Open Works is a bold celebration of theatre, offering a platform for the most exciting and dynamic artists in South Yorkshire.
With a focus on fresh perspectives and powerful stories, the festival will present world premieres, and original plays that bring unheard stories to the stage.
Committed to supporting artists at every stage of their journey, the festival promises compelling performances, and a chance to experience cutting-edge theatre.
The Open Works Festival will take place for the first time in autumn 2026 across the Montgomery Theatre and Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse at Sheffield Theatres.
It will feature work from theatre companies Forced Entertainment, Roots Mbili, Stand and Be Counted, The Bare Project, LUNG, and Swans Productions.
Ways To Get Involved
There are four ways for artists to have their work presented as part of Open Works 2026:
-
Performance Ready, for theatremakers and companies local to Sheffield Theatres to have fully-realised projects programmed as part of the festival.
-
Work-in-Progress, for theatremakers and theatre companies local to Sheffield Theatres to share up to an hour of in-development work as part of the festival.
-
Rehearsed Readings, for writers local to Sheffield Theatres to have their work performed by professional actors as part of the festival.
-
Scratch, for theatremakers and companies local to Sheffield Theatres to share up to 20 minutes of new work as part of the festival.
Applications for Performance Ready, Work-in-Progress, and Rehearsed Readings are open now until Sun 22 March 2026. Application for Scratch will open this summer.
Open Working
To support the development of new work in the region, Open Working will be a series of workshops focused on making and producing skills.
There will be opportunities for up to 25 people to join Open Working, with participants randomly selected from all eligible submitted applications to all Open Works opportunities.
Artists from backgrounds under-represented in the arts are welcomed and encouraged to apply, including but not limited to those who identify as D/deaf and/or disabled, neurodiverse, global majority and/or migrant, and LGBTQ+.
In Partnership with New Earth Theatre
In collaboration with New Earth Theatre, Open Works will develop a range of opportunities for British East and Southeast Asian artists – including allocating slots as part of the Work-in-Progress, Rehearsed Readings, and Scratch opportunities and offering bespoke mentoring and networking packages.
New Earth Theatre is the leading and longest-running British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) touring theatre company in the UK. Their mission is to bring nuanced BESEA representation to the widest possible audience.
- Featured in
- Theatre picks
- Sheffield Festivals Guide
