Launched in 2024, the underfunded initiative offered six early-career artists experiencing barriers to entry in the theatre industry, a week of free rehearsal space to develop original work and share their stories with a public audience.

Since that first week of R&D two years ago, we’ve continued to support our artists through free rehearsal space, mentoring and ongoing encouragement. We’re also proud to have one production completing a European tour, two going on to performances at Theatre Deli, with another remaining in development.

Opening our doors to the talent of the next generation of theatre makers excites us, but it also raises an important question: how many of these shows would make it this far without in-kind support?

We had just £5k in grant funding to support Make Space!. With empty studios, a belief in grass roots talent and a commitment to championing underrepresented voices in our industry, we used our space, our staff and our time to help make this happen.

As BOY Theatre put it:

“When Bubble selected us to do Make Space, we were nothing but an Instagram page and a big idea! We were very lucky that Bubble took a chance on us and provided the space and time to do proper research and development. We’ve had a few performance opportunities since Make Space and every time, Bubble have let us rehearse. When we’ve been applying for these opportunities, we’ve been able to share the filmed version of our Make Space sharing which led to our connection with The Pleasance.”

It has been a pleasure to have Bethlehem and BOY Theatre use our rehearsal space in the weeks leading up to their fringe debut and acknowledge the sheer passion they have put into getting to the Fringe. With both teams working extra jobs, hosting open mics and scratch nights to help fundraise for their runs.

We’re inundated with requests for free rehearsal space since Make Space! alongside a Pay What You Can rehearsal space offer to artists taking part in any fringe festival last summer. Last year alone, London Bubble provided 846 hours of rehearsal space in kind to our associate artists and programme alum. Is that sustainable on its own? No. But will we continue finding ways to support early-career artists experiencing barriers to the industry? Without question.

Thanks to project funding from Arts Council England for our Early-Career Artists programme, we’ll be bringing back Make Space! in 2027 and we look forward to seeing its next cohort dominate festival lineups in 2028 and beyond.

Want to support the next generation of theatre makers?

Get in touch to talk about how you could support or partner on future iterations of Make Space!

Join the conversation:

How has your organisation used its existing resources to support the next generation of creative talent? Do you know of any funders willing to support our early-career artists?

Let’s talk in the comments.

Written by Marie Vickers, Artistic Director