I popped into this theatre openspace UnConference event. It’s Devoted and Disgruntled and has been going on 25 years. Here are some of the discussion that took place.
What's your exit strategy?
AI actually stands for "Artificial Impersonation" – What is AI really and why should we be creatively worried and excited about it?
Is it ever too late to be interviewed by Smash Hits?
Why do we do what we do?
If I’m not doing anything more "important", I’d better sit + write my play
Creative role sharing – Who is doing it well? Is 2 really company?
How can we start to help UK society see the value of the arts again?
How are artist and audience development linked?
Opera & classical music – How do we drag the industry forward with us?
An alternative national theatre??
Confident authenticity in an industry that feels judgmental + observed
Bombard me about the bunch of bonkers characters (that I’m still discovering) in a play about anti-Asian racism
Creation beyond the border – Funding, etc.
Can we clean up the Spider Network? (Performing Arts Infrastructure)
Self-producing artists: How are you doing? (And how are you doing it?)
The Gathering (Improbable’s quest for a home) – Updates – Possibilities – Requests
How can we find balance in work + our own creative fulfilment – Filling our wells
Access/inclusion from the start – Not a bolt on!
Psychotherapy + improvisation – The joins
Tea with the gays / coffee with the queers
I’m an artist in recovery: How to survive a toxic creative process
Harness the absurd
What are we doing about / with directors these days?
When theatre is building the plane whilst already flying it, how do we teach board & funders not to be afraid of heights?
Who does the UK theatre sector think it’s talking to?
Training pathways in tech for performing arts for those 25+ and career shifters?
A manifesto for the arts
What can theatre do to address the mental health crisis affecting young people?
The repository for half-finished ideas
20 years of D and D – How was it for you? (Oral histories)
If we could invent an arms-length funding body (Arts Council) fit for the next bit of the 21st C, what would it be like?
What do artists want an arts space to be?
How might we continue to collaborate beyond this weekend?
R&D – Hopes, dreams & nightmares
AI and/or Art: How do we work with or against AI?
The future of musicals – Have your say! Bleak or bright?
Theatre – What’s the connection?
I feel so disconnected from my ability to make theatre. Should I reconnect and if so, how?
Menopause (peri + post) as creative transition
British venues love international work. How do we get them to love migrant artists?
Lunch + imagination games
Climate justice – Coney last performance workshop
Art/performance to counter authoritarianism
Politics?
Manifesting workshop
Tea + empathy – Weekly peer meetup at Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Finding time to make & not just write funding bids
Is the arts sector filling gaps in NHS mental health provision? If so, how do we proceed ethically?
How can theatre be used for rural development?
Invisible fringe – How can we get the attention from press + audiences that fringe theatre deserves?
Eldership and the future of creative participation in music + performance
How do we support each other to take risks?
Help me to put dreams and a heart into my dolls