MT Writers Group

Our flagship programme for supporting new musical theatre writers.

The Musical Theatre Writers Group is a 12-month residency for teams writing new musicals. The programme will be made up of 10 monthly taught sessions led by Victoria Saxton and Tim Sutton, where writing teams will interrogate the fundamentals of musical theatre writing and will have a chance to share and discuss each other’s work. Each team will also begin developing a new musical, with the chance to share with an audience at two points in the process.

What does the programme entail?

Over the course of 12 months, five writing teams will receive:

• • A £2,000 bursary per individual, as well as travel expenses
  • 10 taught sessions led by writer and dramaturg Victoria Saxton and composer and musical director Tim Sutton
  • Peer learning with the other members of the group as they share their work in progress
  • Two opportunities to showcase work in development to an audience and invited industry
  • Mentorship from the Birmingham Hippodrome team

Who is it for?

The programme is open to writers with different levels of experience. We expect teams to be able to show a commitment to the musical theatre form, but recognise this will be different for different teams – maybe you’ve had a show produced, maybe you’ve had R&D on a project, or completed another musical development programme. If you have a passion for musical theatre and a desire to build on your creative practice as a musical theatre writer, we want to hear from you!

Participants must be over 18 and based in the UK.

Should I apply individually or in a team?

Developing a new piece of musical theatre is key to the MT Writers Group, so the elements of book music and lyrics will all need to be covered in each application. We are happy to receive applications from teams of up to three people, or from individuals who write all disciplines. We expect the group will include a range of collaborations.

We will not be putting teams together from individuals who apply for this programme.

Do I need to have a project in the works?

Each writing team will work on a new project over the year of MT Writers Group. We recognise that teams will have projects at different stages of development. Ideally this should be an early-stage idea that you are keen to develop with support from peers and mentors over the year, rather than a polished piece of work. The ideas for the MT Writers Group should be original and without underlying rights.

There are no restrictions on the size of the new musicals that teams are working on – the Hippodrome is proud to present work at lots of different scales, from our 200-seater Patrick Studio and our 1800-seater main house, to sites around the city of Birmingham as part of our festivals programme.

Are sessions in person or online?

Sessions will take place in person at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Getting to Birmingham takes less than two hours from London, Liverpool, Leeds, and Cardiff and one and a half hours from Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, and Nottingham. By train, three and a half hours from Glasgow, and four hours from Edinburgh.

We will cover travel for participants based outside of Birmingham and will make reasonable adjustments for participants who may find it difficult to travel.

We’ve put together some FAQs here.