Seven Dials Playhouse has announced the first recipients of First Steps and Next Step – two new artist development initiatives designed to provide time, space and financial support for theatre-makers at all stages of their careers.

These funded programmes are part of the venue’s expanded commitment to long-term artist support, offering rehearsal space and paid development time at Equity minimum rates. From punk gig theatre and Filipino fried chicken musicals to queer convent comedies and puppetry for young audiences, the selected projects span a striking mix of forms and themes – tackling everything from masculinity and colonialism to grief, identity and joy.

First Steps offers groups of up to five theatre-makers a funded week of creative exploration, with free rehearsal space and paid development time at Equity minimum rates. The 2025 recipients are:

DEFENESTRATION – a bold new show exploring working-class male rage in 1980’s Britain

For the Love of Jollibee – a comedy musical unpacking Filipino identity through a global fried chicken chain

Transit – a stage horror by Tabby Lamb centering transfemme voices in defiance of political hostility

Next Step supports theatre-makers ready to shape their work for the stage. The programme, again supporting up to five theatre makers per group, includes a week of paid development at Equity minimum rates, rehearsal space, and culminates in a work-in-progress sharing for industry professionals. The 2025 recipients are:

Into the Blue – a puppetry-led children’s show about a young pearl diver from the Sama-Bajau tribe

There’s a Mouse in the Kitchen – a tense, psychologically charged two-hander exploring masculinity and memory

Run to the Nuns – a joyful, queer comedy musical set in a defiant modern-day nunnery