For a decade, we’ve been making space for theatre translators to develop their craft. Twenty-three translators. Sixteen languages. Six editions.
Now we need your help to secure it and shape what comes next.
We have always worked with plays in translation. But a few years in, we started noticing the same gap – there was nowhere for emerging theatre translators to develop the specific craft of translating for the stage. Outside of academia or one-off workshops, there simply wasn’t a comprehensive, industry-backed space dedicated entirely to supporting the translator as a core theatre-maker.
So in 2016, we started one. The timing was significant: as the UK voted to exit one of the biggest cross-border collaboration projects in history, our small, migrant-led company launched a programme doing the exact opposite – creating cross-border connections through theatre and translation. We built it with very limited resources, much like we started the company itself.
Over successive editions, the programme has been honed and refined, offering a learning opportunity that is unique in the industry. It has gone from being a strand of what we do to the cornerstone of our work, culminating in us receiving The Stage International Award 2026.
We are raising £10,000.
Every donation, of any size, counts.
why we need your support
Ten years on, international collaboration feels increasingly fragile and migrant communities face growing hostility. Nearly 16% of the UK population is born abroad – almost 40% in London. Stories from elsewhere offer connection and perspective, yet remain marginal on our stages.
Without your support, the only dedicated programme of its kind for emerging theatre translators in the UK disappears – and with it, one of the few spaces doing this work.
At a moment when conversations about AI and translation are everywhere, it is a direct, practical argument for human creativity – for craft, for process, for what happens when a translator becomes an active part of the theatre-making process.
Less than 5% of UK productions are in translation. Theatre translators need somewhere to develop the skills to change that. And honestly – we need this too. Over the past decade this programme has shaped us as theatre-makers and as a company. We’re not done yet, and neither is the work.
what your donation supports
Over the next nine months, we are raising £10,000 to put the mentorship on a secure and sustainable footing. This is the vital investment needed to protect the space we’ve built, secure the infrastructure needed to run it, and make the seventh edition possible. Every donation, of any size, buys us that independence.
This mentorship has never fit neatly into a box. It sits between two fields – theatre, where plays in translation are still undervalued, and literary translation, where theatre rarely gets a look in – and it isn’t tied to one region or language either. That’s its strength. But it’s also why funding it has always been hard.
Over the years, we’ve pieced together support from cultural bodies, embassies, and our own fundraising – with our sixth edition marking the first time we secured more substantial funding from a leading arts foundation. But despite our best efforts, we haven’t yet secured funding for edition seven. As a project-funded company, the development work between editions has always gone unpaid. This campaign is about changing that.
Your donation will support:
- Time to reflect and stay in conversation with our alumni and wider team – implementing feedback and ensuring the programme remains relevant and responsive to the translators it serves
- A period of active relationship-building with funders and partners who can support the mentorship both now and in the long term
- Sharing our methodology for working with plays in translation and translators with the wider sector – making the case for this work beyond our own programme
This is what your support makes possible.
what it looks like in practice
Your contribution will fund real, professional work. For example:
- £1,800 brings in a specialist to write a major grant application – the kind of expert, time-intensive work that could unlock ten times that in funding
- £450 brings in a consultant for a day – supporting the strategic development of the programme, whether that’s advice on partnerships, funding structures, or how to position the mentorship for long-term sustainability
- £289 is one day of a producer’s time – building the international partnerships and donor relationships the mentorship depends on
- £200 funds a day of coordinator time – maintaining relationships with our alumni, gathering their insights, and keeping our community of translators connected
- £50 keeps our digital infrastructure running for a month, so we can stay visible and vocal
Every contribution counts – however small.
the 2026/27 Journey: the next nine months
This year, we should have been welcoming our seventh cohort of translators. We’re not – and that matters. But rather than wait, we are dedicating the next nine months – the exact window the programme would normally run – to the deeper work that makes each edition possible: listening to our community, building the relationships that sustain us, and making the case for this work across the wider sector.
We will find a way to keep the mentorship alive.
This page won’t stand still. As we move through each phase, we’ll be sharing updates, insights from our decade of practice, and voices from our community of translators. Track our progress toward the £10,000 goal and follow the journey as it unfolds.
Phase 1: Launching & listening
Summer 2026
The appeal goes live and we begin reaching out to our community. We’re also taking this moment to listen – going back to our alumni and past collaborators to ask what the mentorship has meant to them, what it could be, and what the seventh edition should look like. Their voices will shape what comes next, and you’ll hear from them here.
Phase 2: Building & bidding
Autumn 2026
The desk work begins in earnest. We’ll be writing applications, meeting funders, and building the international partnerships that give the seventh edition its best chance of happening. Alongside our autumn public programme, we’ll be running workshops and events that continue to make the case for theatre in translation across the wider sector.
Phase 3: Gathering & looking ahead
Winter 2026/27
We bring the community together for an event celebrating theatre in translation – a space to make the case for this work, thank our supporters, and be honest about where we stand and what comes next. We’re not wrapping up. We’re starting something.
”Crucially, its work addresses the fact that despite nearly 16% of the UK population having been born abroad – rising to almost 40% in London – their stories remain marginalised. At a time of increased fearmongering and scapegoating, Foreign Affairs offers audiences and practitioners a chance to engage with voices and stories we all too rarely see on our stages.
The Stage2026 shortlist: International Award
looking to support on a larger scale?
The £10,000 we’re raising here is the investment needed to protect this programme and make the seventh edition possible. The full cost of delivering that edition – covering mentee bursaries, mentoring, workshops, masterclasses and the final showcase – is £40,000.
If you or your organisation are interested in becoming a headline partner, underwriting a specific language strand, or discussing a major gift, we’d love to have that conversation.
Contact our Artistic Directors directly at team@foreignaffairs.org.uk.
support our mentorship
We’re raising £10,000 to secure the future of the only dedicated theatre translator mentorship of its kind. Ten years in — and we need your help to shape what comes next.
All the ways to find and reach us.
Email, location and access info — all in one place.