Theatre and Dance

Leeds has, in recent years, gained a reputation for supporting new theatre. Because of that, there are three great new venues to support the emergence of writing and acting talent in the city - The Carriageworks, Seven and stage@leeds (Leeds University) - all of whom have opened their doors in the last two years.

In partnership with Script Yorkshire, Emerge will see all three working together to make a noise about the good things happening in Leeds. Script Yorkshire is the region's only support and advocacy organisation for script writers across performance and broadcast media. Run democratically by writers for writers, it puts the needs of members at the very core of its activity, developing both their practice and their industry connections.

During each afternoon of the festival there'll be workshops and seminars led by professional theatre practitioners aimed at developing the skills of local artists. Workshops confirmed so far include a session with one of the county's leading companies, Third Angel.

Established in Sheffield in 1995, the company makes work that encompasses performance, theatre, live art, installation, film, video art, documentary, photography and design. Leeds-based Theatre Company, Blah Blah Blah will also be hosting a workshop on How to Sell Your Skills for people making their way in the theatre industry.

Every evening will see a variety of performances including scratch showings of pieces in development, full-length performances and previews of shows travelling to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Local Leeds company, Chotto Ookii will be performing a short snippet of their latest work, 'Sweet', which they are taking to Edinburgh during August. The festival will be  brought to a close  by Red Ladder's 'Red Grit'. They will be presenting 'Monday', a brand new play set on the bleeding edge of contemporary culture by Paula B Stanic.

The Emerge Festival runs at The Carriageworks, Seven Arts Centre and stage@leeds between Monday 20 July and Saturday 25 July 2009.