Reach 2025 FAQs

Reach 2025 FAQs

What are the key dates & deadlines for the programme?

  • Applications close: Sunday 11 May 2025, 5pm
  • Interviews: Friday 16 May 2025 – Friday 23 May 2025, by arrangement
  • Artist welcome session: Wednesday 4 June 2025
  • Programme start date: Wednesday 18 June 2025
  • Programme end date: September 2025
  • Fee: £1,100 for the development of their script at peer-facilitated sessions, 1:1 sessions and the residentials, and the final script delivery

Who can apply?

CRIPtic’s work is for disabled people – by which we mean “people who face disableist [including audist or neurotypist] barriers”, or “people who identify themselves as deaf or disabled – or are identified by others as deaf or disabled in society”. To find out more about what we mean by this, please look at our website.

We’re looking for 5 emerging disabled theatremakers. 

These shows can be ideas, first drafts, or have gone through an early process of development. They should not have been staged more than twice, and only within ‘scratch’ settings, as the writer will be expected to undergo an extended period of script development work.

In 2025, we are intensifying our efforts to support disabled individuals who continue to face significant barriers in accessing opportunities in both mainstream and disability arts. We aim to dismantle disabling barriers and enable people to do their best work, instead of constantly fighting to have their needs met. We want to direct part of our organisational focus towards working with people who need the expertise and resources we have, and who face particular barriers in finding opportunities that meet their access needs.

Part of the expertise we have at CRIPtic includes:

  • Sourcing venues with comprehensive wheelchair access, including facilities like Changing Places toilets.
  • Working with people who use 1:1 support.
  • Implementing robust infectious disease and illness protocols.
  • Designing remote-only or remote-priority work environments.
  • Providing BSL interpretation across the board in our work.

We are also very keen to reach out and be in contact with disabled creatives who are underrepresented in the arts; from the global majority and other disabled creatives who face barriers (including racist, classist, and ageist ones) or are underrepresented in the mainstream arts sector for other reasons.

How much prior experience should I have had?

This shouldn’t be your first piece of writing ever – but you don’t necessarily have to have had work staged or showcased previously. You should not have previously had a full-length solo show staged professionally.

What are you looking for – and what aren’t you looking for? 

We’re looking for talented writers with a strong sense of tone, voice, and character, shining through in the sample work uploaded. We want pieces that showcase the range of disabled writers, creating pieces that will bring something new to the theatre world.

We’re very interested to receive pitches from shows with delivery in BSL and other signed languages.

We often receive a lot of pitches on the following topics:

  • Narratives about encounters with the medical system (often discriminatory ones) and experiences of diagnosis
  • What it’s like to have a particular experience (e.g. “being invisibly disabled”, “being visibly disabled”, “being neurodivergent”)

If you have a great idea on one of those themes please don’t let this stop you from submitting, because great work shines through in every topic. However, if you’re choosing what work to submit, consider sending us something we haven’t encountered before.

When are the sessions?

The Reach programme dates are below. We expect Reach participants to be able to attend all of these sessions. Exceptions will be made for missing occasional dates.

  • Wednesday 18 June: Writers’ Group Session 1 – 7.30pm – 9.30pm (online)
  • Wednesday 2 July: Writers’ Group Session 2 – 7.30pm – 9.30pm (online)
  • Wednesday 16 July: Writers’ Group Session 3 – 7.30pm – 9.30pm (online)
  • Wednesday 30 July: Writers’ Group Session 4 – 7.30pm – 9.30pm (online)
  • Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 August: Writing Residential, 10am – 6pm (in person)
  • Wednesday 6 August: Writers’ Group Session 5 – 7.30pm – 9.30pm (online)
  • Friday 8 – Wednesday 13 August: 1:1 Dramaturgy Sessions – 2 hours by arrangement (online)
  • Wednesday 27 August: Final Script Delivery (online)
  • Monday 8 – Friday 15 September: Performance Residential – 10am – 6pm

How complete should the work be when I apply?

The work should be somewhere between ‘completed pitch’ and ‘first draft’ stage, with ideas that are open to change and growth as you go through the programme.

Can I apply as part of a group?

This programme is specifically supporting individual writers in creating a show, so is not designed for groups.

How do you assess applications?

Reach exists to nurture exciting, bold, and fresh ideas. When we’re assessing applications, we will often ask ourselves questions like:

  • Does the writer know the story they want to tell, the piece they want to make, and the venues they want to see it in?
  • How original is the idea? Have we seen it before?
  • Is the piece at the right stage of development?
  • Can we imagine a future in which this piece can develop further after Reach?
  • Do the applicants have enough experience for us to be confident that they can deliver this project?
  • Are the samples of work submitted of a quality and level that’s appropriate for Reach?
  • How many opportunities have the applicants had previously, and to what extent do they need Reach?
  • How clearly can we identify the shift that Reach would make in their creative practice and future career development? Are they at the right place for this opportunity to have real benefit?
  • What barriers have they faced in accessing other opportunities? Are there things that Reach can offer (e.g. a venue with hoist-adapted toilets, and support towards funding for 1:1 support work and BSL interpreters) that they need and wouldn’t be provided by other opportunities?

Don’t worry about neuronormative applications and what you think is “expected” in terms of spelling, grammar and structure – your application will be read by a disabled team and will be assessed on its creative or organisational merits. Just tell us about the things we’ve asked you to tell us about, in the way that works best for you.

What support is available to me when I apply?

We accept applications via Google Form, Word document, or audio or video file (in spoken English or BSL and up to 7 minutes long).

Our application process is designed to be simple, and we’re focused on the quality of the idea, not the quality of your writing.

We’re able to support applicants with transcribing answers on a 1:1 Zoom, but cannot provide or fund individualised access support for applications beyond this.

If you have any queries about this, please contact us on team@cripticarts.org to discuss.

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Reach

Supports five emerging disabled writers to develop their first solo shows.

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