Start and Manage a Theatre Company
A useful guide to starting and managing a theatre company for amateur actors or students studying the unit of theatre tech in Drama.
Steps
- Find the right people for you. Try to look for people with high ability, specialising in different areas such as:
- Writing
- Lighting/Special Effects
- Acting
- Directing
- IT, Credits and Audio Visual
- Make sure you have all the resources you need. A disorganised group equals a disorganised and shabby performance. Examples of resources you need:
- Computers
- Audio Visual Software:
- Final Cut Pro X (£229.99) MAC ONLY
- Adobe Premiere Pro CC (£546.90)
- Audacity (FREE)
- Logic Pro X (Music Editing/ Composing) (£149.99) MAC ONLY
- Paper, Pens
- Printers
- A Drama Studio (Lights)
- Costumes
- Projectors
- After all of this is ready you can start planning your performance.
- You now need to decide on what play/ act you are doing. Will you write it, or not. These little details must be ironed out before it is too late. After this you need to write your scripts, get the audio and video sorted etc. Lighting people need to memorise the order and intensity of lights throughout the performance. Everyone should focus on their own work.
- Get all work together. We need to metaphorically sew all these individual pieces together to create one big performance.
- Figure out dates, deadlines and locations. Make sure that you all stick to your tasks and learn your lines before these deadlines. Understand where you will be performing. For example, performing at the Albert Hall is a very different affair than performing at De Montfort Hall.[[
- Understand your audience. Are they drama critics or ordinary parents or teachers. If the latter then you shouldn't worry about going wrong, as they will not be able to tell.
- Performance day. Lastly, do not worry. It will all go well is you have practiced and prepped. Wish you team good luck and perform. GOOD LUCK!
