For Artists
Putting on a show at Basement? Visit the Artist Base for everything you'll need. Resources, templates, timelines, and more! Add the Artists Base to your bookmarks, download the resources and get that season humming!
Basement programmes three seasons each year (Summer/Pride, Winter/Matariki and Spring/Fringe), with deadlines for submissions approximately three-six months in advance. You can submit your idea through our submission form, email, video or in person.
Basement Theatre’s ‘Winter/Matariki’ submissions are now open! This season will run from June through to the end of August. Come moor your waka next to ours, and share with us what you’d like to bring to our whare this Winter/Matariki season.
Basement Theatre’s Winter/Matariki submissions will close on Wednesday 18th February, 11:59 pm.
The Artist Handbook has all you need to know about what’s involved in presenting a work at Basement.
WINTER/MATARIKI Time and Space Residency EOI:
Calling all makers, dreamers & worldbuilders! We’re so excited to officially announce a special addition to our kete of offerings this year, EOI’s are now live for our Winter/Matariki Time & Space Residency for 2026!
These are designed as a week-long incubation period for an artist OR collective of any practise, medium or background that is looking for additional support to either breathe new life into pre-existing work or as a pivotal moment in your process before your work is ready to be premiered. Whichever season you find yourself in, we want to hear from you!
Basement Theatre’s 2026 Time & Space Winter/Matariki Residency EOI submissions will officially close on Monday, 23rd February, 11:59 pm. This residency will commence during our Winter/Matariki season, which will run from June through to the end of August. Check out our submission form for more information
OUR VALUES
Urgent artistry
We occupy the underground and value the idea of pushing culture forward through brave, urgent, adventurous and untameable artistry. We celebrate ‘genre-bending’ and enjoy the unpredictable revelations that come with eclectic, mixtape-style curatorship.
Wildly connecting
We value communities coming together in vibrant social exchange as being key to our sector’s resilience. We see warmth and generosity as powerful tools for social activism. We want our space to be a heaving hub, an energy nexus, a portal for social exchange.
Abundance & sustenance
We believe that a well-resourced artist is a vital and impactful agent in society, and we want them to live abundant lives. We celebrate infrastructures that ensure live performance can be a financially viable practice.
Radical groundedness
We believe an enriched organisational life-force starts with grounding into the locality of who we are and where we are. We believe that the wellbeing of our communities depends on our staff being nurtured. We want to engage radically with the notion of respect; as a concept, as an action, and as a remedy.
Learning & curiosity
We are a place for artists to learn things, and see ourselves as learners too, always in collective pedagogy. We value the ‘invisible curriculums’ and subsidiary skills that exist within the live performance creative process. We appreciate knowledge that emerges from going into the unknown.
Basement receives public funding to offer a unique Hire-For-Nothing arrangement to independent and emerging performing artists who meet specific programming targets and criteria.
If selected for this programme, you won’t pay a fixed per night venue hire for the use of our space. Your only venue costs will be a subsidised flat technical fee ($125-$150) and a ticketing fee ($2.65 per ticket sold).
If you don’t meet our Hire-For-Nothing criteria, you can still apply to be included in our programme as a special event or fixed rate season. This includes weekly or multi-week hires of performance work or festivals, and daily or one-off event hires and private functions.
Head to our Venue Hire page to find out more and make an enquiry.
