Nuffield Residency 2019/20

Lancaster Arts is seeking applications for the fourth Nuffield Residency: a practice-based initiative offering one artist, company or collective the opportunity to undertake a supported residency including the use of our large black box studio, the Nuffield Theatre. 

We are seeking work that is CROSS DISCIPLINARY and fits with our season theme: Radical Histories/Radical Futures. 

I think the quality of the process was the fact that I felt we had time to fail, to explore, to rethink. The work is ALWAYS something else than you think it will be and the slow process of discovering what it is and what it can hold was very exciting

Maja Bugge, 2018 Nuffield Residency recipient. 

Lancaster Arts is nationally acclaimed for the presentation, creation and development of innovative contemporary work, developed across all art forms and committed to nurturing artistic talent, exploring new ideas and challenging boundaries of practice. Over several decades the Nuffield Theatre has been synonymous with pioneering performance work. We are situated within a world-class university and support and broker relationships with academic colleagues.

The 2019/2020 Nuffield Residency offers:

• A cash investment of £1,000
• 1 x 2 day initial exploratory residency on 13^th and 14th November 2019
• 1 x 7 day period working in the Nuffield Theatre 13th - 17th Jan 2020 (including 5 days with technical support)
• 2 x 1 hour mentoring sessions
• Dramaturgical support and feedback from Lancaster Arts Creative Producing team
• Additional rehearsal spaces/creative time in other suitable spaces (subject to availability) on Lancaster University campus
• Potential access to academic research staff if required

Further Details 

The Nuffield Residency begins with a two-day period of structured creative exploration at Lancaster Arts.  You can look at our spaces, meet the team, start testing out initial ideas and make a plan for your 7-day Residency. 

In January 2020, you will be working with LICA Technician David McBride, who can offer technical dramaturgy while you explore the ‘technologies’ of your work (lighting, sound and/or digital technologies).  Lancaster Arts producing team will also be on hand to support your week.  At the end of this period you will present a work-in-progress or an ideas share. 

Between these residency periods and thereafter, if desired, you have the option to book suitable rehearsal space on campus (not supported by a technician) subject to availability.

Mentoring sessions with our Creative Producer can be held in person or remotely as preferred at an agreed time.

How to Apply

To apply for the Nuffield Residency please email one side of A4 to producers@lancasterarts.org outlining your idea and intentions for use of the space, how working with a technician and the Lancaster Arts team would benefit your practice and how you would spend your £1,000 towards expenses/materials.  Please also outline how your work fits with our season theme: Radical Histories/Radical Futures.  Finally, please include a short biography/artist statement and up to 3 links to further information/clips supporting your application. 

Please apply by 14th October 2019 at 12noon.

Key Dates:

• Call out: 26 September 2019
• Application deadline: 14 October 2019
• Shortlisting by: 21 October 2019
• Final selection: 25 October 2019
• 2 day residency (not in Nuffield): 13 and 14 Nov
• 7 day residency in Nuffield 13 – 19 Jan 

Notes for applicants: 

• The Nuffield Residency is aimed at practitioners seeking to make a live work for the stage.  Proposed work can be live art, contemporary performance or interdisciplinary arts for any age group.   
• The Residency is open to all, including those based outside of the UK. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants based in the North of England and/or from a BAME heritage.
• We will favour applications from practitioners working across art forms and media.
• Applications will be assessed by Lancaster Arts Creative Producer Alice Booth and Director Jocelyn Cunningham, and LICA Technician David McBride*.
• The Nuffield Theatre, sited at the north end of the Lancaster University campus, is one of three theatres in Lancaster and the City's only professional 'black-box' studio theatre.  The Nuffield's stage is large and adaptable with a width of up to 25 metres and a seating capacity of up to 220: it effectively combines scale and intimacy.  Further information about the Nuffield Theatre is available upon request.
• It is possible to view the Nuffield Theatre prior to making an application.  Please email alice@lancasterarts.org to arrange a suitable time for this and note that viewings can last only 15 minutes.
• Shortlisted applicants will be required to provide information in advance stating how they anticipate working with David McBride and what technical equipment they expect to use.
• Short listed applicants may be contacted by telephone/Skype if we have any specific questions about your application.
• You will be required to contribute a minimum of two blogs/videos to Lancaster Arts’ online comments section during the bursary period.

*David McBride is a lighting designer, sound engineer and performance artist employed as a technician at the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts, with special responsibility for the Nuffield Theatre. He is enthusiastic on matters of technology, creative storytelling and beverages. David is particularly experienced at considering the possibilities and limitations of technology early on in a creative process, in order to facilitate the creative integration of technical components and the smooth-running of tours. In addition to briefer periods of consultation he has taken on more sustained devising and performance roles with companies such as Proto-type Theater and Drunken Chorus.

Our Nuffield residency was the seed compost that turned the kernel of our initial ideas into something we could begin to see as a show, and the valuable droplets of money became a six-figure production budget. Having studio time, with technical expertise, allowed us to find answers to the questions we began with, and discover which directions we wanted to go. Funded residencies which are open about potential outcomes are vital to robust creative processes, and achieving artistic ambitions.

Alister Lownie from Two Destination Language, 2017 Nuffield Residency recipient