Paul Harvard is the Festival Director of Collective Fringe, an artist-led festival championing emerging and underrepresented theatre-makers. An actor and director whose credits include The History Boys at the National Theatre and GHBoy at Charing Cross Theatre, Paul leads Collective Fringe alongside a team of experienced producers and dramaturgs drawn from across the UK’s major stages.
Returning in January 2026, Collective Fringe runs from Wednesday 21st to Sunday 25th January at Collective Acting Studio in London, presenting four new productions and an opening Scratch Night that showcases work at every stage of development.
What gap in the UK’s current talent-development pipeline were you most determined for Collective Fringe to address?
At Collective we think there is currently a crisis of opportunity for emerging artists. Key new-writing festivals have closed in recent times, or have become unaffordable for many. Literary departments are shrinking, or are under real strain. We want to help plug that gap and ensure that working-class artists are not held back by economic disadvantage.
How does presenting work at multiple stages of development challenge conventional ideas of “readiness” in new writing?
I am not sure what readiness really means. My experience has always been that work that is in development, that is raw and not fully formed, can be as impactful as work that has had a long development process. Particularly in theatre. As an audience we can feel the heart of what is taking place in that room, even when watching earlier drafts.
What does meaningful support for early-career and Global Majority artists look like beyond visibility and programming?
It means many things. Firstly, it is about ensuring real opportunities for creative leadership. But also, it is about understanding that every artist is individual and comes a different background. So meaningful support is about tailoring what you offer to the needs of the individual artist, you can’t just follow a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
How have collaboration and community shaped the festival’s identity, particularly in a climate of shrinking resources?
Partnership and collaboration is vital to everything we do here at Collective – and that is no different with Collective Fringe. Many of the creatives involved in the festival have been nurtured from within our own community. And by working with like-minded organisations, such as Trybe House Theatre and Tara Theatre, we are playing our part in tackling the crisis in arts funding through partnership and shared values.
In balancing artistic risk with audience experience, how do you define success for a festival like Collective Fringe?
I think audiences are excited by the new, by having the opportunity to see something first. I remember having that experience myself as an audience member, seeing the very first show of For Black Boys, and sensing that I had witnessed the start of something very important. When I see our audiences chatting in the bar between shows, excitedly asking what production everyone had just seen, and sharing their insights about those new pieces, that feels like a success worth cherishing.
What excites you most about the artists and ideas emerging from this year’s programme, and what do you hope they take forward beyond the festival?
What excites me most is that these stories feel vital for today. When we turn on the news at the moment, it can feel pretty scary, right? But history shows us that, in moments of crisis, such as we see today – artists step up. And I think this group of writers are doing exactly that. They are challenging and enlightening us. They are putting smiles back on our faces. And I know personally, they provide me with a real sense of hope – which is a pretty special thing.