I can only second what Jeanie has said. My mate and I started a theatre company when I was 20 and he was 21 (this was only a few years ago, in case you think I'm talking about the 60s and 70s when getting arts funding was like shooting fish in a barrel!) We'd book a small am-dram theatre, use mates to act, rehearse in whatever space was available and do our own publicity. The budget (for which we received NO funding!) was generally around £1000-£1500 of which half was theatre hire and the rest was sundry expenses. Obviously a lot of this could be offset against potential revenue! We'd generally look at doing a five-night run with tickets at £5 a head in venues holding about 150, which meant that to break even we'd have to around sell half of the total seats. We generally sold a minimun of three-quarters, which made a decent profit which was shared between those who'd taken part. My mate is now at E15 in London on a post-grad course. I, sadly, am a now musician, as I decided I liked playing more than acting and directing!


If you are thinking of taking this approach, here's a couple of suggestions!

Keep the cast as small as possible - increased profits, decreased logistical problems of trying to get loads of people together for rehearsals. Use mates wherever possible - it makes it a far more social experience. Don't be afraid to have actors doubling or tripling parts - we did Hamlet with a cast of eight!

Use a theatre that aready has its own publicity network - that way they sell your show for you! Hiring a theatre sounds daunting, but most towns have at least one am-dram theatre that is relatively inexpensive to hire (We used to pay £120 per night, which included light, sound, front of house and bar staff!)

Pick a play that people know - people like what they know. Then do something completely different with it. We edited Hamlet down to two hours, and our production of Canterbury Tales was basically a mediaeval Carry On Film!

Have fun! Don't lose sight of the fundamental idea of putting on a play - to tell the story in a way that will entertain the audience. If they like it, they'll come back to see the next one with their mates!


Hope you make a go of it, CP! If there's anything else in the way of advice you think I might be able to give you, drop us a line at duellingbouzoukis@yahoo.co.uk

Cheers

Chris