|
Theatre In The Pound 08-09 season
Theatre In The Pound enters
2009 on the Tuesday 6th January!
Applications now open.
 |
Dear performer, writer, director, theatre company……
We invite you to apply for a slot in one of our
award
winning Theatre In The Pound nights.
What's the idea?
Theatre In The Pound is a not-for-profit night designed to provide an opportunity for individuals or groups of theatre practitioners to showcase or try out new work. The only immovable constraint is that events must last no longer than 20 minutes.
With the entry fee at £1 per head, Theatre In The Pound is easily affordable to all. As well as welcoming theatre enthusiasts and practitioners through the doors, £ is accessible to those who would not normally go to the theatre. It’s the perfect evening to try something new.
What's the deal?
Applicants looking for a slot in the theatre pay £10 for a slot and then
£1 per person on the door. To avoid last minute cancellations there is a
deposit system. What this means is that when you return your contract
you also send us a cheque for £50. You get your deposit back when you turn up to perform or if you
cancel up to 14 days before the show. You then pay your
£10 hire fee on the night by cash, cheque or a credit (not debit) card.
Everyone pays £1 each on the door for the entire evening, whether they
are on stage or in the audience.
Aside from enjoying an evening of new theatrical pieces, the audience help
the development of the work by offering feedback in brief discussion
sessions and via feedback forms.
Is it just for theatre?
No, not exclusively.
It's for the theatrical, but not necessarily 'theatre' in the traditional
sense. Dance, opera, performance art, musical theatre, puppetry,
performance poetry, multimedia, improv, physical theatre, and plenty more
disciplines are also welcome. Most performance styles are appropriate
and encouraged (although we're not so interested in stand-up, bands or
jugglers).
|
What dates?
Dates for the '08-'09 season are:
• Tuesday 16th December 2008
• Tuesday 6th January 2009 (this night is fully booked, subject to cancellations)
• Tuesday 3rd February 2009 (this night is fully booked, subject to cancellations)
• Tuesday 3rd March 2009 (this night is fully booked, subject to cancellations)
• Tuesday 7th April 2009
• Tuesday 5th May 2009
(in-the-round special)
You can apply using the online form
here, which asks you to nominate first and second choice of dates. Send it to us and we'll get back to you with a confirmed offer of a date/time slot - and then you sign on the line and
send your deposit of £50.
Please note that the January,
February, and March shows are fully subscribed, but don't let that put you
off applying, as we can put you on a waiting list in case we get
cancellations.
Is there a programming policy or acceptance criteria?
Not really. This idea is about enabling work - or even bits of work - to be seen when the cost of hiring an entire venue is such that regular showcasing or experimenting in a professional context is financially difficult for most people. (By the way, The Cockpit is available for hire from about £350 a night).
We're particularly interested in the work of dedicated new directors and new kinds of theatrical writing and devising but we'll only turn something down if it's illegal, breaches our licence, is totally inappropriate for the space or if we've run out of slots. Please note though that we're primarily concerned with theatre (including monologue, dance, cabaret, live art and performed poetry).
The only 'rules' are:
1) It must be no longer than 20 minutes.
2) It must be legal (IE No copyright infringements, incitement to
hatred, or anything else that threatens our licence).
3) It must be theatrically interesting (IE No stand-up, bands or
jugglers).
There is a growing community of keen Pounders, so if you need some help to fill in the gaps in your project, let us know and we’ll put the word out to help you find new collaborators.
Who decides who gets what slot?
We will sort through applications to put together a well-timed night that will work for the audience, with a theatrically intelligent mix of events; heavy and light, fast and slow, musical, fiction and new technology etc. So please use the application form to indicate as clearly as possible the kind of performance you want to bring.
Can people make repeat applications?
Yes, but see above. New applicants will be given priority
over repeat applications.
What about advertising?
Applicants are free to undertake their own advertising once we've received a signed contract and
£65. Information, logos, maps, etc are available
here. Meanwhile, we will promote £ nights any way we can including listings in Time Out, Hot Tickets, etc and our mailing lists - although we can't guarantee inclusion, press coverage or even an audience for any particular performance. In practice, £'s success will depend on word of mouth.
 What about technical facilities?
The main theatre is a black box comprising a thrust playing space, six metres
across by eight metres deep (approx) with raked seats on three sides, sixty seats a side, black tabs or white cyclorama to the rear. Black floor. There are two good, big dressing rooms backstage but limited wing-spaces.
Lighting:
Warm and cool states, downstage centre spot and (providing we know about it one week in advance) one special.
Sound:
2 SM58 mics on stands. Mini Disc and CD player.
Video:
VHS/DVD video player and projector (We can also project computer generated images but please ring us about this if you're interested.)
Technical support:
Our house technician will act as technical operator for all events in the theatre.
NB: If you need more than simple intro/outro music, sound should be provided on Mini Disc. We rarely use cassettes for shows and using several CDs or homemade CDs can be problematic. We will help you to organise your sound into the best format if given enough notice.
Your show will almost certainly be more successful if you keep it technically simple with the minimum of lighting and sound cues.
Set:
The set should be easily assembled and not consist of anything that you can't manage to carry between two people. Make sure you have someone available to carry it.
We can provide useful bits of furniture. Check with us first, but we have chairs, tables, beds, rostra blocks, etc which are generally suitable for most pieces.
What about the contract?
After we've looked over your application and all things being well we'll send you two copies of a contract signed by the £ administrator that specifies a date/time slot and commits us all to staging the event. The contract also spells out who's responsible for what. If it doesn't suit you, please ring us to discuss it. Once we're all happy you sign both copies of the contract and return one to us with the
£50 returnable deposit.
That's it!
From us you can expect a well-liked, well-run venue, all the help and
support we can reasonably provide and a friendly smile. From you we
expect an adequately rehearsed piece, punctuality - and a tenner.
Please apply. It won’t be the same without you.
Contacts
Apply
online here
back to top
|
