MAYK

What MAYK does

MAYK was a Bristol-based non-profit performing arts organization, constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), that operated from 2011 until 17 October 2025. Founded by Kate Yedigaroff and Matthew Austin, the organization produced live contemporary theatre and performance for UK and international audiences, supporting visionary artists through commissions, residencies, and touring partnerships. Its primary beneficiaries were independent performance makers and the audiences attending its programmed work. At the time of closure, MAYK operated with a core team of approximately 14 staff.

The organization's core products were the Mayfest festival, an annual international showcase of contemporary theatre and live performance, and MayKing Space, a rehearsal and development facility co-located at St Anne's House in Bristol alongside Ginkgo Projects. It also delivered commissioned productions such as the BLIND MAGIC triptych and partnered on co-productions with Jerwood Arts, Unlimited, Wellcome Collection, LIFT, and Situations. MAYK did not operate any proprietary technology platform; its intellectual capital was curatorial — programming decisions, artist relationships, and producing expertise applied to live performance. Touring activity had historically extended to the UK, Europe, South America, the USA, China, South Korea, and Australia.

MAYK's business model was that of a publicly funded UK arts charity. Revenue was generated primarily through an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) grant, supplemented by co-commissioning fees from partners, box office income, and grants from trusts and foundations. The organization ceased operations on 17 October 2025, citing the structural funding crisis affecting the UK arts sector, and transferred its MayKing Space asset to Ad Infinitum Studio as part of the wind-down.

Name

MAYK

Legal name

MAYK Theatre CIO

Website

https://mayk.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MAYK was a Bristol-based performing arts charity (2011–2025) that produced Mayfest, a contemporary theatre festival, alongside artist residencies, commissioned works, and international touring partnerships before closing in October 2025 due to UK arts sector funding pressures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Production

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Fine Arts Schools (61161)

akta.pro primary industry

Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI)

Keywords

• Live performance production
• Contemporary theatre festival
• Artist residency programmes
• Performing arts commissioning
• Arts charity programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Arts Council England Funding: MAYK is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, receiving regular public funding as a core funded organization.
2. Commissioning and Producing Fees: Revenue from commissioning new work and producing performances for festivals and venues.
3. Box Office and Venue Partnerships: Income from ticket sales and co-production arrangements with partner venues and festivals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

MAYK was a live performance producing organisation that commissioned, developed, and presented contemporary theatre, dance, and live art in Bristol and on international tour. It ran the Mayfest festival, operated MAYKING Space as a rehearsal and development facility for artists, and delivered artist residency and mentorship programmes. The organisation ceased operations on 17 October 2025.

Product overview

MAYK is one of the UK's leading live performance producing organisations, offering a portfolio of theatre, dance, and live art productions alongside festival programming and artist development opportunities. The core offerings include MAYFEST (Bristol's international festival of contemporary theatre), MAYKING Space (rehearsal and development facilities), and various commissioned productions including Confluence residency programme, Jo Bannon's BLIND MAGIC triptych (Passing, Sleight of Hand, The Dirty Work), and historical works such as SESSION, Of Riders and Running Horses, and Ours was the Fen Country. The organisation also runs I Like It. What Is It? and Proper Time artist residencies, plus immersive installations like A Crash Course in Cloudspotting. As of October 2025, MAYK announced its closure due to funding challenges facing the arts sector in the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mayfest Bristol's international festival of contemporary theatre and live performance, bringing national and international artists to the city for a multi-day celebration of live arts, presented for general public audiences.
• MAYKING Space A rehearsal and development space at St Anne's House in Bristol, dedicated to artists making and exploring live performance, offering accessible workspace for the creative community.
• Confluence A residency programme exploring the evolving currents of Bristol city centre, bringing artists and thinkers together to explore the changing landscape through film, performance, photography, and installation.
• I Like It. What Is It? A two-year residency programme hosted by MAYK and supported by Jerwood Arts, designed for artists to explore intricate early ideas without fixed outcomes.
• The Dirty Work A solo performance by Jo Bannon exploring visual impairment and the unseen labour of performance, blending magic show conventions with lived experience of disability.
• Sleight of Hand A tactile performance installation by Jo Bannon integrating audio description, tactile design, choreography and ASMR, exploring touch encounters with unknown objects and materials.
• Passing A short film by Jo Bannon exploring the ways we all perform on stage and in everyday life, examining the skill of concealing virtuosity and appearing at ease.
• A Crash Course in Cloudspotting An intimate audio journey by Raquel Meseguer Zafe exploring human connection and the subversive act of lying down, collecting stories from people living with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses.
• SESSION An outdoor gathering by Still House in collaboration with young performers from Tottenham and North London, celebrating community, youth and belonging through dance and live music.
• Sanctum A 552-hour continuous live performance project in collaboration with Theaster Gates and Situations, featuring musicians and performers at Temple Church.
• BLIND MAGIC A triptych of artworks by Jo Bannon exploring the performativity of visual impairment, comprising film Passing, installation Sleight of Hand, and live performance The Dirty Work.
• Proper Time An evolving project about time: crip time and slow time, exploring time as an existential and physical experience relating to space, presence and scale for disabled people.
• Bog A choreographic performance with live vocal score by Jo Hellier and Yas Clarke, exploring humans' sensorial enjoyment of peat bog habitats and transformation into different states of being.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of creatives supported at MAYKING Space over three years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, regional and minor.

• Ginkgo ProjectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Confluence, a residency programme exploring Bristol's changing city centre. Confluence was commissioned by Ginkgo Projects for Redcliffe Wharf with support from Grainger Plc, and for The Glassworks with support from Fresh.
• UnlimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnlimited commissions and supports work by disabled artists. MAYK produces work commissioned by Unlimited, including Jo Bannon's BLIND MAGIC triptych.
• Wellcome CollectionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioner of Jo Bannon's BLIND MAGIC project and presenter of Sleight of Hand installation. Wellcome Collection is a museum and library focusing on health and human experience.
• Southbank CentremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresenting partner for Sleight of Hand installation at Unlimited Festival. Major UK arts venue.
• The PlacemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioning partner for Jo Bannon's The Dirty Work and BLIND MAGIC project.
• Cambridge JunctionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioning partner for Jo Bannon's The Dirty Work.
• TramwaymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioning partner for Jo Bannon's The Dirty Work.
• Attenborough Centre for the Creative ArtsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioning partner for The Dirty Work and BLIND MAGIC project. Based in Cambridge.
• WatershedregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerBristol-based arts venue and partner for Confluence residency. Dhaqan Collective, a Confluence artist, is a resident at Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio.
• Bristol Old VicregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey Bristol partner venue with ongoing co-production relationships. MAYK has collaborated on Memory of Theatre and other projects.
• LIFTmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLondon International Festival of Theatre. Co-commissioned SESSION and Tottenham Original co-commissioning relationship.
• SituationsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBristol-based organization that produced Sanctum with MAYK in 2015. Project involved 552 hours of continuous live performance.
• Spike IslandregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerBristol art venue. Dhaqan Collective are Spike Island Studio holders. Asmaa Jama presented solo exhibition there.
• St Anne's HousecoreOthersMAYK's home at St Anne's House in Bristol, where MAYKING Space operated. Over three years, hundreds of creatives were welcomed there.
• GIFT (Glasgow International Festival)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Nightlife project development.
• RestokeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Nightlife project development.
• Falmouth UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Nightlife project development.
• Brigstow InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for Nightlife project on women walking at night.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Live Theatre (Newcastle): Live Theatre is a regional producing organisation in Newcastle that develops and produces new work with regional artists, comparable to MAYK's regional producing role in Bristol and the South West.
• Improbable: Improbable is a UK producing organisation developing experimental live performance and participatory projects, sharing MAYK's focus on risk-taking contemporary work and artist-led practice.
• Fuel Theatre: Fuel is a UK producing organisation that commissions and tours new performance work, sharing MAYK's model of long-term artist relationships and touring of contemporary theatre nationally and internationally.
• Battersea Arts Centre: BAC is a London-based producing and presenting venue with a strong focus on experimental, participatory, and developing artist work, directly comparable to MAYK's model of supporting visionary artists creating contemporary performance.
• London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT): LIFT is a biennial international festival and producing organisation commissioning and touring groundbreaking performance, directly comparable to Mayfest's role and MAYK's co-commissioning relationships with LIFT.
• The Albany (London): The Albany is a community-focused arts centre in south-east London producing and presenting contemporary performance, comparable to MAYK's combination of artist development, residencies, and presented programming.

Regional players

• Cambridge Junction: Cambridge Junction is a regional arts venue in Cambridge that co-commissioned MAYK's work (e.g., The Dirty Work) and operates a comparable regional producing and presenting model in a different geography.
• Bristol Old Vic: Bristol Old Vic is the Bristol-based producing theatre and long-term MAYK co-production partner; it shares the same city and overlapping producing territory though it operates a much larger producing portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Sadler's Wells: Sadler's Wells is a major London dance venue and producer with a much larger scale, but overlapping in the commissioning and touring of contemporary live performance that MAYK also produced.
• Southbank Centre: Southbank Centre is one of the UK's largest arts complexes and a presenting partner of MAYK's work; it overlaps with MAYK in commissioning and presenting contemporary performance at much greater scale.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubesoundcloud.com/maykithappen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mayk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MAYK