A key strand of The Creative Village was research & development (R&D). One way to achieve our goal of establishing Crawley as a cultural destination is by supporting professional creatives in developing new ideas.
Throughout the year, we hosted two research & development opportunities. These were for professional creative individuals or organisations to explore a new idea they are developing.
Creative Crawley hosted each professional creative or organisation and provided support.
That support was varied and included:
We worked closely with each R&D creative to tailor our support to suit what they needed and their access requirements.
What is developed in an R&D?
It might be a new theatre show, producing new music or developing a concept for an exhibition; we recognise and support a multitude of artistic mediums through R&D.
In June 2025, we hosted:
Theatre Centre
Based in Crawley, Theatre Centre are a national touring theatre company who make new plays for and with young people.
The creative team worked at West Green Studios for a week in June to develop their new play; My Brother’s a Genius by Debris Stevenson.
In 2024, we hosted:
Marco Woolf
Musician & Storyteller
Monday 2nd – Friday 6th December 2024
Malawian-born musician and storyteller Marco Woolf’s work has been described as light, complex, rich and immediate, swarming with micro-details that multiply with each new listen. You can read Marco’s full bio HERE.
Marco is developing a new show that explores dreams through spoken word and music.
During his R&D week, he met community leaders in Crawley to learn more about working with different partners to present work. Marco chatted with local people to hear about their dreams for themselves, their communities and Crawley which will inform his new show. Marco Woolf’s R&D week is also part of Sound UK‘s national artist development programme Sound Generator.
Marco shared some some of his work at the December Woodzy & Friends
