Embark 2026

Embark is a year-long programme for four disabled creatives with high physical access needs, designed to help kick-start creative careers.

Each year between 2026-2030, we’ll be supporting two writers and two directors to create new, paid work for the stage. Writers will develop scripts, while directors bring them to life, with the work shared in a relaxed work-in-progress showing for industry, friends and family.

Along the way, participants will take part in workshops, get 1:1 mentoring, and experience a full rehearsal and staging process. By the end, they’ll have a filmed version of their work, professional photos, and references to support next steps.

The programme is co-designed with a Project Board of disabled creatives, alongside the CRIPtic Arts team. After the programme, participants join the Project Board, helping shape Embark for the next cohort (and getting paid to do it).

Sam, a mixed-race young man with light skin, dark curly hair, brown eyes and a slim build in his manual wheelchair rehearses Just Short of Saintly. He is wearing a white t shirt with a paisley pattern and grey and white trousers. He leans to his right with arms raised.

Who is Embark for?

Embark is for four disabled creatives aged 18–30. We expect all four participants to be wheelchair users. Wheelchair users face significant barriers in the theatre industry and are hugely underrepresented, especially at entry level. Put simply: it’s hard to become a writer or director if the training opportunities aren’t accessible.

Embark is here to change that.

Jamie Hale talking to a team member in a theatre.

Supported by:

Embark! is funded by Youth Music’s Shift the Scene Fund, which champions inclusive, ambitious creativity across all art forms. This support means more time, space and resources to co-create bold creative work with Disabled young people, not as an add-on, but by design. It will run for four years, from 2026-2030.

Our other collaborators include Tramshed Theatre, Graeae Theatre Company, Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance, and Treloars School.