Submissions
ARTISTIC POLICY
Upstairs at the Gatehouse predominantly programmes fully-staged productions of new writing, with a particular focus on compositionally ambitious musical theatre and socially-engaged plays.
We are especially interested in:
- Work which foregrounds political and/or historical themes,
- Work which reflects the diversity of contemporary London,
- Work driven by early-career creatives of any age.
AVAILABILITY
Please ensure you have referenced our current availability prior to submitting work. Aside from one-night events, we do not programme below one-week slots and have a preference for two-weeks at a minimum.
We generally schedule one-night events around our regular programming—most commonly on Monday and Sunday evenings—so there are generally more one-night slots available than are displayed on the calendar.
NB. The calendar below is a live document which aims to reflect as closely as possible the current state of our availability. It is updated regularly as shows which we are in conversation with are locked-in or pencilled holds are removed. Just because a given slot is or isn’t available today doesn’t guarantee it won’t be in future.
SUBMITTING
As of 2026, we’re changing how submissions work at Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
Instead of filling out a form and waiting to see if anything happens, the process of submitting a show for consideration now consists of a bookable, one-hour meeting with the Artistic Director, either online or in person at the Gatehouse. The goal is to make things a little less one-sided and to help us forge lasting relationships with artists.
Please note that slots are bookable up to 5 weeks in advance. If there is currently no availability, please check back next Wednesday when another week’s slots become bookable.
INVITATIONS
If you’d like to invite us to a show, please get in touch via the email below.
As a very small team, we are unable to attend everything we’re invited to. To increase the likelihood that we’ll be able to come, please give us as much advance notice as possible and outline briefly why you’d like someone from Upstairs at the Gatehouse specifically to see your work.