One of the first things to consider when starting a theatre company is the hierarchy, each member must have a role and each role must have someone to fulfill it. In our theatre company we needed three members who did not perform in the show, when discussing the roles it became apparent that a lot of the group wanted to perform. On the other hand, I was not as passionate about performing as I have often taken a backstage role. The role of producer therefore took my eye as I am confident in leading a team and that is a crucial element of the producing role. So it was then that I became our company’s producer. However, I later found myself asking what actually is the role of the producer?
‘The producer is responsible for delivering a good show, on time and in budget’ (Seabright, 2010).
As the Producer of the company, It is my job to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I am responsible for the way the company is viewed and the way it is ran. One of our first tasks as a theatre company was deciding upon a name and logo. As a group, we discussed what kind of theatre we would like to produce as this would have to reflect upon our entire culture. One of the original topics we discussed was real life events and conspiracies, we wanted to play with the idea of perception and this stemmed lots of ideas for potentional company names. After several discussions, ideas flowed and we narrowed it down to a few options. Finally, after contemplating the name hornswaggle for far too long, we finally came across Pinpoint. We chose the name Pinpoint as it can be read in several ways, it feels very current as if we are bringing together lots of ideas. The idea of location, to be able to pinpoint current events in society, to potentially pinpoint a certain area are all ideas that worked with our mission statement and our company ethos.
I worked closely with the marketing team to come up with a logo that looked professional and was relevant. Here are a few of our original designs:
Potential logo designs (Lothian and Smart, 2016)
Another potential design. (Lothian and Smart, 2016)
Final Pinpoint Design. (Lothian and Smart, 2016)
Here is our final design:
We felt our logo was very simple and transportable. The symbol of the location pin in one that is globally understood.
SHOW ME THE MONEY
My main role as a producer was to deal with the finances of the company. We were given a grant of £200 by the University, however we needed to fundraise in order to create the style of show we wanted. ‘You can never have enough money to spend on operating your company. Never’ (Mulcahy, 2011, 41). Immediately I thought of doing an event, however with every event you have to judge whether you will make a profit. I wanted to do something that was little cost but a big gain.
Many creative projects use crowdfunder’s to raise money via donation, this is a cost effective fundraising source as it does not cost to set up. We chose to use the website kickstarter. We created a page that displayed our theatre company and shared it across our social media platforms, with families, friends and strangers. We decided to set a realistic target of £200 over a 21 day period. As the theatre company is made up of 10 members we felt like this was achievable via family, friends etc.
Kickstarter page. (Pinpoint Theatre, 2016)
So the kickstarter went live…
We all go mad sharing it on every social media we all have, sharing in every group.The response was absolutely incredible, not only did we smash our target but we did it in less than 3 days!! Never did I ever expect a response like this, we continued sharing for the remainder of the time as you can go over your target. This additional budget meant we could make the show even bigger and better. All in all we raised over £300 from the kickstarter, and we cannot thank the people that donated enough! A main factor to consider was the kickstarter prizes as people who donate can claim a gift for donating, we wanted to offer unique prizes, ones that felt worthwhile. We also decided to offer a large range of prizes meaning each donation got a prize.
These prizes ranged from personalised videos, to personalised cards and even two tickets for the show.
This meant another task of mine was to organise these gifts, so we set up a filming day to film the personalised videos, we wanted to make each one individual so they felt more personal instead of generic. A member of the company knew each backer personally, this meant that we could make the video’s to their taste! The session was truly hilarious coming up with unique ways to say thank you, from dance routines to mime and the outcome was just as we had hoped! Some more sensible than others, but all the backers loved our videos.
Although we raised a lot from the Kickstarter, there was always room to do more. I came up with the idea of hosting a pub quiz, we looked at local venues and decided upon the bar Walkabout in the city centre. They gave us the space for free which meant any money we raised was entirely profit plus they threw in a bar tab for the winning prize (Thanks Walkabout!). I met with marketing to ask them to create an event on our social media and appointed Charlotte one of our performers to help me with the organising of the actual quiz questions. Before the event, I met with the events manager at walkabout to ensure the event ran smoothly.
LETS GET QUIZZICAL
The day of the quiz soon arrived and we had sparked much interest on social media. We set the entry price at £2 per person, the floor started to fill as people arrived. The quiz was a really enjoyable night for everyone, and gave a lot of students who came a chance to have a night off from studies and let their hair down. Charlotte and I (Pinpoint’s answer to Ant and Dec) hosted the night through a range of rounds from general knowledge to music, which fittingly had to be space themed.
We were overwhelmed with the response of the quiz as we were unsure how many people would turn up, overall we raised £126 which was an amazing addition to the money currently raised!
A FRESH PAIR OF EYES
As Producer, this meant that I would often be doing my administrative work during rehearsals. I could therefore act as a dramaturg. “The shaping of theatre and choreography requires an outside eye and it is this objective influence that can liberate the performer to be brave, take risks and try new things” (Graham and Hoggart, 8). I loved this part of the process as I could see completed scenes and give my feedback, even if this resulted in me sobbing several times at the final scenes! In rehearsal’s I would often sit and make notes of the little things. It also helped that in rehearsals the actors had created backstories for all the characters. Some of these I would not be as familiar on, meaning scenes that make sense to them because they understand the context did not make sense to me. I can then give feedback as an audience member who would be in the same boat as it was not clear. With our piece relying heavily on physical theatre and minimal dialogue it was crucial that the story was clear through the use of the physical movement. These sessions were therefore really helpful as a group as I could offer a different view on things.
FINDING THE RIGHT SPACE
Rehearsal space was limited around Lincoln, therefore finding the right rehearsal space was hard. Often we would rehearse in rooms at the University Campus however due to the physical aspects of our piece these rooms were far too small for some scenes.
This became a problem especially when intergrating the boxes as they take up so much room just for storage!
Our performance space is at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre Auditorium, however due to the running of the theatre it is hard for this space to be avialbale for weekly rehearsals. After researching other areas, we came across the Student’s Union Engine Shed.
Engine Shed rehearsal. (Walsh, 2016)
This venue was massive and is often empty as it is mainly used to host legendary club nights such as QUACK! and Propaganda. I enquired at the Students Union and managed to get us full day rehearsals several days a week. This was a great breakthrough as the space was perfect! This also meant that the tech and dress rehearsal would run smoother as the actors were used to rehearsing in a suitable space.
KEEPING ON TOP OF THINGS
My most important job is too ensure that everyone is doing their jobs correctly and on time. ‘The buck always stops with the producer’ (Seabright,2010,7). I held meetings with different roles to check back on the process, this was really important with teams such as marketing as they control the external look of the company. The marketing team worked really well together and the final designs looked fantastic. They truly were a strong part of the company, our social media was consistant and professional. It was important to catch up with all departments especially in the later stages in the process as these roles were taken by actors. It was important that they were not focusing on the rehearsals too much and forgetting about their other roles.
ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
In the final stages of the production everything began to fall into place. Tickets were selling well and Pinpoint seemed to be the talk of the town. The marketing team wanted to organise a giveaway day around the university campus. We worked together to create a hamper to give away; within it were prizes donated by various local businesses including a free meal at Walkabout, a space themed t shirt and a free nandos! Who doesn’t love free food?
Facebook hamper giveaway. (Pinpoint Theatre, 2016)
All people had to do was like our page and share our post, this not only raised awareness of the company on campus but also reached over 1,000 people on Facebook. We met with the technical team at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre to ensure all of our technical requirements would be accessible and to discuss our technical rider. Lucky for me, our stage manager Emily Cartwright has used the tech at the LPAC before which made the process easy and a lot quicker, she knew exactly what she wanted which meant no delays in the creative process.
TECH DAY
Before I knew it was our technical rehearsal. The nerves were starting to kick in for all as the final week approached. Due to the minimal set and costume setting the stage took no time at all and Emily had already programmed all the Qlab file meaning we had time to do a full run in the space. This was great time management and really helped the actors feel more confident in the space, for me it was truly a magical moment. To finally see the show as a whole and to see the company all come together and to see all roles being carried out proffesionally and swiftly made me proud to be the producer of the company.
MAKING IT TO THE MOON
Show day finally crept up, and before we knew it the stage was set, actors ready and audience
Facebook Reviews. (Pinpoint Theatre, 2016)
members began to arrive. Myself, Emily and Harry arrived at 9am to do the initial set up with the cast arriving later. The marketing team picked up the programmes for the show, and we managed to do two full runs in the space. We did not want to work the cast too hard with the show being physically challenging on the actors, we wanted to keep a high energy for the show. Now that How I got to the Moon and Back is over, I feel such a sense of pride. The show received a great response with audience members leaving reviews on our social media.
It was great to see how we all worked as one unit to create a successful piece of theatre. As the producer, I feel like I successfully carried out my role ‘as the production manager will have worked closely with the director, the designers, and the performers’ (Dean, 2002, 8). Pinpoint Theatre all worked together to help each role complete their own unique vision. I can confidently say everyone completed their role to the best of their ability. I cannot wait to see what our next mission will be.
Works Cited
Dean, P. (2002) Production Management: Making Shows Happen. Wiltshire: The Crowood Press Ltd.
Graham, S. and Hoggart, S. (2009) The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre. London: Routledge.
Lothian, B and Smart, T(2016) Original logo images.
Lothian, B and Smart, T (2016) Final logo design
Pinpoint Theatre (2016) Facebook Reviews.
Pinpoint Theatre (2016) Facebook hamper giveaway.
Pinpoint Theatre (2016) Kickstarter Page.
Seabright, J. (2010) So you want to be a theatre Producer? London: Ashford Colour Press.
Walsh, H (2016) Engine Shed Rehearsal.
