The Pleasance has worked with partner theatres across the UK to identify and support exceptional artists and companies local to them who want to take work to the Fringe. Each partner is a leading national producing house, with a commitment to supporting and developing new artists.
For 2025 we are delighted to be one of the partner organisations alongside Theatre Royal Plymouth, Leicester Curve, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Lyric Belfast
Each year, working with The Pleasance we identify dynamic artists at different stages in their careers, with the primary aim of the scheme to uncover and support the best companies and artists from Wales, and across the UK, to present work at the Fringe.
In 2024 our Edinburgh National Partnerships recipient was Polly & Esther. Following their hugely successful Edinburgh run, they took their show to the Adelaide Fringe in spring 2025.
In 2023, supported by the Sherman and The Pleasance, StammerMouth took CHOO CHOO! (Or… Have You Ever Thought About ****** **** *****? (Cos I Have)) to the Fringe following a run at the Sherman. The show won a Fringe First Award and the 2023 Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award.
Hear from François Pandolfo, difficult|stage (Edinburgh National Partnership 2022)
“Without the kind assistance and support from the Sherman and the Pleasance through the National Partnership Programme An Audience with Milly-Liu could never have happened. Although the project’s core aspects were completely self-funded through difficult|stage (crowd funding & ACW), the Pleasance/Sherman partnership scheme provided a hugely beneficial relief in sharing the burden of costs towards press, marketing and the venue guarantee, as well as on-going guidance throughout, most of which felt passionately driven with the sole aim of making it work!
Also, feeling part of a national creative network of theatre makers presenting work together was another big benefit when standing out from the thousands of shows presenting work at The Fringe, building a strong connection to artistic representatives from the regions and offering each other a valuable support system.
Our aim with An Audience with Milly-Liu was always to experiment with new work and use the fringe to showcase and explore this specific kind of unique material with an eclectic, wider audience, as well as to seek out future connections without unnecessarily putting ourselves under crippling financial risk. The Edinburgh National Partnership scheme enabled and facilitated us to be able do this.
The outcome for us was winning the prestigious David Johnson Emerging Talent Award 2022 and securing a mini tour of the show at Contact, Manchester and Soho Theatre, London. Thus achieving goals that were way beyond our expectations. It was no mean feat in many ways, but the rewards have been ten-fold, and none of it would have been possible without the care, support and nurturing nature of the Edinburgh National Partnership scheme.”