Opportunities & events

We offer lots of opportunities and events as part of our Furnace programme to help locally-rooted artists develop their career and projects.

The best way to find out about the current crop of opportunities and events for artists at the Playhouse, and to get exclusive previews of what’s coming up, is to sign up to our Furnace newsletter.

You will find free workshops below and on our What’s on pages.

Jobs and paid opportunities on our Vacancies page.

And regular updates about exciting opportunities and events right here.

 

For artists
Sold out
Sending Out Your Script

16 Jan 2026

A guide for playwrights who want to submit work to theatres and competitions.

For artists
Small Scale Big Impact

19 Feb 2026

A workshop for early career designers making work for fringe or studio scale venues.

Current opportunities

Small Island Rehearsal Observer

If you answered yes to all 3 questions you should apply to be a Rehearsal Observer on our upcoming production of Small Island.

Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse are producing a new production of Small Island in association with Actors Touring Company. Adapted from Andrea Levy’s multi-award-winning novel by Helen Edmundson, this bold new staging will be directed by Actors Touring Company’s Artistic Director Matthew Xia.

Running in our Quarry Theatre from 11-28 March, the story spans decades and continents, drawing on the joyful rhythms of calypso and the harsh realities of postwar Britain to explore the emotional truth of our collective history.

We will welcome 10 artists to observe a day each of rehearsals in Leeds. This is a free opportunity for early career theatre directors and/or movement directors who have had limited experience of a professional rehearsal room.

Director Matthew Xia says: “Small Island is a story that sits deep in my bones. This new production, the regional premiere of Helen Edmundson’s adaptation, will be expressive, intimate, and incredibly period evocative. I want audiences to feel the fabric of the 1940s and ’50s, to be immersed in the sound, texture and atmosphere of a world reshaped by war, empire, migration and love.”

Dates: 10 days between Monday 2 February and Monday 2 March
Rehearsal times: usually 10am–6pm

Click here to apply

Deadline: Monday 5 January, 10am

If you would prefer to submit your answers via a BSL video or audio recording, please email them to naomi.sumner@leedsplayhouse.org.uk.

  • MAJOR FUNDERS

    Arts Council
  • Leeds City Council
  • LTB Foundation
  • Founded by UK government
  • Suppoprted by west Yorkshire
  • Principal Partner

    Caddick Group
  • Principal Access Partner

    Irwin Mitchell