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.

Take Part

We’re recruiting for Embark Project Board Members!

Project Board Members will work collaboratively together and CRIPtic staff to co-design the structure of the programme. This includes shaping the content of workshops, creative expectations, the production process, access provision, and how the project is evaluated, as well as helping to select the programme participants. The CRIPtic team is then there to deliver the programme.

Key details:

Number of spaces: 4
Fee: £1000 per person.
Time commitment: 6 meetings across the year, plus a handover meeting in 2027
Location: Zoom
Eligibility: Wheelchair users aged 18–30

Interested?

Fill in the Expression of Interest form below by 12pm, Friday 5 June 2026.

Expression of interest (google form)

You can also submit an audio or video file in spoken English or BSL (7 minutes max), or download and send the questions as a Word document to contact@cripticarts.org. Please find the Word version of this form below:

Expression of Interest Form (Word Doc)

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.