Talos is the first science fiction theatre festival of London, the UK and, to our knowledge, Europe, and it’s currently in its third year. Talos has grown from a two day fest of short plays, to four nights of full length plays and shorts, and this year to 8 days and nights of science fiction performance!

Talos III invites theatre companies to submit proposals for full length shows of 50 to 60 minutes. The 2019 festival takes place in Omnibus Theatre (their beautiful Studio Upstairs) and we’ll programme two shows per night, at 7.30pm and at 9pm.

We’re also excited to programme the third Stage the Future conference during the days of 6-7 December. Stage the Future, the international conference on science fiction theatre, launched in 2014, was mentioned in American Theatre as the event where the global sci-fi community of theatremakers gathers, and is part of our vision to promote sci-fi theatre on and off the stage. Alongside the festival and the conference, we’ll also be continuing our Science Fiction Theatre Research Lab workshop series, so stay tuned for those!

We want to make Talos the heart of science fiction theatre and a space where both artists and researchers can co-exist and contribute to the genre. We're excited to hear from all artists but want to particularly encourage BAME and LGBTQ+ artists and theatre companies to propose their own SF visions. Please see below for information on how to take part.

Artistic Vision
At Cyborphic, the team behind Talos, we are not genre purists; we accept flexible definitions of science fiction and are looking for projects that include science fiction or even speculative fiction elements. We’re interested in all kinds of science fiction performance, including but not limited to:

Utopian theatre, dystopian theatre

Science fiction dance (including Robot Dance)

Afrofuturist Theatre, Queer Science Fiction

Solarpunk, Cyberpunk, Steampunk, Biopunk, Hopepunk, Mythpunk

Devised, Immersive, Tragicomic (even Stand-Up Sci-Fi Theatre)

Post-Apocalyptic, Post-Modern, Post-Dramatic

Cyborg Theatre, Robot Theatre, AI Theatre, Weird / New Weird Theatre

For Theatre Companies:
EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: 31st August 2019 (midnight)
FINAL DEADLINE: 20th September 2019 (midnight)

You will hear back from us within a month after the original deadline, i.e. by the end of September. Note there may be fewer available slots after the Early Bird deadline.

Slots: All slots are offered on a box office splits basis.

7.30pm (every day, 50/50 split)

9pm (every day, 50/50 split)

Registration Fee: £50 per slot/performance (paid after show has been accepted & confirmed.) The fee helps cover marketing and admin costs.

Venue: Online and on the door box office service is provided, marketing support and up to two hours tech time on the day of the first show. The venue has 80 seats: more information on the venue available on the theatre's website. Companies may supply their own technician but Cyborphic will hire one for the entire festival.