Exeter Northcott Theatre and Exeter Phoenix revive Scratch Night partnership to champion South West artists

Exeter Northcott Theatre and Exeter Phoenix have announced the return of their Scratch Night partnership, following the success of their first collaboration during the Elevate Festival in October 2025.

Applications are now open for the second Scratch Night, offering a creative development opportunity for established and emerging artists based across the South West. The one-night event will take place at the Exeter Phoenix Auditorium, giving selected artists the chance to present work in progress to a live audience and receive direct feedback.

The application window closes at 10am on Monday 19 January.

The first Scratch Night attracted a strong turnout and positive response from both audiences and artists. Exeter Phoenix Scratch Night co-producer Katy Danbury said:

“We want to open our doors and meet as many artists as possible. Scratch Nights are a celebration of local talent and, going forward, they will serve as a declaration from Exeter’s two leading performance venues that we are here to support artists from the early ideas stage to the big stage.”

Scratch Nights also offer audiences a behind-the-scenes look at how new performance work is developed, while giving artists valuable insight that can help shape future versions of their projects. Artists Menghan Chen, Yirui Fu and Jia Zhuang, who went on to present full-length versions of their work at Elevate Festival, reflected on their experience, saying:

"Scratch Night was our very first attempt to step beyond the university context. The audience response strengthened our confidence and encouraged us to envision the piece’s next stages."

Successful applicants for the upcoming Scratch Night will receive £150 towards developing their practice, free access to rehearsal space at both Exeter Phoenix and the Barnfield Theatre, and dramaturgical support from Exeter Northcott Theatre’s Artist Development Producer, Sam Parker. Encouraging creatives to apply, he said:

“It was a joy to pilot our Scratch Night collaboration with Exeter Phoenix as part of Elevate Festival 2025. A great group of artists were supported by a busy audience who shared insightful feedback. Please do come and join us for the next one and see another slate of exciting new work at the very start of its journey.”

Scratch Nights form a key part of both organisations’ commitment to artist development and to nurturing a vibrant creative community in the region. Building on the momentum of their initial collaboration, Exeter Northcott Theatre and Exeter Phoenix plan to continue working together on Scratch Night opportunities throughout 2026, strengthening Exeter’s reputation as a hub for innovative performance-making.

The second collaborative Scratch Night will take place at 7pm on Monday 23 February at Exeter Phoenix. Tickets are available now via the Exeter Phoenix website.