SO Stage Door is an Arts Council funded programme for the Southampton community run by us here at The Stage Door, as an independent venue in collaboration and partnership with local charities and organisations. We've been here for 10 years now and our mission is to be a cultural hub for the city, supporting artists from all genres and appealing to a wide audience demographic. We feel that there is a real need for audience and artist development in Southampton, which is what led us to apply to the Arts Council for our 2025 SO stage Door Programme, following a succesful programme of similar events in 2024.
We're working with some fantastic partners to be able to deliver these events. Our partners are:
We're so happy to be collaborating with such a great mix of charities and organisations in Southampton, as we feel strongly that a collaborative city can best support artists and audiences to make the cultural offering as strong as possible. Artisitc Director at The Stage Door, Julianne Watling-McCarthy added:
"We're verylucky in Southampton that the cultural organisations are really linked up, and I think everyone has the same goal to increase arts engagement and create work and opportunities for artists living here as well as growing and developing audiencs for all art forms."
Watch our one-minute explainer video to learn more, here:
What to expect
The program will span a wide range of performances across two main strands:
1. Showtime - showcasing new musical theatre writers and performers in collaboration with ACJ Productions >>>
2. Rising Stars - creating open micro-style performance opportunities with Southampton & IOW Music, accompanied by our house band for school age children in the city >>>
3. Script In Hand - Continuing the good work from last year, we are developing work produced and bringing it to the stage this year >>>
4. Industry - a range of panelist events with professionals in the industry. Including a panel chat, Q&A and networking opportunity >>>
Join us for some networking and industry nights
As part of our 2025 SO Stage Door Programme we will also put on some industry nights that will give performers the opportunity to come along and learn more about how to home their professional careers. This will include Q&As with industry professionals within the music and performance industry. Details for all of these events will be shared in our SO Stage Door Programme listings.
It's so important we have good audiences for this programme to help us better understand how to deliver culture in Southampton and how best to support our artists and audiences in the city.
Checkout the full programme and show your support
Please show your support, whether that’s participating in the programme or coming along to watch the showcases and performances. This programme is truly about showcasing local artists and engaging local audiences in the arts, which is why some events are free and all of them are very low cost to attend. Please check out all the events in our listings, which will continually be updated, so you can come along and show your support or keep an eye on our socials for opportunities to apply and participate along the way.
View our full programme of events here >>