About Investment

Over the past 40 years Stage One have supported and invested in West End and Number One tours across the UK and overseas. The organisation has now expanded it’s investment arm to be able to support small-mid scale producers through the Small Scale Commercial Investment and the Start Up Fund. Stage One investment schemes are a commercial investment. If you are a new producer, you may find the Bursaries for New Producers scheme more suitable.

Small Scale Commercial Investment

In June 2019, Stage One launched it’s new investment scheme; the Small Scale Commercial Investment to support producers as they approach their (perhaps) first off West End production. The aim is to be able to support a wider range of productions and to help producers create more commercially viable work and increase their pool of investors. We can offer to invest in smaller scale productions (not West End Venues) that fit the following guidelines.

The maximum investment Stage One can offer is £20,000 and capped at 30% of the capitalisation – all applications must be received 4 weeks before the first rehearsal.

Please note that we are not able to invest in Edinburgh Fringe Shows or shows performing internationally and Producers who have received Stage One Investment for a West End production are precluded from applying. If you have been awarded a Stage One bursary, you are still eligible to apply.

The decision whether to invest in a production is made by a committee made up of active producers, at their discretion the guidelines may be varied depending on the individual circumstances of any production.

In order to apply you must read through the Small Scale Commercial Investment Guidelines. If your production is eligible please download an application form and email to Louise Goodman at [email protected]

For investment in West End productions please see our Commercial Investment Guidelines.

Recent investments include:

Mother of Him at Park Theatre in October 2019
SHIDA at the Vaults Theatre in September 2019
Snow Queen at Park Theatre in December 2019
Lipstick at Southwark Playhouse in March 2020

Start-Up Fund

The Start Up Fund aims to give the very best graduates coming through Stage One’s training programmes an investment for their first major commercial production. These are producers that have been successfully producing on a smaller scale, have a good working knowledge of how to produce, have made good contacts in the industry and are ready to make the jump to produce on a much larger scale.

Stage One does not invest more than 15% of the applicants share of the capitalisation for any production and is capped at £50,000.

Recent Start Up Winners include:

William Whelton for the 50th anniversary UK Tour of Hair The Musical
Trish Wadley for the premiere of The Wider Earth at the Natural History Museum
Oliver Mackwood for the West End transfer of Pressure with David Haig from the Park Theatre to the Ambassadors.

In order to apply you must read through the Start Up Fund Guidelines. If your production is eligible please contact Louise Goodman at [email protected]

Commercial Investment

Stage One is also a prominent investor in commercial, large-scale/West End productions. We do this by setting a specific set of guidelines set by a committee for producers to adhere to. Please have a read through the Commercial Investment Guidelines to see if you can be considered for investment. To apply, please contact Louise Goodman on [email protected]