Shoreditch Town Hall Launch New Associate Company Programme for 2026

This year, East London’s Shoreditch Town Hall will launch its new Associate Company programme, showing their significant commitment to long-term artist development and platforming LGBTQ+  and women-led work. The inaugural Associate Companies are critically acclaimed theatre maker Josie Dale-Jones, founder of ThisEgg, and award-winning choreographer and director Jonathan Watkins, founder of Ballet Queer, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ ballet company. Known for creating bold, contemporary work rooted in lived experience and identity, their practices reflect the values of the venue and the communities it serves.

While Shoreditch Town Hall has always existed to champion and support artists, the Associate Company programme provides a clear public framework for this. Developed as a one-year initiative, the programme represents a shift from short-term support towards more sustained relationships with artists, allowing time for meaningful development without the pressure of rapid turnover. At a time of continued funding pressures across the arts, the programme ensures Shoreditch Town Hall is actively contributing to the development of considered, high-quality work.

Ellie Browning, Head of Cultural Programme at Shoreditch Town Hall, comments, We are thrilled to launch our Associate Company programme, formalising our commitment to supporting ambitious new work by mid-career and established artists. As a receiving house it's vital that we actively invest in the development of work that will populate our spaces, and this programme marks a significant milestone as our first direct cash support since before the pandemic. We're especially excited to deepen our relationships with Ballet Queer and ThisEgg. Jonathan and Josie are innovative artists whose artistic vision, sector insights and collaborative ways of working bring immense value, inviting new artists and audiences into our building. While we are proud to be focusing resources on these companies, this sits within a much wider commitment to artists, who remain a visible part of our wider, growing ecosystem of creative development and residencies at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Across the one-year period, the Associate Companies will receive the following support:

• £3,000 in commission funding towards new work
• Residency and rehearsal space, alongside technical and production support
• Marketing, PR, producing and fundraising support
• Guaranteed presentation slots at Shoreditch Town Hall, with fees attached

As well as staging their own productions, the Associate Companies will play an active role in Shoreditch Town Hall’s wider programme. They will lead artist workshops, contribute to talks and events and collaborate with local communities, helping to grow Shoreditch Town Hall’s artist development offer while strengthening connections with audiences.

The Associate Company programme fosters a dynamic, outward-facing collaboration, with Josie Dale-Jones and Jonathan Watkins acting as artistic sounding boards and ambassadors for Shoreditch Town Hall. The programme will support them across the wider creative ecology rather than containing them within a single venue, championing experimental practice, local lived experience, debate and progression.

Josie Dale-Jones is a multi-award-winning theatre maker, producer and performer whose work champions theatre as a catalyst for social change. As the lead artist behind ThisEgg, she creates bold, collaboratively devised performances that interrogate power, freedom and contemporary life, earning widespread critical acclaim, including multiple Scotsman Fringe First Awards. Her work has been celebrated for its urgency, wit and political clarity, establishing her as a vital and distinctive voice in experimental theatre. Josie was recently part of Shoreditch Town Hall’s Spring 2025 season with her acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe transfer A Little Inquest Into What We Are All Doing Here. 

Josie Dale-Jones comments, Venues and artists working together is more necessary than ever. Shoreditch Town Hall have supported the development of ThisEgg’s work for the last 10 years. Becoming an Associate Company for the next year is a super exciting way to solidify an ongoing relationship and trust in one another.

Jonathan Watkins is an award-winning director and choreographer celebrated for ambitious, cross-disciplinary work that reimagines literary and contemporary texts for stage and screen. His visually striking productions, spanning theatre, dance and film, have been presented at major venues and broadcasters in the UK and internationally, earning critical acclaim for their bold synthesis of movement, text and music, and establishing him as a leading voice in innovative, large-scale storytelling. His company Ballet Queer creates authentic work that represents Queer identities and experiences, exploring and challenging what ballet can be and showcasing the talents of LGBTQ+ artists. Jonathan regularly leads Ballet Queer workshops exploring queer identity through dance at Shoreditch Town Hall, open to Hackney residents with an interest in dance. 

Jonathan Watkins comments, Shoreditch Town Hall has played a vital role in the development of our company and we are honoured to deepen our relationship in this way. Ballet Queer is excited to make more work in the spaces of this inspiring venue, as we grow during 2026.

Both companies are currently developing new work to be presented at Shoreditch Town Hall.