After a phenomenal 25 years producing new work for national and international audiences, Unlimited Theatre are embarking on a new chapter to create more opportunities for emerging companies. New grants, named the unAwards, each inspired by key milestones in Unlimited’s history, will aim to enable greater collaboration, experimentation and inclusive practice for artists and creatives. Awarding a minimum of £25,000 in 2023/24 and £30,000 in 2024/25, Unlimited Theatre will strive to support the next generation of theatre makers and, in their retirement, leave a lasting legacy that enables new creatives to embark on their own journeys.
Co-founded in 1997 by six graduates of the Workshop Theatre at the University of Leeds, Unlimited has since produced and toured highly-acclaimed new work with and for audiences in the UK and across the world. Now making the decision to take a step back from producing, their new grant schemes will continue their innovative work and allow new theatre-makers to take the lead. Made up of outstanding reserves and a generous donation from an existing supporter of Unlimited Theatre, the grants aim to provide key support to emerging artists.
The unAwards were announced at Unlimited Theatre’s unFinale, a day of performance, installations, music and conversation to commemorate the Company’s 25 years. Applications will open in January 2024, with the first grants awarded in March.
The grants are as follows:
Starting Out
The Starting Out grant will be awarded to early career artists to buy equipment that clearly and significantly contributes to the development of their company or artistic practice.
One year after Unlimited Theatre was founded, the team applied for a £2,500 award from the Princes Youth Business Trust. With the grant, they bought two key pieces of equipment that have been fundamental to their development and used on numerous projects for many years.
unLab
The unLab grant will be awarded to support R&D for a new project in its earliest stages of development.
Since Unlimited Theatre started as a group of six artists, projects frequently began with a ‘retreat’ to remote locations where creatives could escape from the everyday demands and pressures of work and family life. At a time when artists are under an increasing amount of pressure to set and measure outputs and outcomes, this unLab award is designed to create time and space for artists working in collaborative practice to talk, think, imagine, and dream together.
unLock
The unLock grant will be awarded for projects made in collaboration with scientists, supporting mid-career artists with scientists/researchers at the leading edge of contemporary research. The unLock unAward is designed to honour Unlimited’s impact in the field of sci-art collaborations and provide a significant foundation for further funding.
J Spooner, Founding Member, Core Artist and Chief Executive of Unlimited Theatre comments, I’ve had the deep pleasure and privilege to work with so many wonderful people at Unlimited over the last 27 years. This chapter ending is, of course, filled with sadness, but I’m also incredibly proud and happy that we can create and leave this positive legacy. We’ve always said our mission is to help change the world, even a little bit, for the better. I hope our past work has done that and that these awards will continue that mission for artists and audiences well into the future.
Trustee Tania Mahmoud comments, Unlimited has always been an advocate and supporter of freelancers and emerging companies, and we hope these grants will be a welcome addition to the funding mix. As we bid farewell to the brilliant team that have made Unlimited who they are today, we hope their innovation, artistic excellence and genuine commitment to diversity lives on through these unAwards.
Unlimited have been pioneers in combining theatre and science, fearlessly going where few other companies have gone before in exploring the metaphysical and everyday impact of scientific advances on our lives – Lyn Gardner in The Guardian.
