Currently proposals are held twice a year - in early December and around late May. During this process the 4 shows to be performed in the next semester are decided. This is done by teams submitting their ideas of shows to the committee and then pitching them to be voted upon by the society as a whole.

 

Proposal packs for our Spring Semester Alternative Venue Production are now being submitted with proposals taking place on Wednesday 10th February and Thursday 11th February.

 

 

How to propose a show

 

In order to propose a show there needs to be three members on the production team - A Director, Stage Manager and Producer. If any more members are required on the team for example a Musical Director in the case of a musical being proposed then the committee needs to be informed before the proposal is submitted.

 

Once a team has been formed a proposals document needs to be created and submitted in advance to the committee in both a paper and digital format. An example of successful proposals are below:

 

A Clockwork Orange

Alice in Wonderland

Frankenstein

 

The Proposals Process Explained

 

Each team will be given eight minutes to pitch their show (three of which must be about technical specifications), and seven minutes for questions from members of the society.  Contrary to popular belief, your proposal does not have to require a powerpoint presentation – more often than not, the room we are given for the sessions does not have suitable equipment for you to show it! However, it might be useful to provide visual aids.  Your presentation should include:

 

• Brief synopsis of the play and its characters, with a male:female cast ratio

• Technical requirements of the show – maybe an outline of potential ideas, whilst also allowing for the creativity of your potential designers

• Your desired week slot (to be confirmed near the time) and availability/ cost of rights etc.

• Publicity ideas that are in line with the artistic direction of the show – poster, trailer, external skits for the concourse and Fargate etc.

• Why would this show be good for SuTCo?

 

The floor will then be opened for seven minutes of questions from members of the society, after which a vote will be taken (based on the AV voting system, with the option to Reopen Nominations if a show is not felt viable).

 

Production teams must attend BOTH sessions of proposals however those voting only have to attend one session. Any and everyone is welcome to come and vote and get a choice in what is put on the following semester even if they have not been involved in projects before.

 

Proposals must be submitted in both formats by 1500 on the day before the first proposals session. The committee will be lenient on the time if contacted in reasonable time by the proposing team.

 

How to Hear About the Proposals

 

There will be messages posted on the website and via social media. There are normally Facebook events created in addition to messages. There will also be a workshop near the time where teams will be able to talk to previous proposers about any aspect of proposing. The committee are also available to contact at theatre.company@shef.ac.uk and will be more than willing to answer any questions or queries.

 

These are not the only productions that we put on in a year. We often collaborate with other committees and societies within the union to put on performances e.g. The Vagina Monologues with Women's Committee. We have also helped independent groups such as Bare Project (performing Bear with Snow at Bank Street Arts) and last year set up 'Shakespeare in the Park' which is decided by direct applications for which play is performed. If you are interested on putting on a play outside of the drama studio, however big or small, please send us an email at theatre.company@shef.ac.uk and we would love to discuss it with you.

 

Categories

 

Due to the Drama Studio slot changes from four shows per semester to three, the proposals system has changes slightly.

 

We will be running a similar system to the last set of proposals, however the category divisions are slightly different. There will be one slot per semester allocated for category A shows, and two slots allocated for category B shows.

 

Once again, we are inviting shows to categorize themselves upon proposal with consideration of the following criteria:

- scale of artistic design (tech - set - costume),

- cast size

- level of recognition (recent productions, public awareness, school syllabus text, classic text, previous publicity, cost of rights)

 

Categories:

 

A: Shows requiring financial contribution (a smaller scale production with less of a mind for bums on seats or more for experiment/risk taking – ie for example, new writing, student writing, less well known drama)

 

B: Shows only requiring financial loan (a larger scale production – ie The Wind In The Willows with an ensemble of 14 encompassing a moving-changing set and intelligent lighting or The Merchant of Venice)

 

(NB: These two categories essentially refer to as to whether at the end if the show a team have or have not broken even.)

 

Committee reviews categorization to ensure objectivity (ie in accordance with other proposals and their classifications) and if needs be; adjusts these as appropriate by agreement with the producers. These two protected categories ensure that SuTCo both supports shows that may lose money/not break even and also accepts we are under obligation to both SuTCo and The Students Union to balance this loss.

 

IMPORTANT: production teams are not held accountable for the money they may or may not make should their production be voted in. The system is simply a tool designed to aid in the protection of the funding that SuTCo is allocated and through it we may hope to ensure SuTCo can create as many creative opportunities as possible with the resources that we are lucky enough to have.

 

 

Alternative Venue Proposals

 

Autumn Semester of this 2014-2015 Academic year we are seeing a change to SuTCo’s traditional programme. Up until now, we have put on four shows in the Drama Studio per semester. This year however, we will be putting on our final show of the semester on in an alternative venue, allowing SuTCo members wishing to propose a play more creative flexibility which a different space can offer. 

 

With this new space, we really want people to think outside the box and be creative, whilst keeping within our usual budget. As we will be creating the venue ourselves in a rather blank space, you have the opportunity to consider different types of staging. Proposals will work in the same way as usual, a production team of Director, Stage Manager and Producer must come forward with their ideas at proposals, having submitted a proposal document by 12 pm on the 12th May both in paper form into the SuTCo office and a digital copy to the email account (theatre.company@shef.ac.uk) - details above. Proposals must be a maximum of 8 minutes long, with 3 minutes dedicated to technical requirements, followed by 7 minutes of questions. As this venue is new to most people, we will be taking people to have a look around the space (details to follow) and within the technical aspect of your proposal, you must include details of how you will use the space. Categorisation of your play will not be necessary for this set of proposals.

 

This semester, our alternative venue will be 

 

Gage Gallery

Kelham Island Arts Collective

The Lions Works, 40 Ball Street,

Sheffield 

S3 8DB

 

 

There are a number of differences which should be taken into account when proposing for this venue. 

 

CADs is a smaller capacity venue than the Drama Studio and therefore the audience size will be between 40-70 people depending on staging.

The entire venue inside CADs will be built by the technical team as you can see by the photographs it is simply an empty warehouse building. As this is not a theatrical venue the following is a list of things to consider before proposing as they are likely to be brought up in questioning:

 

• Staging - there is no fixed orientation or audience position. Is it going to be end on, traverse, promenade, in the round etc. Include approximate capacity

  • Set/Scenery- How complex will it be? If it’s set in the round will it obstruct sight lines etc. We have also been told that the walls (bar one) and the floor may be painted.

  • Do you need wing space for actors or items to be stored in?

  • The building is also hired for the entire day, each day of the week of the show. Would you need to spend time building anything within the space?

• Lighting - There is a much reduced capacity to light the production theatrically although every attempt will be made to do so well. There is the ability to borrow equipment from the School of English and SuTCo itself owns a number of lanterns. Please make sure you have had a think about what lighting you might need. For more details please speak to the Technical Manager James at jbailey4@sheffield.ac.uk who will be able to give you a more detailed description of what is possible.

  • Are you planning to use any floor lights/lights on a t bar at audience level?

  • Do you need to use any drapes to black box any of the space? E.g. to make wings/a cut across at the back, just tab out FOH etc

• Sound - Same as lighting: there is no sound system built into CADs.

  • What sound do you need?

    • Live band - where will they go? They will take up stage or audience space

    • CD/sound effects - need speakers, amp and desk

 

Cost

One of the reasons the move from the drama studio occurred was due to its large cost. This show will be treated in all respects identically to the three happening in the studio including budget for technical elements, publicity and ticket prices.

The venue, as previously mentioned, is less well equipped and it is therefore more important in considering venue build costs e.g. if you need drapes they cost money to hire. These costs are unlikely to come out of your tech budget however make sure that if you say you want them, there is a justifiable reason as this is an area of frequent questioning.

 

Direct any questions to theatre.company@shef.ac.uk, or:

Jonathan Cooke, Technical Officer: jicooke1@sheffield.ac.uk

James Bailey, Technical Manager: jbailey4@sheffield.ac.uk

 

 

Production Team Roles

 

DIRECTOR

 

The director… directs the show! This person has the overall artistic and creative responsibility for the show. The director will plan the audition pieces, lead the auditions (along with help from the rest of the team) and cast the show. They will cut the script where necessary, and plan rehearsal schedules alongside the producer who will book the rehearsal spaces. The director then runs the rehearsals and works closely with the cast until the show opens. They will meet with the design team and the stage manager to discuss the technical requirements of the show, and meet with the designers where necessary throughout the rehearsal process to ensure the designs are appropriate to the show and that any changes or new decisions made during the rehearsal process are communicated.  The director will be involved in all aspects of the show in some way, from publicity to tech, but will overall concentrate on the script and the actors.

 

STAGE MANAGER

 

The stage manager is responsible for the technical side of the show. They are responsible for discussing the technical aspects of the show with the director and working closely with the design team to make sure that both parties are happy and comfortable with the technical side. They will also recruit a DSM and ASMs where necessary, and find operators for the show. They will work alongside their tech officer to write the get in and get out plans and the show’s risk assessment, and will be in charge at the get in and get out, with assistance from the Technical Officer where necessary. They will attend meetings with the Drama Studio with regard to designers and designs.

 

 

PRODUCER

 

The producer is responsible for the show’s finances. They will work closely with the SuTCo treasurer who will advise them in how to write a budget application for the show, and liaise with the treasurer thereafter to make sure the show is staying within its financial limits. They will investigate the rights for the show before the proposal process and will secure them should the show go through.  The producer is responsible for finding sponsorship for their show, normally from local bars and restaurants. They will work with the publicity team to devise a publicity campaign for the show, and be the publicity force in the team getting an audience in! The producer will also be in charge of ordering things like show hoodies. They are responsible for booking rehearsal rooms and for liaising with the stage manager about the budgets for designers.

 

 

Any questions, comments or confusions – please don’t hesitate to drop us a message or arrange to meet with a member of committee.

 

 

 

Proposals for the SuTCo Autumn Season 2015/2016

 

We'll be holding proposals for next season on the 17th and 18th May from 5-10pm. 

 

Proposals for our week 3, 5 and 7 shows can be found below

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? proposed by Isaac Whiting, Elin Schofield and Yasmin Williams

Damage proposed by Ben Price, Callum Tipton and Stephen Geller

Macbeth proposed by Michael Taktak, Madison Bean and Tom Husselbee

The Snow Queen proposed by Becky Danks, Pippa Atkinson and James Bailey