Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre has selected three companies for its 2024 Springboard programme which aims to support early-career artists and new companies based in the West Midlands.
They are Blindspot Theatre, Dauntless Evolution and That’s A Rap, who will be supported by the Belgrade over the next three years.
Blindspot Theatre “was created to lift working- and under-class theatre-makers out of our collective blind spot”. Producer Georgia Kelly welcomed the Belgrade’s “support, infrastructure and opportunities”, adding “we feel part of the Belgrade for the long run.”
Dauntless Evolution is a physical theatre company using “fluid movement, dynamic imagery and an ensemble-first approach” to bring “a sense of spectacle” to the stories they choose to tell.
That’s A Rap, which tells stories through rap music, “has a core focus on the representation and inclusion of working-class young people in the theatre and beyond”. A spokesman said, “the resources that we will now have access to will speed up our growth and development immensely so we can maximise the positive impact our work has on the world.”
Belgrade director of producing and co-creation Adel Al-Salloum commented, “we’re thrilled to have these brilliant companies on board and look forward to supporting their development over the next few years. We’ve primarily chosen them because we want to invest in and connect with companies that have social action at the heart of their work, whether through performance or the activities they engage with.”