The Knot - Report and Artists' Toolkit

29 January 2024

Supporting early-career theatre-makers in the current moment - report available now.

In partnership wtih Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Uproot Productions, NDT is delighted to publish this Report & Artists' Toolkit resource, following our 'bootcamp for the brave' in December 2023.

Download mobile version (PDF)

Download desktop version (PDF)

Download text-only version (DOC)

The Knot was a week-long collective learning & development programme – exploring the tools for making work and building careers at a time when the ‘business’ has never felt tougher. The full-time, in-person week of workshops, panels, seminars and collective learning focused on the hard business skills and industry challenges needed most right now – from finance and funding to company structures, employment law and management responsibilities, communications, project planning and growth models.

This report captures the impact and learning from the programme, alongside sharing a 'Toolkit of Toolkits' created to guide independent artists through the fantastic range of existing (and sometimes hidden) resources across the sector to support their thinking and work in all these areas.

Alongside, the report includes an article offering an artists' perspective on the programme and the challenges for the current generation, written by Naomi Obeng - and also available to read as a standalone blog here.

New Diorama Executive Director Will Young said: ‘Making independent theatre right now feels harder than we’ve ever known it, in an industry long at breaking point. But we have deep hope and belief for the next generation and, along with our fantastic partners, we wanted The Knot to be moment both for learning and for reimagining better ways forward. By sharing this report and the toolkit, we hope to spread that hope further as we head into a brave new year.'

The Knot was supported by principal funding to New Diorama from the City of London Community Infrastructure Levy Neighbourhood Fund and Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. NDT's artist support programmes across 2023 were further supported by Arts Council England, Garrick Charitable Trust, Fenton Arts Trust and Noel Coward Foundation.

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