Manipulate Arts Creative Fund 2026,
in partnership with Vanishing Point
The Manipulate Arts Creative Fund supports Scotland‑based artists developing new work in visual performance, puppetry and object theatre. It offers seed funding, rehearsal space and mentorship to help artists explore early‑stage ideas and take a meaningful step forward in their practice.
The fund is led by Manipulate Arts in partnership with Vanishing Point Theatre Company, with support from Creative Scotland’s Multi‑Year Funding Programme.
Recipients of the Creative Fund 2026/2027:
“Together Manipulate Arts and Vanishing Point are committed to nurturing artists who are expanding the possibilities of visual and physical storytelling across Scotland. This year’s Creative Fund recipients are bold, imaginative and full of potential.”
Dawn Taylor, Artistic Director & CEO, Manipulate Arts
“Vanishing Point are delighted to support these 4 exciting projects and to work with these artists towards developing and sharing their new work. The concepts within these projects have such potential to create really striking new visual theatre and we can’t wait to see these ideas come to life. We’re also glad this fund will support artists to develop new skills in the creation of this work or to take on the role of lead artist for the first time, advancing the visual theatre landscape in Scotland.”
Nina Doherty, Producer, Vanishing Point
Sadiq Ali
Frank: The Melancholy Story of Balloon Boy and His Journey of Self Discovery
Frank: The Melancholy Story of Balloon Boy and His Journey of Self Discovery is a new solo visual theatre work exploring identity through circus, object manipulation, clown, mask, mime and Chinese pole. The central character, Frank, has a balloon for a head. His face can be drawn, erased, altered and even lost, making his identity fragile, temporary and external.
Sadiq Ali is an award winning circus artist, director and Artistic Director of Sadiq Ali Company. His work combines circus, dance and theatre to create visually striking performances that centre queer stories and lived experience. A specialist in Chinese pole (an acrobatic circus discipline), Sadiq has toured internationally since bringing his debut work, The Chosen Haram, to Manipulate in 2021.
Pablo López Sánchez-Matas
Carrot Cake
Pablo, a Spanish performer and playwright based in Scotland, creates collaborative, visually driven work inspired by clowning, physical theatre and the surreal. A recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Masters in Acting, he continues to expand his practice across writing, performance and visual theatre.
“Carrot Cake” portrays the gradual transformation of Carlos Docampo into a carrot: a journey rooted in community, identity and the innate human search for acceptance and belonging. Blending Spanish-inflected Commedia dell’Arte with echoes of Rhinoceros and The Metamorphosis. This piece is a call to the senses: full of dirt, flowers, carrots, and cake.
Wils Wilson
Getting On
Wils Wilson will develop Getting On, a devised clown, object puppetry and physical theatre show created with real-life mother and son, Chloe Gallien and Dylan Read.
Blurring the line between life and theatre, this show will explore happens to our “double acts’ when the passing of time upends patterns and securities, and roles splinter and go into reverse.. Using clowning and absurd humour we will play with the absurd highs and lows of the mother and son bond, how we grow up and grow down.
Wils is one of the Scotland’s leading theatre directors, known for imaginative and challenging reinterpretations of new and classical texts, playful theatricality and innovative audience engagement. Recent work includes Macbeth (Royal Shakespeare Company), Two Sisters (Malmö Stadstheater/Edinburgh Lyceum), and Treasure Island (Edinburgh Lyceum). Her production of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, co-created with David Greig (National Theatre of Scotland) toured internationally for a decade.
Fergus Dunnet, Gretchen Maynard‑Hahn and Julia Darrouy
Candlemaker
The warmth of a candle’s light fills an empty room. But it burns so quickly, soon the Candlemaker will have to start her process again.The lower the candle burns, the greater the shadows become.
Candlemaker is a new piece of devised puppetry for adult audiences, inspired by horror cinema and the visual storytelling language of graphic novels. Through the Creative Fund the team hope to explore puppetry in dark spaces, devised visual storytelling and ultimately find a collaborative language for the telling of scary stories.
Fergus Dunnet, Gretchen Maynard‑Hahn and Julia Darrouy bring together practices spanning puppetry, scenography, object work and playful devising. Their collaborative approach blends atmospheric world‑building with a fascination for how objects, bodies and landscapes merge, shaping a performance lead by materials, shadows and imagination.