What We Do
The Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD) is the professional association for designers working in live performance across a variety of genres and scales both nationally and internationally.
If you join us as a student, graduate, professional or retired designer, you will be joining a supportive and active intergenerational community of practice and shared knowledge.
SBTD is run by designers for designers.
Advocacy
SBTD advocates for designers at every stage of their careers.
We work very closely with our fellow associations – the Association of Lighting Production Designers (the ALPD), the Association of Sound Designers (ASD), Stage Directors UK (SDUK), and with the trade unions Equity and Bectu.
We ensure that the knowledge, expertise and concerns of our members regarding fees, working practices and conditions are fully represented in the re-negotiation of the collective agreements with the Independent Theatre Council (ITC), UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatres (SOLT) which govern the majority of our contractual rights.
SBTD situates itself within the International Association of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians designers (OISTAT) through which we absorb and disseminate the knowledge and expertise of our worldwide community of design practitioners and educators.
Exhibitions
As a registered charity, we have a responsibility to share and celebrate our work with the public. We do this via our exhibitions which take place every four years to coincide with the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space.
We are currently working on the 2023-27 National Exhibition Project, more to come soon!
Hello Stranger our most recent exhibition represented the UK at PQ2023 following the celebration of Designers work with the national exhibition project for 2019 – 2023; welcoming designers, makers and audiences back, to catch up on the landscape of UK performance design. It’s was a chance to reconnect, be together, and reach out to new communities and audiences.
Staging Places, represented the UK at PQ2019 before returning to take up residency at the V&A, London from July 2019 – March 2020.
Staging Places toured to the National Centre for Craft and Design (NCCD) in Sleaford, Lincolnshire from September 2020 supported by a physical and digital programme of professional development and education projects with Regional Heart: East Midlands.
