School Theatre Space

[johnnydarko]

I am working in a school in hampshire how can I get a diffcult school who will not see how much a good show can benfit them. They are happy for me to help them bring the school up to a good standard however they are not happy to put there money behind it. Does anyone know of anything that will be able to help me win them over. Also does anyone know of any theatres or Am Dram groups local To hampshire/ Andover which may be having a refit or have equipment they may be looking to sell or get rid off.

[kerry davies]

From your, admittedly very limited, profile you are not "working" at a school but are actually a student. As such you will naturally have minimal knowledge of school policies and strategy and none of the budgetary constraints which those responsible are under.

 

Even if you managed to find free or cheap equipment the parameters that the establishment have in place may mean that it could not be brought onto the premises.

 

One of the biggest lessons that young people are forced to learn on entering the industry is how to make the best of what one has in whichever circumstances one finds oneself. Use the limitations you outline to develop a flexible, cost-effective, can-do approach and you won't go too far wrong if you ever want to enter the world of work, in whatever context.

[boatman]

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Does anyone know of anything that will be able to help me win them over.

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You could try writing a report to the Head Teacher on the benefits of having a modern theatre facility within the school. If you also get the backing of the Head of Drama and possibly the Head of Music, I'm sure the Head Teacher would respond favourably.

[Junior8]

what do you mean by 'difficult'?

 

 

[paulears]

how can I get a diffcult school who will not see how much a good show can benfit them

How exactly will it benefit them? There's often some weird belief that putting on a show somehow benefits the school, when it often turns into a nightmare, uses up large amounts of staff goodwill and cost real money. You might not realise it, but the work being carried out now was planned months ago, approved by all the heads of department and dropping a show into the works just means planned work, with planned outcomes gets dumped for a project that is just fun - doesn't help exam results, doesn't offer much in the way of grades, and causes fallouts within the staffroom. Getting the kids off a maths lesson gets universal approval from everyone apart from the maths teacher who will be expected to somehow catch up.

 

The other thing is that nowadays, everything that goes on in a school has some kind of value in terms of credit. Stopping creditworthy classes to put on a show costs them money, or costs them grades.

 

Everything has a cost. Sending a member of staff on a course is terrifically expensive now - you have the cost of the course, the cost of transport, the cost of food and accommodation and the cost of cover. No wonder they have cut back. Putting on a show is nice, but is it essential. Will the benefit to the students and school be greater than the cost in lost time?

 

Not remotely a simple thing. If you don't get this, it's no wonder nobody is listening - you need a hook, Something the project offers that makes it a positive thing not a very nice negative!

[Smiffy]

I would be curious to know what equipment is currently available (if we are talking Lighting) and what the dimensions and capacity of the space are, as well as whether the school currently organises productions, and some examples of what those productions are.

 

I ask, as the definition of 'not enough kit / the correct kit' is often highly variable.

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy

[woody2]

I went into my daughters school the other day, its the same school I went to but they have knocked it down and built a new one. the theatre has 8 macs fitted, one of my old teachers pointed out that they are always blowing lamps, it was only later that I found out that they turn them on at 8am till 6pm, lamp on, shutters shut,not in use all day . they also have 2 full time "technicians" who could not see what the problem was :o

[ojc123]

Mr Ears speaks wise words once again. He has crystallised the events of the last two weeks as we headed towards this week's production. Schools are changing. Extra-curricular stuff is increasingly squeezed out by the quest for outstanding outcomes. Changes to the coursework (Controlled Assessments etc) make it harder to put on a show. January and June Exams for Y10-Y13 all make it difficult to get a time to put a show on.

 

We have a long tradition of putting on shows. We have three very different shows every year. If this were not the case and I went into the Head today and proposed starting from scratch I think he'd say no. If a student went in and asked he'd definitely say no.

 

The only realistic way you'll get a school to put on a play is if a group of teachers get together and decide they want to make it happen. However well intentioned a student is, they are not really taking responsibility for Health and Safety, Front of House, security, rehearsal schedules, etc, etc. I take responsibility for our activities and it's me that answers to the judge. I applaud your desire to make things happen and hope it does, but I think the odds are against you. I think you have to work on sympathetic teachers. If they aren't interested then I'm not hopeful.

 

When I started we lit our shows with four domestic floods with gels on bent coathangers and had a 100W PA with one microphone and a cassette player. Nearly all the costs for new equipment has been met by proceeds from shows. As my Grandmother said (often) "Use what you have and you'll never want."

[tomo2607]

I work for a school and 6thform college. Both of which have good performing arts departments with very limited funding. The school has its own staged hall (I use the description loosly) and currently it is very out dated. I have been in this particluar school for 18 months now and amongst other things I have found that the creative arts takes a little bit of a back seat compared to the likes of science and sport. To help raise money to update and maintian the equipment for the performance area we hold bi monthly events. this can range from drama performances to music concerts. As well as providing that little bit of extra cash for the creative arts it also gives the students a great chance to get a head start on some of there practical work. The drama performances are recorded for submission. The music concerts are also recorded (audio only) to submit for possible ensemble or solo performace modules.

 

Then once a year there is a week long run of a musical chosen by the heads of dept in the creative arts area's. last year was hairspray and this raised enough for us to purchase a new sound desk and left a little for me to replace the old cableing and amplifers. This year we are hoping to raise enough to start replacing the old analogue dimmers with some new DMX packs. During the school holidays the hall is rented, along with my services, to local dance groups or am dram groups wishing to perform or reherse. This again brings in revenue for the creative arts. The hall is also used during school terms for awards evenings and assmeblies for the rest of the school.

 

 

What you need to determin is wheather the construction of a performance space will benefit the school, not only in a practical sence, but financially too. The cost of the set up is just the start. Unless the school has a member of staff, such as myself, who is there to maintain and run the space then it will be very costly to keep service contracts and employ staff (if needed) for the various events that you may hold.

Another little thought... There is sometimes funding availerble form council bodies to aid with the creative arts in the community. It may be worth calling you local council and checking if any help is availerble. This may be along shot with the currrent goverment but we wont go into that now :)

 

the theatre has 8 macs fitted, one of my old teachers pointed out that they are always blowing lamps, it was only later that I found out that they turn them on at 8am till 6pm, lamp on, shutters shut,not in use all day . they also have 2 full time "technicians" who could not see what the problem was :o

 

 

Thats shocking... but I have been into schools that use ICT technicians to maintain the performances spaces. Im sure there very capable of running a "multi tasking high powered network thingy" but obviously not the ins and outs of a working performance space. Just as I wouldnt attempt to run a "multi tasking high powered network thingy" as I dont know enough about it...

[Junior8]

I went into my daughters school the other day, its the same school I went to but they have knocked it down and built a new one. the theatre has 8 macs fitted, one of my old teachers pointed out that they are always blowing lamps, it was only later that I found out that they turn them on at 8am till 6pm, lamp on, shutters shut,not in use all day . they also have 2 full time "technicians" who could not see what the problem was :o

 

Two years ago I met, after many years away from this field, an old sales contact in the trade. What he told me about some of the Arts LX specifications for some schools in labour's Building Schools for the Future programme was both astonishing and extremely worrying. He also told me - and this was a big firm - that in several cases they'd simply refused to quote because they felt the proposed installation would be a) far too expensive for what was required and/or b) nobody on the staff would be able to use it. He told me of one where the spec for an assembly hall - likely used for productions five days a year - consisted almost entirely of movers and came to about £100K. Bear this in mind when you hear local councils moaning about M Gove.

 

If I had one piece of advice for the OP I'd say get hold of a copy of Strand's Stage Planning 1971, read the sections by Stephen Joseph on producing in the round and realize that with a bit of thought even the most challenging space can be used very effectively with very little gear. And to remember that you can - and indeed for centuries people did - put on shows with no technology at all.

 

Oh yes and to add to what Paul says - if I were an Inspector charged with evaluating the arts teaching in any school, shows would come a very long way down my list of evidence to be considered. They may be great PR and fun for the participants but their educational value can be overstated I think.

[paulears]

I don't want to bog the topic down, but it all depends on the programmes they are delivering. If the staff like the idea of putting on shows - possibly for non-educational reasons, maybe they are into amdram, or just like the idea - then if they run BTEC, they choose units that have shows as a core feature, so it can work nicely - and be funded. If they only do GCSE and A Level - then there is no requirement to even have a proper production space, as in seats, lights, sound etc - so if people can get A* without spending money on staff and infrastructure, you're on a loser.

 

Of course, there are other considerations. When I stopped doing this lark for a living and became a teacher, on my first day the Drama teacher stormed in and demanded to know why I'd mentioned putting on a show, which had got the students (all 16+) really excited. "Look", he said "I finish at 4 every day, I do NOT do shows, I do NOT work in the evenings and I do NOT give up my free periods to do things like this - the exam board don't need it, and nor do I!"

 

So what may seem like a good idea, sometimes just is doomed to failure!

[Ashley R]

So far a very interesting read.

 

At my school they integrate the shows/ performances into school work.

For example, we have Grease coming up, the entire Unit 3/4 Music Industry class are the ones who will be setting up, Operating, and packing down all of the audio, we do everything audio related for this show, and how we perform in this 'real world' situation is graded, also a lengthy task has been written to finish, on completion of the show, which is essentially a break down of the rig, why it was done the way it was done, etc. etc.

Then the Unit 3/4 Theater Studies class, has designed the costumes, lighting and I think the sets.

 

So overall, a very large chunk of this play is student run, and is assessed for marks. Although the school does invest an enormous amount of money into it.

 

And another thing, as Paul mentioned, student get excited about doing plays, and increases the amount of enjoyment they get out of school, thus improving general attendance rates (from what I have read).

[Mat]

Try creating a budget for them. Solid proof that if they invest money that they will make it back. Lots of people within education, if the school is not theatrically based, that a school show is not on the top priority for pumping money into it. The thing with being a student is also that there is a great level of trust given to someone handling the money of the school. Most "decent" basic shows can run on a budget of £1,000. This, to a school is a lot of money.

 

Create something that will give the school sound proof of how you are to spend their money and how they will get it back.

 

Note that fundraising is also a possibility to earn money for your cause and you don't actually have to spend the school's money on the show. Also note that it is a school, not a professional theatre. There is no need to try and make it so as it is an expensive job. Try and use the resources that you can source locally for free from perhaps local school's and amateur dramatic societies rather than looking at hire companies who will charge you a great rate.

 

Moderation: Changing the font to pink may look cute & trendy, but just don't. Please.

[CharlieH]

Try creating a budget for them. Solid proof that if they invest money that they will make it back. Lots of people within education, if the school is not theatrically based, that a school show is not on the top priority for pumping money into it. The thing with being a student is also that there is a great level of trust given to someone handling the money of the school. Most "decent" basic shows can run on a budget of £1,000. This, to a school is a lot of money.

 

Create something that will give the school sound proof of how you are to spend their money and how they will get it back.

 

Note that fundraising is also a possibility to earn money for your cause and you don't actually have to spend the school's money on the show. Also note that it is a school, not a professional theatre. There is no need to try and make it so as it is an expensive job. Try and use the resources that you can source locally for free from perhaps local school's and amateur dramatic societies rather than looking at hire companies who will charge you a great rate.

 

Moderation: Changing the font to pink may look cute & trendy, but just don't. Please.

 

I'll second this! Recently I have started to be given a budget for the school show, but before a few years ago I used to blag as much free gear/services as I could! Because of this, I have now bee given a budget of £1000 for each school play - great for hiring some movers! http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif The thing is I do all the work - at the first instance I had to get some visualisations of what I was proposing, so I could show the school what we could do with this gear. Now, it is down to me to get all the quotes and be able to justify why I want every single bit on it! I have to figure out how to use the stuff, go to reprographics to get manuals printed etc, but it means that our shows are now that bit more professional. Furthermore, I am getting A LOT of experience in not only the gear, but also the methods of hiring, research in how they work etc. This is all great experience! What I am trying to say is they will not do the work for you - if you want it then you are going to have to do most of the work; for the time being at least!

[Andrew C]

Because of this, I have now bee given a budget of £1000 for each school play - great for hiring some movers!

Whether or not the show needs them...

 

I'm too tired to search out all the threads on how to actually do a design that has relevance to the script, but if you were in my LA school system, be very sure I would hunt you down, and call the head of drama to account for wasting money on fripperies when teachers' jobs are being cut.