past projects
Black Earth: Resistance, Anti-Racism and the Environment
In 2022/23, we embarked on an ambitious project to speak to the Black diasporic experience of conversations around environmental justice and climate change. This was a research project encompassing workshops, nature walks, artist commissions and green care packages for the local communities in Watford and the South East, Bristol, and Bath. The project examined mental health impacts for Black British, African heritage, and Global Majority communities, and how creative resistance can support responses. It began with a Town Hall meeting, facilitated by Samia Dumbaya and Selina Nwulu with live illustration by Jasmine Thompson. Discussions shaped workshops led by Zakiya McKenzie and Kaysha Provost in Bristol, focusing on: • What climate justice means to us • Guilt and mental health • Creative resistance These insights informed the Green Care Packages, created with Community Apothecary and Afrofuturists Apothecary, also available in PDF. We hope this resource helps communities and arts organisations create space and joy for Global Majority people in climate justice conversations.
Match/Play
For our 25th birthday, we supported six artists from different disciplines to collaborate on new work: Raphael Dada (multidisciplinary) and Karis Beaumont (photography) created Black British Yearbook, an intergenerational exploration of the immigrant experience through portraiture, music, and food. Alexander Williams (singer/writer/actor) and Lexie Dufficy (singer-songwriter) produced original music exploring race, identity, and the Black/mixed-race experience in Britain. Stephanie Stevens (actor/writer/singer) and Jasmine Kahlia (multidisciplinary) created FINESSE, a two-hander musical using live looping to explore loneliness, scams, insecurity, and belonging.
Museum Lates
Museum Lates was our series of 5 readings and conversations held at Watford Museum exploring the Black British Canon from 1970 - 2010. In each, a cast of emerging actors performed a play from a different decade by a Black writer who has made a notable contribution to Black Stories. These plays were: Rum and Coca Cola by Mustapha Matura (1970s), Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock (1980s), Boy with Beer by Paul Boakye (1990s), Random by debbie tucker green (2000s), Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel (2010s). The series helped to introduce the local community and beyond to an important element of Black British theatre.
brilliant
tiata fahodzi are fearless risk-takers, cultivating unseen spaces of theatre and making work in surprising spaces, building a home where both artists and audiences can belong, where we can collaborate, celebrate, partner and co-produce to ask big questions and find solutions to forge a radical future.
brilliant
tiata fahodzi are fearless risk-takers, cultivating unseen spaces of theatre and making work in surprising spaces, building a home where both artists and audiences can belong, where we can collaborate, celebrate, partner and co-produce to ask big questions and find solutions to forge a radical future.
current projects
the prize
The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 will uncover the most exciting new plays about the climate crisis, and support them to find their audiences.
We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. Regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences, and we are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.
This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the potential for us to transform society for a flourishing, equitable future for all life. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer
In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.
For full details and submission, please click here.
the workshop
Curious about telling stories about climate and nature on stage? Sign up for our upcoming workshop designed to support writers finding their own climate drama to share.
tiata fahodzi's workshop is Tuesday 19th, May 2026, at Watershed Bristol, 1:30pm-4:30pm.
Dates and times for other workshops can be found here.
We work to bring equity within opportunities in theatre so we will be prioritising artists from Global Majority who fit these criteria, however all other artists are welcome to apply and will be allocated spaces if there is availability.
This session will be facilitated by Nina Segal. Nina Segal is a playwright. Her productions include: Cow | Deer (Royal Court), We Are The Lucky Ones (Dutch National Opera, Ruhrtriennale), Shooting Hedda Gabler (Rose Theatre), The Odyssey (It's A Really Really Really Long Journey) (The Unicorn), The Good Person of Szechwan (Sheffield Crucible, Lyric Hammersmith); War and Culture (New Diorama); O, Island! (RSC); AI (Young Vic); Dismantle This Room (Bush Theatre, Royal Court); Big Guns (Yard Theatre); and In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre). Nina is an Associate Playwright at the Royal Court.
These sessions are an opportunity to think creatively and critically about how theatre can respond to the defining challenge of our time. Together we’ll explore how climate stories can become compelling drama: from finding the human stakes inside global issues to building characters, conflict, and theatrical worlds.
Each workshop is led by an experienced writer, director or dramaturg, and will include practical exploration of how to write your climate play, a wider discussion about the kinds of climate stories we need now, and a conversation with a relevant environmental expert, telling their own story of change.
Whether you’re already developing an idea or just beginning to think about writing about the climate, these workshops are a space to test ideas, ask questions, and connect with other writers engaging with the climate crisis.
The workshops are intended for those interested in finding out more about, and potentially submitting a play for, the Climate Playwriting Prize. We expect writers who attend to be eligible to apply for the prize (prize criteria are here). This means you will have had some previous professional experience of script writing, such as participating in a talent development scheme, staging an R&D sharing or having a script commissioned. No prior knowledge of climate science is required – just curiosity, imagination, and a desire to tell powerful stories.
These workshops are aimed at writers and theatre practitioners who have already demonstrated a commitment to script-based mediums (theatre, radio or screen), with some professional experience. This could include production experience (including fringe), commission, talent development schemes or work staged through R&D or scratch performances.
To apply for the workshop please fill out our sign up form here.
.jpg)
Nina Segal,
Facilitator & Playwright
The Climate Playwriting Prize is a partnership between Shakespeare’s Globe, Climate Spring and Fern Culture, in association with Chichester Festival Theatre, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Belfast, Mercury Theatre Colchester, New Earth, Pentabus and tiata fahodzi.
PlayLab
PlayLab returns in 2026 with a refreshed two-year programme designed to support and develop Global Majority artists working across theatre and the wider performing arts.
We are selecting six artists from across the UK for a paid opportunity that centers long-term development, creative exploration, and sector connection.
About The Programme
PlayLab is a structured two-year programme delivered through 12 sessions (six each year), running bi-monthly sessions from February 2026 to December 2027.
The programme offers:
-
A paid artist development opportunity over two years
-
A supported space to develop your artistic practice
-
Sessions shaped by the cohort’s needs and interests
-
Access to specialist facilitators
-
Regular mentorship
-
Regional theatre engagement opportunities
-
Peer connection and professional guidance
Eligibility
We are seeking applications from:
-
Global Majority artists working in a range of practices within the arts/performing arts
-
Artists based anywhere in the UK
-
Makers who are looking for structured support to expand their practice, reflect on their career path, or strengthen their networks
We welcome a wide range of disciplines and approaches to performance.
Programme Structure
Year One - 2026
-
February: Cohort Introduction
-
April: Curated workshop
-
June: Regional venue workshop
-
August: Curated workshop
-
October: Curated workshop
-
December: Mid-way roundtable and feedback
Year Two - 2027
-
February: Curated workshop
-
April: Regional venue workshop
-
June: Curated workshop
-
August: Curated workshop
-
October: Curated workshop
-
December: Final roundtable and summary
How to Apply
Applications for the 2026/7 cohort are now closed.
Please keep an eye out for more opportunities.
Selection Process
After an internal long-listing process, the final shortlist will be chosen by a panel of industry leaders and artists.