Ensemble Not Found

The next round of CROSS POLLINATION is now open for applications! CROSS POLLINATION is a night for artists who have never worked together to collaborate and create interdisciplinary and experimental work. We'll pair up 6 artists into 3 cross-disciplinary groups, offering them space, time and resource to explore their partnership. On the night of the scratch, they'll share their findings, followed by an artist speed dating session for the whole audience. We want a wide range of disciplines to apply - from musicians to lighting designers, dancers to academics, clowns to scientists, we want YOU (yes you, reading this post). Click the link in bio to learn more and apply.

A night of the most exciting, creative and experimental new shows you can’t see anywhere else! Next Friday on the 22th May at 730pm, @mollyogormanmusic and @_elliecouncell.official will be sharing their scratch SPLITS at @newdiorama Nineteen-year-old Kat has trained since infancy to be an Olympic gymnast. Brought up in the shadow of a superstar sister by a coach who sees her as his own last chance, Kat will stop at nothing to achieve what she has been told she deserves. Partially inspired by the trials of the US gymnastic team with abuse, SPLITS merges musical theatre with dance to ask: how much would you give up to achieve your dreams? Molly O’Gorman (composer) holds an MA in Musical Theatre Composition from Goldsmiths, and has had her work performed in the National Theatre and the West End. Her first musical, Ghost Light), won an OffComm. Her first play, Broad Shadow, won the National Theatre New Views prize in 2016. Ellie Councell (choreographer) is a Devon raised, London based choreographer, dancer and performer. She holds a degree in Musical Theatre from the University of Chichester, where her debut show CROSSCURRENTS first began. Since graduating, Ellie has choreographed in and out of London and acted for Netflix, Fever and Upfront Theatre company. She is the founder of Angletwitch Dance company. Created by Molly O’Gorman (she/her) Ellie Councell (she/her) Scratching the Itch is a scratch night dedicated to non-conventional performance pieces, as part of the Making It Work Initiative. Making It Work was started in 2023 by Ensemble Not Found and Halfpace Theatre, two migrant-led theatre companies based in the UK. Making It Work encourages migrant work in the UK by providing free and low cost workshops, mentorship, community-building events, scratch nights and showcases for migrant work. Most importantly, Making It Work is about envisioning a space in which new migrant artists in the UK feel supported and seen. Friday 22nd January, 7:30pm New Diorama Theatre 15-16 Triton St, London NW1 3BF TICKET LINKS IN ENF & HALFPACE BIO!

A night of the most exciting, creative and experimental new shows you can’t see anywhere else! Next Friday on the 22th May at 730pm, @stream_asmr will be sharing their scratch Stream at @newdiorama Stream is an immersive, sound-led new writing performance about a young woman’s secret attachment to ASMR streamer Aki. Over a decade, she turns to a voice for comfort, routine, and emotional connection, as listening slowly reshapes her understanding of intimacy and desire. Audiences enter an intimate acoustic world built from whispers, breath, and memory. At its core, Stream asks: what is intimacy, and what makes a moment romantic? Stephanie is a London-based independent theatre producer originally from China. Working across physical theatre, comedy, new writing, and immersive performance, she is interested in creating visually driven and audience-focused work that explores migration, identity, mental health, and underrepresented experiences. Created by Producer: Stephanie Chu (She/Her) Playwright/Director: Yaqi Sun Scratching the Itch is a scratch night dedicated to non-conventional performance pieces, as part of the Making It Work Initiative. Making It Work was started in 2023 by Ensemble Not Found and Halfpace Theatre, two migrant-led theatre companies based in the UK. Making It Work encourages migrant work in the UK by providing free and low cost workshops, mentorship, community-building events, scratch nights and showcases for migrant work. Most importantly, Making It Work is about envisioning a space in which new migrant artists in the UK feel supported and seen. Friday 22nd January, 7:30pm New Diorama Theatre 15-16 Triton St, London NW1 3BF TICKET LINKS IN ENF & HALFPACE BIO!

A night of the most exciting, creative and experimental new shows you can’t see anywhere else! Next Friday on the 22th May at 730pm, @conscripttheatre will be sharing their scratch Untitled Robot Story at @newdiorama A combat robot in a near future conflict wakes up with more memories than it’s supposed to have. A reconnaissance drone keeps looking slightly too long at kitchens, showers, hilltops. A couple tries to figure out love in times of war. But none of that is real, really. A messy blending of reality and fiction, unfolds through the onstage setup and operation of creative technology, experimental audio and video composition, poetry, dance, and (some) acting. Conscript Theatre @conscripttheatre is a techno-physical performance company bringing experimental technological arts onstage alongside physical performance, new writing and alternative dramaturgy. Created by Guy Rudin - He/Him Anastasiia Malnieva - She/Her Elia Fielden - Any/All Emile Belli - He/Him Heather Tennant - She/Her Nikos Kourous - He/Him Oscar Harding - He/Him Scratching the Itch is a scratch night dedicated to non-conventional performance pieces, as part of the Making It Work Initiative. Making It Work was started in 2023 by @ensemble_not_found___ and @halfpacetheatre , two migrant-led theatre companies based in the UK. Making It Work encourages migrant work in the UK by providing free and low cost workshops, mentorship, community-building events, scratch nights and showcases for migrant work. Most importantly, Making It Work is about envisioning a space in which new migrant artists in the UK feel supported and seen. The scratch performance will be followed by a community party night with DJ set! Friday 22nd January, 7:30pm New Diorama Theatre 15-16 Triton St, London NW1 3BF TICKET LINKS IN ENF & HALFPACE BIO!

Are you a migrant artist curious about founding or running your own ensemble, collective or company? Or a fellow freelancer wondering how you can better support your migrant collaborators? Join @ensemble_not_found___ and @halfpacetheatre for a panel discussion and Q&A exploring how migrants can ‘make it work’ and thrive in theatre and performing arts.  7:30PM 21 May 2026 @newdiorama Our expert panelists will discuss their experiences with working in collectives, from logistics to day-to-day management to creating collaborative environments. They’ll look at the biggest challenges and opportunities available to migrant artists. This panel features a Q&A where you can ask your most burning questions. After, we will host an ‘artist speed dating’ session where you can network with fellow migrant artists.  Our panelists include: Emma Clark is an Asian American performance maker raised in California and based in London. She is co-director of the critically-acclaimed devising company @emmaandpj and Head of Programme at @newdiorama . Recent work includes Scenes from a Repatriation (Royal Court), Ghosts of the Near Future (Barbican Centre & UK Tour), The Shivers (Polka Theatre & New Diorama), and Atlantic (VAULT Festival).  Anna is an award-winning Italian theatre producer, performer, maker and educator whose work focuses on international collaboration and migration narratives. As Executive Producer of @projekteuropa , she helped lead the company to the 2025 Stage Awards International Award. Her work spans producing, performance and arts education across the UK and internationally.  Diana Feng is a multidisciplinary theatre maker/ PhD researcher. Her work explores barriers ESEA performers face in the UK theatre industry and ways to expand audiences for ESEA-majority productions.   She is the founder of @bigkun.uk , a creative company working across stage and screen or anywhere in between to challenge social norms and centre nuanced experiences, and the co-founder of WWWC, a non-hierarchical women and femme creative collective dedicated to uplifting marginalised voices.  Save your spot using the link in our bio!

📣 NEW FOR MAY! Join us for Making It Work: two nights of wild new work, industry advice & community networking for migrant artists in collaboration with @halfpacetheatre & @ensemble_not_found___ 🐜 Thurs 21 May: Migrant Q&A Panel Are you a migrant artist curious about founding or running your own ensemble, collective, or company? Join us for a panel discussion & artist speed dating session, with panellists including Emma Clark (Head of Programme, New Diorama Theatre); Diana Feng (Artistic Director, Big Kun); and Anna Oggero (Executive Producer, Projekt Europa). Fri 22 May: Scratching the Itch A scratch night dedicated to non-conventional performance pieces, featuring the wildest, freshest, and most unhinged new work from six groups of artists. Afterward, join us for a community party night celebrating ferocious and experimental migrant theatre making. 🎟️ Link in bio

We had the best time presenting the second round of CROSS POLLINATION at Chisenhale Dance Space on 27 March! Our three incredible artist pairings each brought beautiful and unique new works to the stage, followed by artist speed dating and a DJ set. If you missed out on this one, you still have time to join us on 22 May for the next Halfpace x Ensemble Not Found scratch night! 📸: @rosskernahan @chewboyproductions

Making It Work is back and this time we’re teaming up with @newdiorama Making It Work: Scratching the Itch is a call out for something weird, something new and something different. Halfpace Theatre and Ensemble Not Found are on the lookout for unconventional shows that don’t fit into traditional scripted scratch nights. From devised pieces to performance art to interdisciplinary work, we want to see all the wild ideas you haven’t found a platform for yet. We want things that are raw, unfinished, urgent and unexpected - we’re not looking for your cleverest ideas, but rather things that truly push the boundaries of what performance can be. 🔥What support you will get: -A small bursary of £100 per performance group -Mentorship during and after the scratch night -Minimum of 3 hours to rehearse at NDT on 20 or 21 May (plus an additional 2 hours for working groups) -Technical support with tech from 2:00pm on 22 May -Scratch night performance opportunity on 22 May 7:30pm at New Diorama Theatre with public audiences Project length: Each scratch performance should be up to 10 minutes long (we would suggest something between 5-10 minutes based on the rehearsal time we could provide) You can apply as a group with an existing idea OR as an individual artist looking to get put into a ‘working group’ to devise a new piece for the night. Scratching the Itch is a scratch night dedicated to early stage, non-conventional work. Please note we are highly unlikely to programme traditionally scripted pieces or work that has received a significant amount of support and/or development opportunities already. This round of Making It Work is possible thanks to support from New Diorama Theatre and Arts Council England. More details on the call and the specifics please see the application form in our bio!

ACT ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT! 🚨⁠ ⁠ Get ready to see this exciting line-up of acts in our next #ScratchRenaissance night, CROSS POLLINATION, at #ChisenhaleDanceSpace curated by @ensemble_not_found___ and @halfpacetheatre ⁠🍃⁠ ⁠ Three pairs of artists from different disciplines – who have never worked together before – will embark on a collaborative journey, and then share their discoveries and newly planted seeds as part of Scratch Renaissance. ⁠They are ⬇️⁠ ⁠ 🍃⁠ Koni Tangara (@konivont ) & Sufjan H Bile (@sufi.bile )⁠ 🍃⁠ Haris Ackermann (@haris.ack ) & Vassilis Awad (@vassilisawad )⁠ 🍃⁠Jia Ying Lim ( @jiaying_lim ) & Gwen Grynfeld (@boundaries_with_friends )⁠ ⁠ The night will also have a networking event to encourage audiences and artists alike to continue making connections and foster new pairings, Scratch has never been so back!⁠ ⁠ Book your tickets NOW! Don't miss out!⁠ ⁠ 🗓️: Friday 27 March ⁠ 🕒: Doors open at 7pm⁠ 📍: Chisenhale Dance Space, E3 5QZ⁠ 🎟️: £8-12⁠ 🔗: Ticket link in bio⁠ ⁠ 📷: @rosskernahan , @chewboyproductions ⁠ Cam Harle, Juliana Guger

Guess who’s back alright!⁠ ⁠ A #ScratchRenaissance night curated by @ensemble_not_found___ and @halfpacetheatre at #ChisenhaleDanceSpace⁠ ⬇️⁠ ⁠ Cross Pollination 🍃⁠ ⁠ Three pairs of artists from different disciplines – who have never worked together before – will embark on a collaborative journey, and then share their discoveries and newly planted seeds as part of Scratch Renaissance. ⁠ ⁠ The night will also have a networking event to encourage audiences and artists alike to continue making connections and foster new pairings, Scratch has never been so back!⁠ ⁠ Acts will be announced soon so keep your eyes peeled 👀⁠ ⁠ Book your tickets NOW! Don't miss out!⁠ ⁠ 🗓️: Friday 27 March ⁠ 🕒: Doors open at 7pm⁠ 📍: Chisenhale Dance Space, E3 5QZ⁠ 🎟️: £8-12⁠ 🔗: Ticket link in bio⁠ ⁠ 📷: @rosskernahan , @chewboyproductions ⁠ ⁠

So happy to be invited by Birdie for this conversation and start the new year! Being a Chinese artist today on the global stage often means navigating muddy waters: alienating gazes, wild imaginations, and the pressure to “fit the role.”  But you are not alone. Join Birdie for a Spring Festival series of cross-border conversations. We’re sharing strategies and celebrating our stories with theatre-makers across 4 time zones: “Ensemble Practice in London” with Ensemble Not Found @ensemble_not_found___ “Chinese/American Immigrant Community in Seattle” with Yun Theatre “A Cross-Strait/Inter-Asia Dialogue” with GU Tengyun @gugutengyun & CHEN Zhenghong “Theatre Memories in An Eurocentric Show Business” with Jennifer Lim @xanadujenn It’s time to remember that “Chineseness” is relative, fluid and sectional; whether it is a passport, a language, a tick-box, a culture, a dish, a song, a diasporic being, a homesick longing - is a performance. See you tomorrow on Rednote!

Happy year of the horse 🐎 Ensemble Not Found wish everyone a year of full belly, strong body and great fortune!!! 🐴 (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و 🐴 Animation by @xiaonan_sl 🤩 Track selected by our DJ @orangekii_