Bloomsbury Studio Bidding Guidelines

Welcome to the Bloomsbury Studio Bidding Guidelines for 2026/27! Are you thinking about bidding to put on a show in the Bloomsbury Studio? If so, this document is for you – it details everything about how productions in the Bloomsbury Studio work, how the bidding process works, when the deadlines are, and how the decisions are made. If you are thinking of bidding for a show, please do read carefully!

We want all students to feel they can propose a Bloomsbury Studio show, and we want the information around how the bidding works to be open and transparent. We hope this document will help you if you are thinking about bidding for a show in the Bloomsbury Studio for academic year 2026/27.

If you are looking for the Bloomsbury Studio Bid Application Form, please find it below:

Before we start, what are the important deadlines I need to know?

We have two bidding cycles for the Bloomsbury Studio, Term 1 and Term 2, with the deadlines outlined below:

Term 1 Bidding Opens – Monday 21 September at 12:00pm (noon)
Term 1 Bidding Closes –Monday 5 October at 12:00pm (noon)
Term 1 Panel – Wednesday 7 October

Term 2 Bidding Opens – Monday 16 November at 12:00pm (noon)
Term 2 Bidding Closes –Monday 30 November at 12:00pm (noon)
Term 2 Panel – Wednesday 2 December

So, let’s start at the beginning. This section is all about what you are bidding for, or ‘what you’ll get’ if you are successful. It gives you information about the Bloomsbury Studio, and also tells you about how the technical support works during a production week, so you can make sure the vision behind your bid is achievable.

1. Can you tell me about the Bloomsbury Studio?

The Bloomsbury Studio is a small, flexible space for more intimate performances. Seating up to 70, it is a ‘black box’ theatre that naturally opens itself to more experimental work. It can accommodate a number of different seating configurations, and has a projector and screen.

Things to remember when thinking about the Bloomsbury Studio:

• It’s small! 70 seat maximum but often less (~50), depending on the seating configuration you choose
• Two bidding processes, the first in Sept/Oct (for Term 1), the second in November (for Term 2)
• Most of the bidding happens through Societies, but there are also 2 open slots in Term 2 for students to bid for directly, without the support of a society
• There is a 15-person limit on cast size, and the show must not exceed 2 hours (including an interval) in length.

2. When are the performance weeks?

For the academic year 2026/27, we have 9 performance weeks in the Bloomsbury Studio across Terms 1 and 2.

Production Weeks for Bloomsbury Studio shows usually run from Thursday to Wednesday, with three days for tech and three performance days. Thursday - Saturday are tech days and Monday - Wednesday are performance days.

*Please note that Studio 1 this year will have slightly reduced time in the venue - Sat-Mon will be tech days, and Tues-Weds will be performance days.

3. How much time do we get in the Theatre?

Production Weeks for Bloomsbury Studio shows usually run from Thursday to Wednesday, with three days for tech and three performance days. Thursday - Saturday are tech days and Monday - Wednesday are performance days, with the following access times:

Thursday - Saturday: 10:00 - 17:00

Monday: 10:00 - 23:00 (19:30 performance start)

Tuesday: 14:00 - 23:00 (19:30 performance start)

Wednesday: 18:00 - 23:00 (19:30 performance start)

Standardised Performance Week Schedule

4. How does the technical support work?

Every production in the Bloomsbury Studio is a collaboration with UCL Stage Crew Society, who will allocate technical roles and provide technical design and support to the production. UCL Stage Crew is a student-led society dedicated to enabling other UCL societies to put on productions in the Bloomsbury Theatre and Studio, the Roaming Garage Theatre and other venues.

Every student show will be allocated a Stage Crew Company Stage Manager (CSM), where possible, responsible for your production's technical requirements in the theatre. If Stage Crew are unable to fill certain roles, artsUCL will make arrangements to provide alternative support. All stage crew members undergo training with Bloomsbury Theatre technicians, and work directly under their guidance during production weeks.

Collaboration with Stage Crew begins long before the production week, and they will work with you to understand your vision for the show, and distribute roles accordingly. Lead stage crew roles (such as lighting/sound design) will then work with you in advance of the production week to work collaboratively to realise the show.

5. How do the finances work?

Bloomsbury Studio productions are cost-neutral - this means that there should be no cost incurred by your society when putting them on, but your society will not receive any ticket income.

artsUCL will provide each Bloomsbury Studio production with a budget of up to £250, as well as covering the costs of any performance rights/licensing. artsUCL will also provide any necessary professional fight/intimacy coordination.

Please note that ticket prices are standardised across the artsUCL Season (including in the Bloomsbury Studio) at the following rates:

UCL Student/Staff - £8
Concessions - £12
Full Price - £16

This section is about the process of submitting a bid for a production in the Bloomsbury Studio. It gives you information about the different pathways to the bidding panel, what you might need to prepare, and the deadlines for bids in each theatre.

6. What is 'bidding'?

Bidding is the process of students pitching proposals for productions in the Bloomsbury Studio. Each bid will have a coherent plan for a production, including the name of the show, a description of the creative vision behind the production, the allocation of major roles (producer and director), the availability of performance rights, and your preferred layout for the Bloomsbury Studio.

Once the bidding deadline has passed and artsUCL have received all the bids, the Studio Allocation Committee will be convened for students with viable bids to present their ideas. The Committee will then make decisions as to which bids are offered performance weeks in the Bloomsbury Studio. Those productions will form part of the artsUCL Season for the academic year 2026/27.

7. Do I need to bid as part of a society or can I bid directly?

The majority of Bloomsbury Studio productions need to be endorsed by a Union-affiliated Club/Society.

However, we do offer two weeks in Term 2 as Open Slots - these are productions that do not need to be endorsed by a union affiliated club/society. They have slightly different criteria, as detailed in section XX

Societies sometimes hold their own internal bidding processes where their members pitch production ideas for society endorsement. Internal bidding processes will often mirror the bidding process itself, with society members pitching their ideas against the bidding criteria. The society committee will then decide which bids they are going to put forward to the Studio Allocation Committee.

8. Can I bid for specific weeks?

You can include a preferred week as part of your bid, and offer any supporting reasons for the panel to consider as to why you should be allocated this week. However please note, there is no guarantee you will get your preferred week.

9. How do I start?

1.       Producer and director!

Make sure you have a committed producer and director; your core team.

2.       Clear creative vision!

Make sure you have a clear idea of your creative vision – which show, why you want to do it, what it offers an audience, what layout you would like in the Studio, the main creative decisions which could define the show. A good question to ask yourselves is “Why this show, and why now?”

3.       Performance rights!

Check the availability of the performance rights for the piece for an amateur production in London. Normally, the contact details for this will be in the front of the book or manuscript. Google is also a useful tool to find publishers. You do not need performance rights for any show where the writer has been dead for 70 years or more. But sometimes it’s worth checking!

4.       Speak to your society!

If you are not bidding for an Open Slot, get in touch with the President and Treasurer of the society you would like to bid on behalf of, to get their support. They will be able to tell you about any internal bidding process, if applicable.

N.B. You do not need to complete this step if you are bidding for an Open Slot

5.       Complete the bid form!

If the society chooses to put your bid forward to the Studio Allocation Committee, the President of the society must submit the Bloomsbury Studio Bid Application Form on the society’s behalf.

If you are bidding for an Open Slot, then the Producer should submit the Bloomsbury Studio Bid Application Form.

You can find the Bloomsbury Studio Bid Application Form below:

10. How do I pitch my proposal?

Once your bid has been submitted, the producer and director named on the proposal will be invited to give a 10-minute presentation to the Studio Allocation Committee, which will then be followed by up to 10-minutes of questions from the Committee. These presentations will be online and will take place on the designated panel dates. Time slots will be allocated once the proposals have been submitted.

11. What does my presentation need to include?

The way you present your pitch is completely up to you. Some people choose to use power points and share their screen, and others don’t. We are very open to different forms of presentation, and whatever works for you. We would advise you to prepare it thoroughly and have a clear structure. Your presentation should cover the following areas:

• The title of the production and a very brief overview/synopsis
• A summary of your creative vision, including set ideas and your layout preference.
• Why you want to put the production on, and why you’re passionate about it
• What you think it will bring to an audience, and how it will speak to an audience today
• Your ideas around equity, inclusion and representation and how these values feed into your vision
• The marketing blurb for the production that captures your offer to the public in no more than 100 works and your ideas for marketing the production

Please remember that you do not need to submit or outline a budget at this stage.

This section is about how the decisions are made about which bids are successful, as well as who makes the decisions and where you can get more information and support.

12. What are the criteria for a successful bid?

1.       The coherence and strength of your creative vision

We are looking for proposals which will connect with an audience today and speak to them, whatever the genre or whatever the material. We are looking for productions that will excite audiences, move them and get them talking about the theatre.

2.       The professionalism of your presentation, and the viability of your proposal

We want to see evidence that you are serious about your proposal, and we want to feel confident that you will collaborate effectively with your fellow students and the professional team at the Bloomsbury Theatre & Studio. We also want to have confidence that your vision is realistic and achievable.

3.       How appropriate your bid is for the relevant theatre space

We want to be confident that your proposal is appropriate for the space you are bidding for. The Bloomsbury Studio is a small, intimate, black-box theatre with the audience at close quarters. There are limitations in terms of cast size, set design and technical capabilities - it’s important that the work is being conceived specifically for the space, and that the space is being used to its full potential.

4.       Diversity, inclusivity and representation

We want the productions to be representative of all our students, and in particular, groups that may in the past have been under-represented or marginalised. We want to see that you are connected to these values and want to tell stories that further progress and platform those whose stories are under- represented in our society. The Bloomsbury Studio in particular offers a real opportunity for platforming diverse material and stories representing different cultures. This might be in the decisions around the choice of material, your creative interpretation, and your plans for casting or selection for what will be on stage.

5.       Experimentation and new work

The Bloomsbury Studio offers UCL students a space to try new things out in a low-risk environment. We encourage new writing and new interpretations, as well as bids that are experimental and tell stories that we don’t often see in the mainstream. There is no minimum cast size, and instead we are focused on the quality of opportunities, as opposed to the number of opportunities.

In addition to the above, Open Slots bids are also evaluated on the below criteria:

An Open Slot bid must successfully demonstrate why their production cannot be produced through a Union-affiliated club/society.

13. Who is on the Studio Allocation Committee?

The Studio Allocation Committee is student-led, and is comprised of three voting members: the Activities & Engagement Officer, the Arts Officer and the Studio Theatre Officer from Stage Crew Society, and two non-voting members: the artsUCL Producer, who can ask questions, contribute to discussion and offer input where relevant and helpful, and the Arts Production Coordinator, who acts as the Committee manager.

14. Who can I contact for more information?

If you would like more information then please contact Dan Edge, our artsUCL Producer, at [email protected]

Dan is here to support anyone who is interested in making a bid for the Studio. Dan is more than happy to act as a soundboard for some of your initial ideas, take you through the process, advise you on what you need to consider and explain anything you might not understand.