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Dateline: 31st October, 2004
Be an Angel - for £10 Theatre company Activated Image (the BTG likes their work!) has come up with a novel way of raising funding for their next production. Director Adam Barnard explains: Please take one minute to read this. We're not plugging a show. We're not asking for donations. We just want to tell you about a simple way you can make a difference to theatre. Activated Image - "a truly outstanding young theatre company" in the words of the Evening Standard - has a problem. It's the usual one. We have a brilliant idea for a play, and nowt in the bank. As many of you know, state funding is rare. Most new shows are made using someone's personal savings, or bank loans. The majority lose money. We're coming at the problem from a new angle, and we think we have a solution. We see two big issues in putting on small scale theatre. One, you have nothing in the bank, yet loads of costs (salaries, set and costumes, marketing) upfront. If the show does well, you'll get money back from the box office. But you lack working capital and you can't be sure how much money you'll take. So you're limited straight away. You daren't spend too much on publicity, say, so not enough people hear about your show. So you don't get the crowds you should, and lose more money - a vicious circle. Two, people don't come at the start of a run. There's a time lapse between hearing that something has opened and getting round to booking. Some people wait for reviews. But reviews aren't printed until the second or third week. If the show's a good 'un people do come - but they all come at the end of the run. In your first two weeks you played depressingly small houses. In the last week you sell out and have to turn loads of people away - people who wanted to buy tickets. (And a coda to this - we live busy lives. You intend to see a show, but something gets in the way. Weeks fly by - suddenly you remember you wanted to catch X - you check the listings, X is finished.) Our solution is simple. If we could sell a certain number of tickets before we start making the show, we'd have 1) money in the bank to work with and 2) a guaranteed audience before we open. We are planning our next show: the UK premiere of Patience, a stunning new play by Canadian writer Jason Sherman. It's a rollercoaster ride through the troubled life of Reuben, a man who has everything - then finds it all taken away. This is a thrilling, contemporary play, with explosive language and a highly original style. It's a true fable for our times and an ensemble piece which perfectly suits the Activated Image style. We cannot stop saying how excited we are about this play. We are in talks with a theatre to stage this play in early 2005 in London. So here's the plan. We've come up with a scheme called Buy Now, Play Later. It does what it says on the tin - we are asking people who would plan to see Patience next year (because you know and like our work, because you like catching cutting edge new theatre, because the pitch has floated your boat) to buy tickets now. At £10 a ticket it's good value and you're saving on booking fees. Our deal with you is we won't cash your cheque until we've signed with the venue. You get regular updates as we build the show, and two weeks before we open you choose when you want to come. To find out more visit www.activated.co.uk Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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