Spring/Fringe Submission Form 2024

Submissions close on Friday 12 April at 11:59pm*

Click the SAVE button at the bottom of this page to save your progress and come back to it later.

Nau mai haere mai ki te rohe ā Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei me te whare tapere o Basement.

Welcome to the sacred waters of Te Wai Horotiu and welcome to Basement Theatre! Before we get into it we take this moment to acknowledge the rightful custodians of these lands, their ancestors and their mana motuhake here in Tāmaki Makaurau.

So we heard you’ve been soaking up all that glorious inspiration the summer festival season has brought us, and now that next idea of yours is ready to go on the cooker and be released into the world. Well what brilliant timing e hoa mā…because Basement Theatre’s ‘Spring and Fringe’ submissions are now open! This season will run from the beginning of September through to the end of November. The kōwhai will be in full blossom, so will the vibes, and trust us when we say that Spring is a beautiful time to make and share work with the communities of Tāmaki Makaurau.

And yes you heard that right! After their year of rest and re-settling, we are so excited that the Auckland Fringe Festival is back baby. Nestled within our Summer season for three weeks from 1st - 22nd of September, this fan-fave-fest is the greatest platform for all of those wild ideas of yours, and it’s a chance for Basey to really get behind work that’s daring and in its first phase. Fringe registrations officially open on Friday 28 March (next week), but if you’re imagining your Fringe work at Basement, you can submit your idea to us NOW. We invite submissions for our Spring and Fringe season from all independent artists and companies. 

For our general Spring works, we are looking for:

• Brave, urgent, adventurous and untameable work made by anyone
• Works that are 45-75 minutes in length 
• Dance, theatre, poetry, visual art, circus, comedy, ballroom, club nights, performance art, music, drag, cabaret and everything in between

For our Auckland Fringe MAINSPACE works, we are looking for:

• Work made by teina emerging artists that pushes at the edges of form and genre, and is experimental in its approach to storytelling
• Contributes to critical conversation around pertinent issues of today
• Works that are 45-75 minutes in length
• Dance, theatre, poetry, visual art, circus, comedy, ballroom, club nights, performance art, music, drag, cabaret and everything in between

And for our Auckland Fringe STUDIO space we have a little treat for you:

Each fringe year our studio space is informed by a particular interest or set of rules designed to encourage artists to push the boundaries of their creations. This tradition was first instigated by Basement programmer Gabrielle Vincent, and in previous years has taken the form of Adaptation, Performance Salon, One-On-One, The Ghent Manifesto, Durationals and Documentary. 

For Basement’s Fringe provocation 2024 we are calling for works that experiment with and creatively respond to Tāmaki Makaurau as an idea, a place, an identity. We are incredibly proud and grateful to exist in this amazing city, and we think that there is so much potential for creative exploration woven into this rich and complex place we call home. We also think that place-making, and grounding radically into this whenua is where it’s at.

Some conceptual nudges to get your brains ticking for your research could be:

• The colonisation of Tāmaki Makaurau and the stories of mana whenua
• Imagining a Tāmaki Makaurau without arts and culture funding
• The city of a thousand lovers - a romantic comedy
• Te Wai Horotiu
• Volcanic, forest and other geological and environmental perspectives
• Historical events of impact that led to memorable Auckland protests such as the Dawn Raids, Bastion Point, Mangere Bridge Dispute, Rainbow Warrior, Occupy Movement etc
• Surfacing the stories of Auckland’s iconic street characters and/or artists, venues, galleries, arts collectives 
• Diaspora, migration, cultural intersectionality
• Urban myths and legends

In the same vein of the mainspace, we are looking for studio work that is 45-75 minutes in length. 

What you’ll get from us…

• Hire For Nothing! There is no venue hire fee for artists who are emerging and unfunded
• Wrap-around support from the Basement team
• Marketing guidance and advice on how you can sell those tickets!
• Being a part of the 16-year-strong cohort of Basement artists
• A safe space to play, take risks and develop your craft and career 
• The opportunity to grow your artist network with your new Winter and Matariki season fam

Got that idea? Find your collaborators and get your submission in! The form is live and ready to receive your submission. Submissions will close on April 12th, 11:59pm

If you have questions about how putting a show on at Basement works, it may be answered in the Artist Handbook. We also welcome emails, phone calls and Instagram DMs for any of your questions.

Email: amber@basementtheatre.co.nz 

Call: 09 309 7433 9am-5pm Mon-Fri

Instagram DM: basement_makers

We ask at the bottom of this form that you submit the relevant material, if you have them:

• A copy of your script, or
• A detailed story outline for devised works, or
• A vision/moodboard for installation or dance works
• Any videos or audio attachments that may help support your submission (please keep them as concise as possible)

We understand that ideas change and the final show may vary from the script/outline that is presented. Please keep us in the loop of any major changes!

If you are using a published script, please investigate the cost and availability of rights. Some plays - especially newer ones - can be quite expensive and/or unavailable.

As an organisation we seek to serve all people, with a prioritisation on communities that have experienced historical marginalisation from mainstream arts spaces.

We believe that the theatre is a colonial construct with inherent barriers across cultural, economic, physical, political, religious and gender-based contexts. We acknowledge that as an historically pākehā, cis and able-body led organisation, we can only work to remove these barriers by staying continuously critical of our intersections of privilege. 

To keep ourselves accountable, we have important goals in place that help us walk our talk and take care of you in a way that aligns with who you are. We therefore invite you to provide the following info for us, so that our manaaki can be on point!

*We acknowledge that the way that people are referred to is incredibly important, and that language is constantly evolving. Therefore certain words we have used here may need to be updated over time. 

*If your show is reliant on securing Creative New Zealand or Auckland Council funding, you need to apply well in advance. We are unlikely to programme your show if you are completely dependent on unconfirmed funding and you might end up in a position where you will pull your show if you don't secure your funding.

Please submit below:

• A copy of your script, or
• A detailed story outline for devised works, or
• A vision/moodboard for installation or dance works
• Any videos or audio attachments that may help support your submission (please keep them as concise as possible)

We understand that ideas change and the final show may vary from the material that is presented. Please keep us in the loop of any major changes.

If you are using an already published script, we ask that you please investigate the cost and availability of the rights - some plays can be expensive and/or not available - especially if they are newer works. All plays MUST be a max of 70 mins (approx 60-70 pages)