We’re excited to announce an opportunity for MMD members to workshop and develop a piece with Italia Conti.

The Project

Italia Conti, a drama school based in Woking, a 25 minute train journey outside of London Waterloo, are looking to create a project for their 2nd Year BA Acting (Musical Theatre) students to engage with, develop, rehearse and perform new musical theatre writing. 

We have a cohort of 24 students, with an even gender balance, who have a 3-week project period set aside dedicated to new musical theatre writing. We are looking to bring in one writing team with a large scale musical in development suitable for a cast of 24, or two writing teams with smaller pieces in development suitable for two casts of 12.  

Dates

Week 1: Studio Workshop: Monday 22nd June – Friday 26th June 2026 

Week 2: Studio Workshop: Monday 29th June – Friday 3rd July 2026 (Saturday 4th July contingency rehearsal available) 

Week 3: Theatre Rehearsals and Sharing: Monday 6th July to Friday 10th July 2026 

The project provides writers the opportunity to workshop and develop their piece. Excitingly we have a professional performance space (capacity 90) for the entire third week of the project to support a sharing of the developed work. This may range from a 40-minute excerpt of the piece, through to a performance of a larger selection of the piece in development. The performance will be closed to the public, but will be shared with internal student audiences, and we are open to invited guests from industry attending the sharing to see the work in performance. You can also film the sharing for direct professional use, we just ask that the footage is not made available publicly on YouTube, similar streaming websites, or accessible to the public in a searchable format. 

We have a budget set aside for a professional creative team to be brought in to work on the piece(s), and a small stipend towards the travel expenses of the writing team. If the writing team have suitable experience as creatives and tutors within a HE environment we would be open to a conversation around them acting as the sole creatives on the project. 

The Piece 

We are looking for work that is already in development, rather than a new commission. We are open to a range of genres and style, but note that the skillset for the performers are actor-singers with variable dance skills. 

How to Apply 

  • Please complete the form in the Members’ Resource Hub by 10am Thursday 29th January. Materials needed are a show synopsis, writer biogs and two demo tracks and/or song scores.  
  • This opportunity is open to members of Mercury Musical Developments only. 
  • Applications will be reviewed by MMD and Italia Conti staff. A shortlist will be agreed, which will then lead submission of further materials and a short introductory conversation with key staff at Italia Conti to determine suitability of the piece for the project.