Collective Fringe 2026 returns to London this January, presenting a bold new programme of writing and artist-led development. The festival runs from Wednesday 21st to Sunday 25th January 2026 at Collective Acting Studio, Hornsey Road Baths, 2 Tiltman Place, London, N7 7EE.
Collective Arts Community Trust has announced the return of Collective Fringe, an artist-led festival that platforms emerging and upcoming creatives. Growing out of the creative environment of Collective Acting Studio, one of the UK’s fastest-rising actor-training studios, the festival will showcase four powerful new productions alongside an opening Scratch Night of early-stage work.
Designed to challenge the status quo in the UK’s talent-development pipeline, the festival gives emerging and mid-stage theatre-makers the freedom to take risks, experiment and grow. Audiences and industry professionals will encounter work at every stage of development, from fully realised productions to early creative experiments.
The festival’s impact is already evident, with artists from the 2025 cohort continuing to collaborate beyond the programme. Two writers have joined the Bush Theatre Writers’ Group, and another has secured development funding supported by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
With an ethos rooted in equity, collaboration and community, Collective Fringe centres early-career artists, Global Majority artists, disabled artists and those from underrepresented backgrounds. The festival is led by Festival Director Paul Harvard (History Boys, National Theatre; GHBoy, Charing Cross Theatre), Dramaturg Sabrina Richmond (My Cape is Invisible, Pleasance; Hands off my womb!, Chapel Playhouse), Associate Producer Prashant Tailor (The Birds, Lyric Hammersmith; Manfred, Birmingham Hippodrome), and Producer Laura Battisti. Their team brings experience from the West End, National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, RSC, and major independent stages across London.
Participating artists will receive three weeks of free rehearsal space, dramaturgical support, producer mentorship, technical resources, a filmed recording, and a 70% gross box office split. Main-house productions will also receive a £400 upfront fee, recognising the economic reality of taking time away from paid work to rehearse and perform.
This year marks the launch of a new partnership with Trybe House Theatre, premiering Richard Adetunj’s Ego’s Killing the Mandem, a play interrogating grief, ego and systemic bias through a bold courtroom frame. Tara Theatre supports the presentation of Saqib Deshmukh’s RUKHSATI, affirming the festival’s commitment to collaboration at a time when small and mid-scale organisations face unprecedented pressure. Paz Koloman Kaiba’s Asylum King, a darkly funny thriller exposing Britain’s asylum industry, will also be presented. A fourth production will be announced shortly.
Festival Director Paul Harvard says, “We are absolutely delighted to be hosting Collective Fringe, it feels especially vital right now. Collective is home to a diverse range of artists, and this festival is about giving space, time and belief to early-career voices who deserve to be seen and heard at a moment when opportunities across the industry are shrinking. We are proud to be platforming a range of powerful new plays full of joy and flavour. This is a first chance to catch some incredibly exciting playwrights and to visit our beautiful venue if you’ve not been here before – and hopefully to discover tomorrow’s theatre-makers today. Everybody is welcome, and we truly mean that.”
Passes are available for one to four shows, with prices starting at £14.50. Each production runs between 60 and 90 minutes. Guidance is 16+ due to strong language, racism and discrimination, mental health themes, and references to violence.
More information can be found here.
