Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point is a Glasgow-based, non-profit Scottish theatre company founded in 1998 that creates, tours and co-produces visual theatre internationally, serving venue partners across 30+ countries and developing emerging Scottish artists through commissions, mentorship and training programmes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Vanishing Point does
Vanishing Point is a non-profit theatre company and registered Scottish charity (no. SC028765, Company Limited by Guarantee 194127) founded in 1998 by Artistic Director Matthew Lenton in Glasgow, where it remains headquartered at Cadogan Square. The company creates and tours original visual theatre productions, developing work through a devised, collaborative methodology described as 'writing in 3-D' that integrates prosthetic masks, puppetry, projections, live video feeds, and sound design rather than working from pre-written scripts. Its portfolio includes signature productions such as Interiors, Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, What I'm Here For (Flora), The Metamorphosis, Love Beyond, Love The Sinner, Darwin Nevada, Plinth, Spin!, Tomorrow and The Dark Carnival, with output spanning full-scale international co-productions and smaller 'Unplugged' touring formats. Operations are supported by a small core team of approximately 11-50 staff (3 full-time: Artistic Director Matthew Lenton, Executive Producer Severine Wyper, Producer Nina Doherty, joined in 2026) plus a Board chaired by Gillian McCormack.
The company serves three distinct customer groups: (1) theatre venues and festivals (Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Piccolo Theatre Milan, Teatro de la Ville, Edinburgh International Festival, Tramway, Traverse, Tron, Dundee Rep, Citizens Theatre) which host and co-produce its work; (2) theatre audiences who attend performances, including accessible formats such as BSL-integrated productions; and (3) emerging Scottish artists and early-career directors supported through programmes such as New Directions (Associate Director placements at ITC/Equity rates), Everyone Is Creative (£1,800 freelance commissions), Manipulate Arts Creative Fund (seed funding plus mentorship), and student placements via the Scottish Drama Training Network.
Revenue is generated through a hybrid mix of co-production arrangements with international partners (sharing costs and presentation fees), public multi-year funding from Creative Scotland, grants from trusts and foundations (Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Hugh Fraser Foundation), individual donations, workspace and rehearsal space rental to professional live-arts users, producing services for other artists ('Produced By Us'), and ancillary education/workshop fees. Productions are performed in over 30 countries, with no proprietary software or AI platform underlying the business — competitive advantage derives from artistic reputation, international co-production relationships, and the distinctive visual theatre methodology developed over 20+ years.
Vanishing Point firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Vanishing Point
- Legal name
- Vanishing Point Theatre Company
- Website
- https://vanishing-point.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Vanishing Point is a Glasgow-based, non-profit Scottish theatre company founded in 1998 that creates, tours and co-produces visual theatre internationally, serving venue partners across 30+ countries and developing emerging Scottish artists through commissions, mentorship and training programmes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Vanishing Point industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts
- NAICS
- Performing Arts Companies (7111), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC), Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)
Keywords
Where Vanishing Point is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Vanishing Point business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Theatre Production and Touring: Vanishing Point creates and tours original theatre productions internationally, generating revenue through co-production arrangements with partner venues and festivals, and presentation fees from hosting theatres.
- Public Funding and Grants: The company receives multi-year funding from Creative Scotland, support from trusts, foundations and individual donors. This funding supports operations and artistic development.
- Workspace Rental: The company rents out its workspace and rehearsal space to artists and organisations working professionally in live arts, providing a flexible revenue stream while supporting the artistic community.
- Producing Support Services: Vanishing Point produces the work of other artists, providing producing support including business plan development, funding applications assistance, and creative partnership facilitation for a fee or as part of co-production arrangements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | One-off donations |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Everyone Is Creative Commission |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Associate Director Position (New Directions) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Vanishing Point product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Vanishing Point creates and tours original visual theatre productions internationally, developing work in-house and through co-productions with major European venues. The company also produces work by other independent artists via its "Produced By Us" service, rents rehearsal and workspace at its Riverside Studios facility in Glasgow, and delivers artist development programmes including the Manipulate Arts Creative Fund, New Directions training initiative, and Everyone Is Creative commissioning programme.
Product overview
Vanishing Point is a world-renowned, artist-led theatre company based in Scotland that creates and produces theatrical productions. Their portfolio comprises a core set of signature productions (including Interiors, Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, What I'm Here For, Love The Sinner, Love Beyond, The Metamorphosis, Plinth, Spin!, Darwin Nevada, Tomorrow, and The Dark Carnival) that they create, tour internationally, and often co-produce with partner organisations. Beyond their own productions, they offer supporting services including artist production support through 'Produced By Us', workspace/ rehearsal space rental, the Manipulate Arts Creative Fund partnership, New Directions director development programme, Everyone Is Creative commissioning scheme, student placement opportunities, and educational workshops. The company operates as a single unified creative organisation rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, with all services supporting their central mission of creating beautiful, accessible, and original theatre with an international and multicultural perspective.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- Productions performed in over 30 countries with leading international festivals and venues
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Vanishing Point
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Vanishing Point technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Vanishing Point partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Kanagawa Arts Theatre (Japan)coreMajor co-production partner for 'Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey', a bilingual (English/Japanese) production based on Haruki Murakami short stories. World premiere at KAAT in Yokohama, November 2024.
- Piccolo Theatre MilancoreLead co-production partner for 'Darwin, Nevada', developed at Piccolo Theatre with world premiere January 2025. Partnership involves multiple Italian theatre institutions including Emilia Romagna Teatro and Teatro Stabile di Bolzano.
- Scottish Drama Training NetworkminorPartnership to offer placement opportunities and learning events for production students attending education institutions within the SDTN network.
- Teater Katapult (Denmark)coreCo-production partner for 'What I'm Here For' (Flora), an international collaboration exploring universal themes through European writing and visual imagination. The production toured to Aarhus (Denmark) and Glasgow, Edinburgh & Dundee (Scotland).
- Tramway (Glasgow)coreAssociation partner for Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey Scottish premiere, February 2025. Regular venue partner for productions.
- The Japan FoundationminorSupported the international co-production and cultural exchange for Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey.
- British CouncilminorConnections through Culture programme supporting the Scotland/Japan co-production.
- Manipulate ArtscorePartnership to deliver the Manipulate Arts Creative Fund, supporting Scotland-based artists developing new work in visual performance, puppetry and object theatre through seed funding, rehearsal space and mentorship.
- Citizens Theatre (Glasgow)minorHost venue for Winter Residency 2026 with programme of shows and events aligned with Vanishing Point's values.
- Framework TheatreminorCollaboration with Emma Ruse (Framework Theatre CEO) who served on the Everyone Is Creative 2022 decision panel.
- Dundee RepminorVenue presenter and co-producer for productions including Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey and Love Beyond.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Vanishing Point competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DV8 Physical Theatre: DV8 Physical Theatre is a UK company creating original, physically demanding, devised work that tours internationally and operates as a registered non-profit. It shares Vanishing Point's model of an artistic-director-led repertoire, public funding reliance, and a focus on international touring circuits.
- Complicite: Complicite is a UK-based devised and visual theatre company that creates original work through collaborative, physical, and visually led processes and tours extensively internationally. Like Vanishing Point, it relies on co-productions with international venues and a strong artistic-director-led creative vision to deliver genre-defying productions.
- Trestle Theatre Company: Trestle is a UK mask and physical-theatre company that creates original devised work and tours internationally, including bilingual/community-engagement programming. The mask-led visual style and small-team touring model closely resemble Vanishing Point's distinctive methodology.
- Told by an Idiot: Told by an Idiot is a UK devised physical theatre company known for touring original, visually inventive productions developed through ensemble work. Its small-team, devised, touring-driven model is directly comparable to Vanishing Point's operational structure.
- Headlong Theatre: Headlong is a UK touring theatre company producing bold, contemporary re-imaginings of classic texts and original work, with significant co-production partnerships and international festival presence. Its touring-led, co-production-funded model is comparable to Vanishing Point's approach.
- Punchdrunk: Punchdrunk is a UK-based immersive and visually driven theatre company known for large-scale, devised productions that combine design, movement and original staging. Its focus on innovative visual language and international profile makes it structurally comparable to Vanishing Point's devised visual theatre approach.
- Frantic Assembly: Frantic Assembly is a UK devised/physical theatre company producing original touring work with strong international reach and educational programmes. Its hybrid model of artistic production plus structured learning/outreach activities mirrors Vanishing Point's combined production and development portfolio.
- Gecko Theatre: Gecko is a UK devised, multilingual, visually led theatre company that creates international touring work and operates programmes for emerging artists. Its combination of visual devising, international touring and artist-development programmes makes it a close analogue to Vanishing Point.
Broad incumbents
- National Theatre of Scotland: National Theatre of Scotland is a publicly funded national theatre that produces and tours devised Scottish work internationally and operates outreach/development programmes. As a larger, broadly comparable Scottish touring entity, it provides useful context on scale and funding dynamics relative to Vanishing Point.
- Citizens Theatre: Citizens Theatre is a Glasgow-based producing theatre and venue that both presents external work and co-produces with touring companies. It is both a venue partner and broader Glasgow incumbent, relevant for understanding the local competitive and partnership landscape.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Vanishing Point social profiles
Digital presenceVanishing Point financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vanishing Point leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Vanishing Point funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vanishing Point M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vanishing Point
What does Vanishing Point do?
Vanishing Point creates and tours original visual theatre productions internationally, developing work in-house and through co-productions with major European venues. The company also produces work by other independent artists via its "Produced By Us" service, rents rehearsal and workspace at its Riverside Studios facility in Glasgow, and delivers artist development programmes including the Manipulate Arts Creative Fund, New Directions training initiative, and Everyone Is Creative commissioning programme.
Is Vanishing Point a public or private company?
Vanishing Point is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Vanishing Point founded?
Vanishing Point was founded in 1998. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Vanishing Point based?
Vanishing Point is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Vanishing Point make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Theatre Production and Touring is the primary driver. The others are public Funding and Grants, workspace Rental and producing Support Services.
Who are Vanishing Point's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DV8 Physical Theatre, Complicite, Trestle Theatre Company, Told by an Idiot, Headlong Theatre, Punchdrunk, Frantic Assembly and Gecko Theatre. Broad incumbents are National Theatre of Scotland and Citizens Theatre.
Does Vanishing Point have an API?
No public API is recorded for Vanishing Point.
What industry is Vanishing Point in?
Vanishing Point's product category is Performing Arts. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAI, Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts, with a secondary code of MPAGABAC, Touring Theatre Productions. Its NAICS code is 7111.