STAMP

About STAMP

STAMP is a group of venues and organisations based in London who support and produce new theatre and performance work. We currently have 21 active member organisations.

STAMP’s mission is practical collective action to improve the ways in which artists are supported by our organisations and the industry, and are valued in society more widely.

Some definitions / descriptions

Our organisations talk about artists and work in different ways.

Some make new performance.
Some produce new writing.
Some don’t work with writing at all.
(Some call writing ‘text’.)
Some make plays.
Some make play/performance/theatre/live art mash ups.
(Some just don’t like genres.)
Some have hundreds of staff.
Some have dozens of spaces.
Some don’t have any space at all.

But all our organisations work with artists to bring their new ideas to life.

That might mean commissioning an artist to make a show. It might mean producing their work. It might mean writing funding applications, or supporting a marketing campaign, or connecting artists up with a director/designer/producer/outside eye to make their show happen.  It might mean offering rehearsal space, dramaturgical advice, or just a friendly ear.

In short, the organisations who are part of STAMP have different approaches to a common goal: to support brilliant artists to make new live work. We came together because we think that by sharing knowledge and ideas, and by taking practical collective action, we can improve the way we work and ensure theatre and performance made in and from London is as diverse and brilliant as it can be.

What we do

STAMP meets bi-monthly. In meetings, we:

• Share artist support news. This is so we get to know one another’s work better, increasing opportunities for the artists we work with by improving signposting to the resources and contacts that may be useful to them
• Discuss practical challenges we’re facing as organisations and across the wider industry, and what solutions we could work towards together
• Talk through a pertinent or thorny topic. What are the challenges to developing new work? How might Brexit affect arts funding? How can we better ensure artists’ diversity?
• Strategise collective action, for example planning a series of events to connect artists and organisations

Our current and forthcoming actions include networking events for artists and producers, the publication of a database containing information on how to get your work supported and programmed, and research into the living and working conditions of London based artists.

Connecting with us

We are aware that arts organisations can sometimes seem like a closed shop, and this can prevent artists with bold and brave new ideas from getting in touch. But we’re also aware that organisations who develop and produce new work can be flooded with email approaches, and that face to face contact is often the best way to start relationships. That’s why STAMP events are going to be a core part of our action  – opportunities for artists and organisations to meet, talk, and share ideas.

Active Members of STAMP

The Albany, Arcola, Artsadmin, artsdepot, Barbican, Battersea Arts Centre, Camden People’s Theatre, Fuel, National Theatre, The Old Vic, Ovalhouse, Penned in the Margins, The Pleasance, Richmix, Shoreditch Town Hall, Soho Theatre, Stratford Circus, Tamasha, Theatre Delicatessen, The Yard, Yellow Earth.

Find out more about how these organisations support artists at www.stamplondon.org

#STAMPLondon