with any questions you
have. If you need additional assistance with the application feel free to contact our
producer, rainagreifer@gmail.com