Building a Small School/Community Theatre

[Jivemaster]

Plan the things that MUST go in at first build. Structural things (where to hang lanterns and drapes and how to access them) and hard services (power inlet and distribution, data cabling, audio cabling) need to be there before first paint. If you haven't enough electricity you are stuck, likewise if there isn't enough support in the right places.

 

A rear control room is a place to store valuable desks (sound and light) but it needs an opening window for actually listening to the show.

 

Go look round your local AmDram societies. At least one will have their own premises, which will be a seriously minimum cost, JUST compliant place where they do small shows.

 

Make sure that all the safeguarding issues are considered especially with changing rooms toilets and showers.

[MarkPAman]

I don't know if the VAT rules have changed recently but one of the last building projects I was involved in had the option of extending an existing building or knocking it down and starting from scratch, with the new building incorporating the space that was in the existing one. The latter option ended up being cheaper as VAT was due on an extension whereas it wasn't on a new build.

I was wondering if that was still the case too. With the VAT free option there was a rule that you couldn't make any profit from renting the building out fort he first 10 years. May not be the case any more though.

[FKirk]

Thank you all again for your thoughts - it's brilliant to have so many opinions on what could and should be done.

 

 

Of course Safeguarding is something we consider as part of what we do every day, so we would never do anything to put that in jeopardy for our pupils. As I said, schools rooms as extra changing rooms, etc. was just one model that I saw at another school so it is good to have some ideas around this. From what I understand there, they offer the auditorium to community groups wanting to set up during the day and the backstage spaces from 4pm, once the pupils are out of the way.

 

I've contacted a couple of schools with their own theatre spaces, so hopefully I get in to speak to some of those after Easter hols are over. Does anybody know of any other notable example schools in around Herts, Beds?

 

A few of you have commented re. flexible spaces vs. traditional end-on set ups. Is there real merit in a flexible space for school shows/community groups, or am I over complicating the set up? From our point of view, our pupils will always feel more comfortable with a traditional staging, but I didn't want to exclude other options if these are asked for.

 

Please do share any other thoughts you have re. considerations or costings. If all else fails on costs, etc. the school are committed to renovating our main hall so that it is more functional for performance but this obviously won't allow everything that I envisage a theatre offering for our pupils and the community.

 

Flis

[paulears]

I tend to see the hires wanting traditional, while drama teacher trained in spaces without stages, don't see the need. In one flexible space I worked at I smiled when almost every kid asked where the stage was? Drama studios are just big working spaces, very few people ever do flexible space productions - they see the words - like promenade, and think how lovely, then go straight back to convention. So many big flexible spaces have permanent, or semi-permanent decking built stages at one end, that never get taken out because they're too useful.

[J Pearce]

You could ask Sir Henry Floyd Grammar in Aylesbury to see if they could offer any tips. They built their studio theatre in 2003, and an extension of dance studios in 2009 just before I started working there.

 

My experience there was that hires were hard to program because the school needed the space during the day, so putting sets up or even just having props tables out became an issue.

[Jivemaster]

Presuming that the "community" use is to raise funds as hire fees or to attract funds as grants then someone needs to manage the school's needs DOWN so that the dual use can really happen.

 

My school hall was available for hire, BUT the school needed it til 4pm and reserved it til 6pm every weekday so it was actually almost unhireable.

[Shez]

Last time I did a musical in a hired school theatre, we discovered (far too late as the information didn't get passed on) that we had to strike the "pit" (in front of the stage) every night as they might want to use the hall for assemblies / meetings during the days. That wasn't much fun.

[the kid]

It is a good point to note that a big space like that attracts teachers, its good for bigger class games, and activities etc, unless you can make it impossible to use other than a theatre you will end up with a teacher in there with a bunch of kids 5 mins before a company turns up because it was free.

 

Places like the north wall in oxford are a good example of a crazy multi styled space (end on, traverse, thrust) but also they have been building the last 5 years a quite neiche audience, and style of show they have. It works very well for them it seems, but then again mummy and daddy can help when needed.

[dsharp7th]

Yes, flexible space, can mean expecting the user to be flexible. I was not persuaded by a venue that deep thrust staging would work for a jazz quartet concert; however much easier it made it for the venue having shows in that format before and after.

[paulears]

My band played a gig in a community theatre, which was on the school grounds. We were using Bucks Fizz's PA, which was put in the day before, tested and then left. When we arrived none of the monitors worked. Eventually it was discovered the kids had been in for an assembly in the morning, and from the back of the tiered seats they could get into the back of the rack and had stolen every single patch cable!

[Junior8]

Presuming that the "community" use is to raise funds as hire fees or to attract funds as grants then someone needs to manage the school's needs DOWN so that the dual use can really happen.

 

My school hall was available for hire, BUT the school needed it til 4pm and reserved it til 6pm every weekday so it was actually almost unhireable.

 

This is the reason that community use of community schools is so difficult when it gets beyond hiring the odd room for the evening. The plain fact is that all spaces are timetabled all the time eventually and at exam time any big easily supervised space is fair game! The comments about 'flexibility' are well made but I would go further. My experience, some bitter, going back to a new build at my secondary school in 1969, is that most flexibility is a myth and that eventually you find that there are if you are lucky two ways to use any space for public performance controlled by a number of factors. This one had a grid of internally wired barrels round the perimeter and with another along the centre line. I suppose the planners had theatre in the round in mind. In reality to get the audience size needed in the thing was used end to end and so most of the lighting positions available were useless for the puny throw of the 500 watt lanterns supplied. So inevitably some poor devil had to run up a load of extension tails to run back to the inflexibly located - one every metre - 5 amp sockets to make up a traditionally hung rig or as close to that as possible facing a stage of faux Essex rostra each one a highly efficient acoustic chamber. I reckon the maximum 'flexibility' needed is the choice between having folding seats out for a performance and having them folded away for drama studio use.

 

 

 

 

 

[adam2]

Many good points made above, to which I would add an additional source of income that could assist with running costs.

 

Most companies and charities hold an annual general meeting, in some cases this is a legal requirement. A small or medium sized theatre is often ideal for such meetings and if the venue is not in full time use then it can be most worthwhile to promote such hires. Charities and voluntary groups tend to hold AGMs on Saturdays, whilst for profit companies prefer weekdays. Meetings or presentations about proposed large scale developments such as new railway lines, large housing developments, tidal lagoons and the like also need suitable venues.

 

The normal lighting and sound equipment of a small theatre is generally sufficient for such events without anything extra to be purchased or hired.