Alongside lots else we do, this scheme is about ensuring that our programme, and the roster of artists we support, reflects the neighbourhood and the city beyond our doors. Every year, the scheme generates fantastic new projects that go on to be a big part of our programme – usually with further support from CPT.

Artist: Obadiah

Obadiah is a multi disciplinary artist who recently graduated from Guildhall School and recently made his professional debut in the critically acclaimed production of Shelagh Delaneys ‘A Taste of Honey’ at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Obadiah is also a recent recipient of The 2024 Prince William Bafta Award and received the Lilian Baylis Award upon graduating. His work focuses on championing minorities and the youth. Obadiah’s piece is a collaboration with his Theatre & production company The Mountains Group which he co founded with his six friends.

Commissioned project

It's 2011. Year of the bold. London teen life is full of laughs and jokes until it follows law student Horeb Tshombe to his doorstep... and his witty charm and charisma may not be enough to sway the jury and court away from the laws of the land.

Artist: Habebe Fazel & Cemile Ahmet

"Cemile and Habebe"or "Gem and Jonah" are performers with mixed middle-eastern heritage and a love of storytelling. Their practice is audience-focused and aims to entertain and engage beyond spectatorship. They want to inspire joy and spark conversation by inviting audiences into unique and compelling narratives inspired by their shared heritage.

Commissioned project

A comedy storytelling evening, created and performed by MENA+ artists. Featuring ;, music, poetry and improvised comedy.
Inspired by the 1001 nights folk tales, with audience interaction, special guests in a meze mix of cultural celebration. No two shows will ever be the same!

Artist: Eleanor Hill

Eleanor Hill is a multi-award winning, darkly comic; neuro-spicy, mentally-healthy, Theatre-Makey, Actor & Marketeer.
She’s obsessed with taking all the mad, bad, and sad things from her life, and turning them into art (lol).
Most recently she’s been working on her award winning, Guardian featuring, five star rating, debut show ‘SAD-VENTS' (@sadventsplay)
She needs an agent, some funding and wishes you would all follow her on social media @iameleanorhill

Commissioned project

Did you know that the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 questionnaires, which are often used by Drs to diagnose people with Anxiety and Depression, are backed by Pfizer money?
That’s the same Pfizer who makes the ‘Happy Pills’ that people with Anxiety and Depression sometimes take once they’ve been diagnosed.
…Yeah, I didn’t know that either.
Seems a bit grim doesn't it…the fact we didn’t know that.
We do now though don’t we…so, as my therapist would say, let’s unpack that.

Artist: Naz Şimşek a.k.a. Laz Lightning

Naz Şimşek is an emerging artist, producer and drag king whose work draws from growing up queer in London to Turkish immigrant parents. Their drag king alter-ego, Laz Lighting is all about finding joy in navigating new places and playing with ‘British-ness’ through unabashed optimism, migrant savviness and Turkish hospitality. Laz's dream is to one day treat Princess Diana to a homemade Turkish Breakfast.

Commissioned project

Cash & Carry celebrates the invisible industry behind the incredibly instagrammable tray of meze that arrives to your table at your favourite spot in Hackney. It commemorates the career of a single Turkish man who paved his way in the UK by delivering cans of chickpeas to restaurants from his van in Dalston in the 90s (AKA my dad).

Artist: Sammy Trotman

Sammy is a mad performance artist, poet and comedian. They are the writer and performer of the critically acclaimed That's Not My Name and the Artistic Director of alt-comedy collective Covered in Jam.
Sammy marries absurdism and satire to deliver ultimately challenging and uncomfortable topics in digestible and hilarious ways designed to hold an audience and alleviate feelings of shame.

Commissioned project

Puppet master of chaos, Sammy Trotman is back and armed with absolutely nothing but sex repulsion, ancient tantric rituals and a promise to write us the sexiest show anyone has ever seen.
Guaranteed to make Saltburn look like Escape To The Country, Is This Sexy? is going to be the fittest f*cking show of the century.

Artist: Kc Gardiner

Kc is an actor and writer from London. She is a graduate of the Bush Theatre’s Young Company (2023) and BA in Performance: Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins.
She has previously performed at The Bush Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, and Theatre503 and has written for Boundless Theatre and The Almeida.

Commissioned project

X.VIDEOS is a one-woman show questioning the rise of simulated sex scenes in media, two-dimensional female characters and what it means to perform. We follow Riley, a young actor trying to book a job while auditioning for meaningless roles, underpaid jobs and revenge porn.

Artist: Maya Williams

High Priestexx (Maya Williams) is a contemporary dance artist. Their practice explores the decriminalization (of sex work and peoples), queer cultural identity and diasporic spirituality through the creation of performances and the facilitation of radical safe spaces for qtibpoc+. In the past, they've facilitated a mixed media Open Mic Night and ran an underground strip-club-installation as part of wider research into the embodiment of abolitionist practices, collective accountability and emotional regulation within community. Working across dance, theatre and nightlife, they value experimental and radical spaces that break away from common hierarchy. They've presented work at Ovalhouse, The Barbican, Ugly Duck, Camden Roundhouse, Camden People’s Theatre, Vault Festival, The Place (LCDS), Assembly Festival at Edinburgh Fringe, EartH Hackney, Electrowerkz, Sex Worker Pride and The Windmill.

Commissioned project

Funeral is a performance by inspired by the lives and losses of some of family, paying homage to their stories of migration, romance, resistance and existence as imperfect but deeply wonderful beings. Drawing from the artists background as a dancer and erotic performer, the work encompasses dance, drama and storytelling. It is a visually striking and quirky take on grief. A high-camp funeral rite that embraces both the tragic and the glamourous. Funeral considers grief to be an incredible catalyst for personal and social positive change. In a world that asks that we diminish our mourning, Funeral argues that grief can be loud, funny, prolonged, sexy and is of the utmost importance both personally and politically.

Artist: Tatum Swithenbank

Tatum Swithenbank is a queer disabled performer, audio producer, and facilitator. Professionally trained in the Performing Arts they combine song, physical theatre, drama, and audio to bring stories to audiences. They've produced engaging narratives for BBC Radio 4, Audible, and Broccoli Productions, expanding across culture, identity, and accessibility. Their ongoing project Honey and the Hex explores folklore—historical and current.

Commissioned project

A genre-bending solo show that shifts through realms of ritual, crip time, grief, and magick. Tatum explores how folklore and the wheel of the year intersect with their existence as a working-class witch living with a progressive disease. Tatum takes us through portals of daily life and lore in this magic realism multisensory performance. (R&D stage).

Artist: Simeon Campbell

Simeon is the only hearing member of his family, with BSL his first language. He has worked extensively in the commercial dance sector, performing alongside Beyoncé, Rita Ora and Kanye West. A key member of BirdGang Ltd, he toured Europe and the US with Breakin’ Convention and is an exceptional teacher with inherent understanding of musicality and a uniquely accessible practice.

Commissioned project

SADBOI: The Prequel looks at the experience of having your thoughts carry you around. An autobiographical account, a glimpse into another world, a starting point and an unraveling. A series of unaddressed issues further complicated by modern distractions lead to a discovery of Neurodivergence.