Silly Season 2025 EOI

Submissions close on Sunday, 17th August at 11:59 pm*

Click the "SAVE" button at the bottom of this page to save your progress and return 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.

“Siri, play ‘Celebration by Kool & The Gang' immediately, please!” because a celebration is about to be had! 

We see you baddies! It’s been a rough one with one too many crash-outs, but you can’t stop a baddie; we only continue to evolve and crystallize into our strongest form - and how do we do that, you ask? By making more incredible art - DUH! But this isn’t one of our typical season call-outs; this is a Silly Season signal, a wero if you will. 

Silly Season???? But what’s the difference? 

With these eight incredible nights of Festival Style programming, the proof is in the (xmas) pudding e hoa ma! We provide everything you need to get on stage and have a great time! 

You’ll get: 

• An operator for your show
• A fully rigged theatre including base designs
• Extra box office support
• General technical support
• Inclusion in all the festival marketing

You can pitch a show for just one night, or multiple nights over the season, or even take over several time slots to deliver something epic! All you need to do is bring us your amazing projects that are ready to hit the stage. We want experiences, moments that leave you wanting to cry, scream, cackle or all of the above, take us on a journey bub! Give us that ugly festive jumper that you told your māmā wasn’t making you itch at all (it was), give us that aunty who’s on her 3rd marriage but no one wants to say anything, or that cousin that you always get compared to without fail (they’re a lawyer lol). Whatever it is, we want it neoooowww, and we can’t wait to be fed! xoxo

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We are looking for:

• Shows that are ready to go and are prepared for festival-style programming
• Works do not have to be about Christmas or Christmas-themed! We want to hear from everyone, make us laugh, make us cry - But most of all, it's the Silly Season, so gather your community and have fun!
• Shows that are a maximum of 60 minutes in length (Unless you want to book two slots for a longer work).
• Dance, theatre, poetry, visual art, experimental, comedy, ballroom, club nights, performance art, music, drag, cabaret, and everything in between!
• Works for outside of our theatres! Art Exhibitions in the foyer, DJ sets and live bands, buskers for the Slab, installation works are all welcome. 
• Works led by Vital Voice communities - Tangata Whenua, People of Colour, LGBTQIA+, immigrant communities, and disabled people
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What you’ll get from us…

• Hire For Nothing! There is no venue hire fee for artists who are emerging and unfunded!
• The full support of being part of the festival line-up up including marketing, technical load-in and gear, and a dedicated tech operator. A subsidised nightly technical fee will be charged to support the tech inclusions.For the full list of inclusions please see visit this page on our Website.
• Marketing guidance and advice on how you can sell those tickets!
• Being a part of the 17-year-strong cohort of Basement artists.
• An ever-evolving space to play, take risks, develop your craft as an artist, and add to your already growing kete of creative knowledge.

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You think you have something for us? The form is now live -find your collaborators and get your submission in! Submissions will officially close on Sunday, 17th August 11:59 pm. You can also request to make a face-to-face submission by emailing Selu (selu@basementtheatre.co.nz), and we’ll try our best to accommodate your request.

Email: selu@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. 

Please note, that the Silly Season is operating in a festival style, meaning that each show will only have limited time in the space for their tech rehearsals, and will need to vacate the theatre each night as they will be double billed with other performances. 

This means however, Basement will provide:

- A preset performance space including Lights, Sound, and Seating, with base washes and focuses already set.

- A Venue Technician and an Operator for all access hours and performances.

- 90 minutes of load in and technical rehearsal time

There will be a subsidised flat fee per performance to cover the above technical support and inclusions. Please refer to this page on our website for the full list of festival inclusions. 

Please refer to the schedule below and select as many time slots you that work for you - We will use this information to schedule the Festival.

If you want to perform your work more than once please select multiple time slots and indicate your total number of performances below. 

You can also select two slots in a row if you want to present a work over 60 minutes - Please make a note of this in the "anything else" text box below.

*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 60 mins (approx 45-55 pages)