LA MAMA FULL ANNUAL PROGRAM

Fast, raw and electric – SCRATCH is a live platform for performance makers to test new ideas in front of peers and community. A space for creative risk-taking, early development, and cross-pollination of ideas, it’s part lab, part launchpad – where creative sparks fly and where the seeds of tomorrow’s theatre are first tested live.

•    12 Artists (3 groups of 4) each share up to 10 minutes of work-in-progress, followed by feedback and discussion. Artists work in small cohorts over 3 weeks, in a guided process including supported preparation, work-in-progress showings and a debrief.
•    Artists retain 100% of Box Office and are supported with a Stage Manager and Producer with in kind value estimated as $2000 per artist.
•    SCRATCH will be curated by Producer Emma Fawcett with Artistic Director Caitlin Dullard. SCRATCH will be Produced by Emma Fawcett with support from Pathways Producer Myf Powell.
•    This opportunity is appropriate for artists who have the seed, or start of an idea, who wish to test this with a live audience alongside peer and curatorial support before developing into a future full-length work.

SCRATCH is supported by CYBEC Foundation.

Running since the 1980s, EXPLORATIONS is La Mama’s iconic season of works in development – now more vital than ever. Artists are given three nights of public presentation to push boundaries, interrogate form, and chase bold ideas. Creating room for daring storytelling to flourish, EXPLORATIONS is La Mama at its most curious, critical and creative. 

•    48 Artists/groups with three-night seasons at HQ and Courthouse across June to August.
•    Artists retain 100% of Box Office, with in-kind support to the value of $5000 and are supported with a Stage Manager and Producer. 
•    Curated by our annually rotating Explorations Curators. For 2026, this is Bernadette Fam, Roshelle Fong and Caitlin Dullard. Please note, in 2026 12 Explorations have been pre-programmed as part of La Mama's partnerships with tertiary organisations, La Mamica curation and honouring long-term conversations with artists who were unable to present in 2025. This application process is to find the remaining 36 projects - which will be curated by Bernadette, Roshelle and Caitlin. Pathways Manager Myf Powell will be coordinating EXPLORATIONS. The La Mama Producing team will be attached to Explorations best suited to the team’s future ambitions. 
•    This opportunity is appropriate for artists with capacity to do a 3-night public sharing of works that will benefit from test audiences to help shape their next stages of development.

EXPLORATIONS is supported by Cybec Foundation and the City of Melbourne Multi-year Arts Grants Program.

A deeply focused 12-week practice-led program for 16 mid-career writers ready to take their work to the next level. Building on PATHWAYS 2023, WRITING INTENSIVE 2024 and MOBILE CONNECT 2025, programs that revealed the power of peer exchange, mentorship, reaching beyond Melbourne, developing networks, skills, opportunities, and finding strength in a community of practice, IMMERSE is an opportunity to grow practice, deepen networks, and take the next bold step in theatre-making.
In 2026 IMMERSE partners with Arts Centre Melbourne’s New Writers Collective, offering shared guest artist sessions and theatre experiences, and Regional Arts Victoria, supporting regional artists to connect - broadening creative networks, peer exchange, and strengthening community across the sector. 

Two fully subsidised streams run in parallel, meeting Monday evenings from 6-9pm from 1 June – 31 August culminating in a Pitching & Presentation Showcase at La Mama HQ connecting writers to producers, programmers and collaborators (online and in-person):

IMMERSE METRO - 8 writers in-person at La Mama HQ:

o    Weekly in-person development sessions (3 hours)
o    Peer exchange and collaborative workshops
o    15 hours of 1:1 dramaturgical mentorship
o    Guest artist and industry sessions
o    Subsidised theatre outings across Melbourne

IMMERSE REGIONAL - 8 writers online from regional and remote Victoria:

o    Weekly online development sessions (3 hours)
o    Peer exchange with regional writers across Victoria
o    15 hours of 1:1 dramaturgical mentorship
o    Access to the online Guest Series from the Metro program
o    Subsidised theatre trips to both metro and regional performances

IMMERSE applications will be assessed by program alumni. For 2026 this will be Amarantha Robinson and Lyall Brooks. They will work with Artistic Director Caitlin Dullard and Pathways Manager Myf Powell for final selection. IMMERSE is facilitated by the La Mama staff and coordinated by Pathways Manager Myf Powell.  

IMMERSE is fully subsidised to the value of $8000 per participant, and free to participants.

This opportunity is appropriate for playwrights who are mid-career but under-produced, or established artists and/or writers pivoting towards playwriting - with a strong story to tell - to get their work ready for presentation.

IMMERSE is supported by the John T Reid Trusts and the Cybec Foundation in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne and Regional Arts Victoria.

Embracing ‘hope’ as a verb and ‘punk’ as a culture, this is a platform for urgent storytelling and skills development in climate advocacy and action, empowering independent creatives and culture makers to contribute to the national climate conversation through art.

•    Multiple festival works will take place across La Mama Courthouse and HQ. 
•    Each production will receive 80% of Box Office takings. Professional Development opportunities will be available for all programmed artists. Other support and estimated in kind value varies.
•    HOPE PUNK will be curated by Artistic Director Caitlin Dullard with Producer Dora Abraham and La Mamica Curators Amanda Anastasi, Gemma Horbury and Isabel Knight.
•    This opportunity is appropriate for artists who will have a high standard of work - across any artistic discipline - on climate action. A call to action and a lense of hope and optimism is necessary. 

Hope Punk is presented in partnership with Learning Experiences Program Science Gallery Melbourne and Griffith University's Performance Ecology Research Lab (P+ERL)

Our returning collaboration with Lemony S Puppet Theatre, the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry is a week of puppet fun for the whole family: over 60 performances for adults and children, roving events, workshops and professional development opportunities for artists.

•    One week of a variety of puppetry performances across La Mama’s venues and other venues across the City of Melbourne.
•    Artists will be paid a performance fee for their work. Some assistance with travel and accommodation of interstate artists is available. Additional in-kind support will vary.
•    Festival applications will be assessed by a curatorial team made up of by Lemony S Puppet Theatre, independent puppet artists, La Mama Artistic Director Caitlin Dullard and producers from Arts Centre Melbourne. Festival call-out will occur through Lemony S in December 2025. Sign up to their enews for details. 

The Melbourne Festival of Puppetry is supported by The City of Melbourne and Arts Centre Melbourne.

La Mama leans into the local cultural moment that is Melbourne Fringe - a festival bursting with energy, ideas, and artistic momentum. It’s where the edges of art and audience blur, and possibility thrives. We meet that pace and play hard, embracing risk, provocation, and joy in equal measure.

•    Six one-week seasons will take place across La Mama Courthouse and HQ. No venue sharing or need to bump in and out between performances. Full weeks with the option of late and extra performances. 
•    Each production receives Fringe registration and 80% of Box Office. Estimated in-kind value is $10,000 per production.
•    Works are programmed by Fringe Producer Nicki Jam and Artistic Director Caitlin Dullard. 
•    This opportunity is appropriate for artists who will have a new Australian work Fringe-ready for October 2026. This work will have a fearless spirit, push boundaries, challenge, be bold and have something to say about the world that we live in. 

The conservation of our First Nation's story, songs and dances are so crucial within our cultural cannon of artistic expression that each voice representing their story needs to be continually archived for future generations to understand the importance of what our storytellers are saying right now through their lived experiences.

•    A combination of full seasons, one-off events and yarning circles
•    The deal and in-kind value for each work will vary.
•    Works will be programmed through the application process and through community by First Nations Producer Glenn Shea.
•    This opportunity is appropriate for First Nations artists and First Nations led projects. 

In a love letter to the neighbourhood and summer nights we create our very own ‘piazza pubblica’ in Carlton, closing off the year with street performance, one-off events and building on the legacy of our beloved MUSICA, POETICA and CABARETICA. La Mama is community, and in this spirit we embrace our local Carlton community by opening the doors and taking the artists to the streets. Including curated creative festivities and free events for all.

•    FARADAYS will take place across La Mama Courthouse and HQ, including performances and events in the theatres, courtyard, forecourt and Carlton streets throughout December.
•    Teams/Artists will receive support from a Stage Manager, Producer Dora Abraham and where relevant La Mamica Curators. Fees will be paid pending funding outcomes. In-kind support will vary pending scope of project. 
•    FARADAYS will be programmed throughout the year through local partnerships, program outcomes and La Mamica Curators. Producer Dora Abraham will coordinate.
•    This opportunity is appropriate for artists working in live performance, music, poetry, cabaret or community artists.  

FARADAYS is supported by the local Business Partnerships.