Performing new work to an audience can be daunting.

Will it be funny? Can I hold my script? Will they get it? Is it worth it?

We can reassure you all we like that Demo is a safe space to gain valuable experience and feedback from a generous audience, but sometimes you just need to see it for yourself!

Don’t just take it from us.

Here’s some artists who have taken their work from Demo and shot for the moon; performing at Fringe festivals, gaining awards and recognition, developing their stories and making even more new work!

Ben Norris

Demo Autumn 2024

How did Demo help your practice? 

Sharing an early extract at Demo was hugely bolstering in the development of the show – it showed me that there was genuine audience enthusiasm for the piece, from sporty and non-sporty people alike. I learned that people wanted to spend  more time with these characters and in this world, and that was very energising. You’re never sure if something is interesting, or funny, only to you. It also showed me in no uncertain terms just how bloody hot it is going to be running and monologuing under stage lights, and how much training I needed to do. So that was useful.

 What have you been up to since?

Since Demo I’ve made a short film which I’ve been fortunate enough to screen at various festivals around the world, sometimes even allowing me to travel with it. I’ve also started co-writing a musical, which I will return to after the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve had to move house about 5 times. And apart from that most of my focus and energy, especially latterly, has been devoted to getting The Distance ready to premiere this summer. I’d be delighted if anyone wanted to join us there.

Review from the New York Times:

“Norris has been making theater since 2015, and while his virtuosic exertions bring the story to life, evoking endurance and endeavor, the script is also impressively taut. This is no novelty act. […] Norris’s Fringe debut is an absorbing coming-of-age tale delivered with a winning, understated charisma”

Ellie Martland

Demo Autumn 2024

How did Demo help your practice? 

The Whore Queen was initially created as a final project as part of my Masters in Acting at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to exploring the boundaries of objectivity and historiography when portraying a historical figure. Demo helped me gain invaluable feedback on how to steer the production away from the limitations the academic nature of the play’s creation had inherently produced. I began to have fun with the piece again, playing, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. This is reflected in other elements of the show such as music and costume choices. 

 What have you been up to since?

Since DEMO, I was awarded Best Newcomer at Birmingham Fest 2025 and sold out at Lincoln Arts Centre earlier this year. I am ecstatic to bring The Whore Queen to Camden Fringe in August 2026 and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this production!

James McDermott

Demo Spring 2025

How did Demo help your practice? 

Performing at DEMO helped me create connections and begin collaborations with other Lincolnshire based artists and organisations. It also helped me secure a Demo Development grant from Lincoln Arts Centre to continue researching and writing the play.  

 What have you been up to since?

Since DEMO, I’ve had two plays staged in East Anglia: my adaptation of ‘The Wind In The Willows’ was produced at Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and ‘It Comes In Waves’, my new comedy drama set in a Suffolk grief cafe, is currently touring with Eastern Angles. 

Jamie Walsh

Demo Spring 2025

How did Demo help your practice? 

The project was first shared as a short extract at DEMO in February 2026. The audience response gave us the confidence to develop the idea further and helped us identify the show’s unique voice. Following DEMO, we secured Arts Council England funding to undertake a two-week R&D with support from Lincoln Arts Centre, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Wrongsemble, Interplay Theatre and a number of artistic collaborators. 

During the R&D we expanded the work into a 45-minute work-in-progress, developed a pilot video podcast set within the same world and presented a public sharing in Huddersfield. Audience feedback described the work as “hilarious”, “camp”, “joyful”, “surreal” and “unhinged in the best way”, with particular praise for the blend of comedy, music and emotional storytelling. 

Queen Bayard is still in development, but the ambition is to grow the project into both a touring stage production and an ongoing digital series, continuing to build audiences around this wonderfully strange alien and her observations of life on Earth. 

 What have you been up to since?

Since DEMO, I’ve had two plays staged in East Anglia: my adaptation of ‘The Wind In The Willows’ was produced at Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and ‘It Comes In Waves’, my new comedy drama set in a Suffolk grief cafe, is currently touring with Eastern Angles.