A Devoted and Disgruntled Satellite event by Boundless Theatre, facilitated by Beth Drury.
- Wednesday 27th May
- 11 – 4 (doors open at 10.30am)
- 503 Studio, London, SW11 7EA
- Free, book a space here
We are super excited to invite you to the free Open Space event we are running with Improbable.
What are young artists going to do about theatre and the performing arts? is a satellite event of Improbable’s unconventional convention, Devoted and Disgruntled.
Its a chance to have a big chat about what we need to do to make the industry better for young people as they navigate. It’s a space to grieve, rage, dream and plan the revolution, but also to network and meet other creatives.
An invitation from Beth Drury, Director/Facilitator, Boundless Theatre.
What are young artists going to do about theatre and the performing arts?
Most young artists I know are pissed off. We are dismissed, forgotten in a pile of “an unexpectedly high amount of applications”, told we aren’t quite at the right standard despite not understanding where the bar has been set. Maybe it feels ironic to ask young artists what we are going to do about theatre and the performing arts, especially while the industry feels like it’s holding us at arm’s length. But maybe that’s why we need each other right now, to remember that we can find change in and with each other.
I’m fairly new to open space in the grand scheme of things – only having attended my first Devoted and Disgruntled in 2025. I remember feeling excited by the prospect of actually talking about the things that were specifically on my mind, but I also remember doing a lot of explaining to older/more established artists in the room. While useful, and great to be heard and respected, those weren’t the conversations I wanted to have. I want to know what comes of a conversation between young artists who are already starting from somewhere similar. What can we build on top of a foundation of shared lived experience? And how do we lobby the older/more established industry to listen to us?
I miss the feeling of action that comes from a fired-up discussion, and I’m tired of only getting in sped-through catch ups with friends, peers and artists I admire – I want a space for us to gather, and to get into it, properly, and allow each other to do what we do best. Create something.
That’s why this satellite feels important to me – because when are young artists ever really invited, in our own rights, to come and work with each other without having to convince anyone we should be allowed to be there?