Evaluation Of Our Company Presentation

Working as part of Red Velvet Theatre was an extremely interesting learning curve. Logistically there was a huge amount to coordinate when pitching our play. Important was to establish our goals as a company and what we wanted to demonstrate through our production of violence and sons.

As production manager it was important for me to establish our companies mission. I very much focused on how this production of violence and sons would be able to reach out to the younger community. I am passionate about making theatre accesible to all different types of people but espeically those who are under represented and often miss the chance to see theatre. Due to this I worked very close to Will who was head of Education . Together we looked in detail at what charities we could work with in order to make our production meaningful to those who don't get the chance to see theatre. The Themes of the play include , normalisation of rape , violence , father and son relationships living with little money and more. Due to this there is a very big sense of broken home . Therefor one charity we were very keen to work with was the mulberry bush foundation . It not only is a charity that focuses on children growing up in broken homes but also it is a school. Therefor a perfect foundation to work with in order to carry out our companies goals.

Pulling out the contentious themes of the play was something our company felt very important. Therefor in all areas of production we were looking at ways to pull out these themes. Thus why we had such an emphasis on the set, using the themes of the abusive fathers playground to establish location. Furthermore also the location of Cardiff. This is espeically important as many big ports had a huge decline in the 20th century leaving huge financial pressure. This is clearly important background when looking at Violence and Sons and the character of the Father especially.

When presenting our idea for the play we had a very clear compas creatively. This was due to the amount of work we had put into discussing why the play was so important to us and how we would use our creative assets to present this. We also worked collectively in order to make sure that logistically our creative ideas worked. This was espeically important when we were looking at set design and props. As these things had huge potential of breaking our budget. However by looking at alternative ways to source materials we were able to overcome this. Similarly with marketing there were many costs to consider that we had not considered originally. These consisted of looking at printing costs and also costs of press events. However again we managed to utilise the companies connections in order to source places where we could get people to work as a favour , for example our Film Maker. This again cut costs massively and allowed us to keep our creative ideas.

However one thing our company did lack was detailed logistic planning. As we had a very creative focus there were things that slipped our minds during the presentation. Often it wasn't a case that we had not worked out these logistics but more that we had not explained them properly in our presentation. Detailed planning on how each sector will execute effectively is something hugely important and in order for funders to trust the company these details must be clearly ironed out. For our set we had not clearly presented how we would deal with the large shipping container. More detail of how we would take apart and put back together the container was needed. Lack of detail was largely due to our huge creative push with set which meant we forgot to focus on the more technical side. We also should have had more detail on health and safety. Broader research on marketing statistics would have also benefitted our company. Again in this case we had been creatively focused on making our posters , funny tweets and trailers . Due to this we had forgotten the importance of looking at other less creative strategies that our widely used by theatres such as newsletters , press events and using the theatre to promote.

Although our presentation lacked clarity in logistics overall we worked very well as a company to produce a high quality proposal. We were hugely creatively driven and with more time our technicalities would have been further ironed out. However we were able to keep to budget and had some really interesting ideas about making Red Velvet Theatre accessible to all. Overall I feel we executed our main aims for our company.

Our Final Budget

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qzv7VprIkUE3asFlf4i2m6EnkHbyaQ0mAXGMGESp4FE/edit#gid=0

Click the link to see our final budget for Violence and Sons. Much of our rates were based on Edinburgh equity rates. 

Our Trailer Story Board

We felt creating a trailer would be a successful marketing strategy. It would be able to reach out to younger generation especially. Younger generations are very visually accessible and therefor a quick trailer pulls there focus and allows them wanting to find out more. Our trailer would be very cost effective , using seagulls would allow no acting fee. Also we would use Nairac Peters as our film maker. As he is a close friend of our social media manager he would be willing to make the film for free. Furthermore our trailer allows us to communicate the themes of the play , showing a ship yard , violence and a very vulgar tone.

Social Media Tweets

 Using Social Media is key to our marketing campaign and ofcourse therefor boosting ticket sales. 

We created a twitter account for violence and sons and relased the following tweets ,

'Tweet us you chips ! Snap a pic of your chips in an unusual place around london to be entered for a chance to win two free tickets'

'Tell us what you think of the show using the hashtag hashtagviolenceandsons'

' " Why would I miss her , She's coming to get me any second . Listen , thats her. Here she is - Now! or any time in the next ten minutes " '

Press Release

“Violence and Son” By Gary Owen

Liam’s 17 years old, loves Doctor Who and has lost his mum. He’s had to leave his home and move to Wales, to the Valleys, to the middle of nowhere, to live with a dad he doesn’t know… whose nickname isn’t Violence for nothing.

Cast: Calvin Demba As Liam Natalie Dew As Jen Nick Holder As Rick Noma Dumezweni As Suze

'Every teenager should see this' Dominic Cavendish

Directed by Eva Sampson Presented by Red Velvet Theatre company

Production can be found: Soho Theatre: 21 Dean St, London W1D 3NE http://www.sohotheatre.com

Play dates: Monday 6th June - saturday 2nd July Times: All shows 8pm Soho Upstairs Theatre Age guidance 14+ Reservations: 020 7478 0100

Research on the Accessibility of Theatre

71% increase amongst 16-25 year olds since 2009.

With that in mind, the report also found that social media is important, playing a large part in both how people find out about theatre (word of mouth being the primary source) and how they themselves spread the word (with one in five writing reviews of shows they have seen).

The majority theatre attendees are 25-44 years old

Cost of attending the theatre is the main barrier-to-entry for both attendees and non-attendees

younger demographics are consequently under-represented as theatre audiences, despite their high likelihood to attend.

31%) 2 come from households with an annual income between £20k-£39k.

correlation between attendance and household income, whereby likelihood to attend the theatre amongst the UK population steadily increases with household income

Close to one in four (24%) Tweet about the performance they’re about to see or have already seen, increasing to nearly half (47%) of 16- 19 year old attendee

Similarly, the cost of attending the theatre is the main barrier for theatregoers as well (35%), again suggesting that with more affordable prices attendees would likely go to more performances a year

The majority (45%) of attendees pay between £30 and £59

The National Theatre Entry Pass has the highest awareness rates, though uptake was the same as the Travelex £12 tickets

Attendance is strong, particularly in London

Workshop Plan - Eduaction

Violence and Son Workshop Plan

2 hour workshop with post 16 students (16-18)

Warm Up game / introduction - 15mins - name game in a circle, 1 round with ball, 1 round names and 1 round passing an object around the circle. Then blend the three and build up. This is a fun and challenging game which warms you up not only physically but mentally and vocally. It will focus the group and get them ready for the script work exercises.

Warm Up game - 15mins - vocal and physical warm up game, ninja. Ninja is a good fun game that most people know so it won't take a very long introduction. It keeps your body warm and ready. Fun warm up games are essential and can be key for a good workshop, they introduce a bubbly fun element into the workshop and is an excellent way to get the group open, trusting and on your side.

1st exercise script work - 20 mins - between two give out a segment of  scene one for them to initially analyse, let them in pairs discuss the themes of the play before going into further detail about the characters objectives. The scene in question shall be the beginning of the play and shall include characters Liam and Jen when they first walk into the scene. It shall be interesting to see the students initial thoughts on the script and to see how that differs from our conception of the show. The students should write on the script, write about the objectives of each character and what moves the scene forward (e.g. characters emotions, feelings, responsibilities)

2nd exercise script work - 20 mins - share their ideas with the rest of the group this will be interesting to find out what they think of the script work and how they envision it. Ask what themes they see so far and what could develop throughout the play. Talk about the objectives of the two characters and what they want from the scene. Guage differing responses..

3rd exercise script work - 40 mins - leave 15 mins for the pairs to practice and then choose some to show to the rest of the group, discuss the positives of each group as well as what could improve them. Discuss how well the themes and objectives shone through in each character and also what could have been clearer.

10 mins discussion and conclusion on session - find out what they enjoyed and found useful, ask how they would put on the show and what they think happens in the ongoing scenes and what they'd like to explore more from the characters they've seen. Then invite them to come and watch the show and buy tickets!! Discounted tickets may apply to certain charities and organisations.

Education

Education is a really important point to focus on. As a company we are very focused on making theatre accessible . This means that people from all backgrounds are engaged in theatre and able to see theatre. Especially with the context of Violence and Sons so focused on backgrounds and looking at the working class we felt it very important to be able to reach out to different backgrounds. We also are focused on working with charities and schools setting up workshops to benefit young people and also to look at ticket prices and making sure these are affordable for all groups of people.

Education - who to work with

Young Enterprise - Working with Young Enterprise gives you the opportunity to directly support and inspire young people in your area and empower them with the confidence, ability and ambition to succeed.

The Mulberry Bush Organisation

Low achieving a-levels

Croydon College

Bishop Challoner School

Coulsdon sixth form college

High achieving-levels

Cambridge Tutors College

Croydon High School

Focus school - Carshalton campus

Looking At Set

With our set we wanted something that would represent the Father almost as if it were his playground. For this we looked at highlighting the bachelor feel to his flat. Using vulgar posters and very ugly cheap looking furniture. It is an environment where the son doesn't belong and is very out of place. Keeping things simplistic was important as this would highlight the different personalities of the play. We also wanted to pull focus to where the play was set. As the play is set in Docklands of Cardiff we wanted to authentically display the shipping background to the play. To do this we opted to buy a shipping container. This shipping container would unfold revealing the flat inside. Looking at different options we decided that buying a real shipping container would be necessary for authenticity. There were issues with size and price and also getting it into the theatre. However after detailed research we were able to find one that would be easily taken apart using the bolts in the side. This would allow the get in to be possible. This shipping container would also fit the dimensions of the space. The main obstacle was the price of the container at £600 pounds. However we found ways to cut back with props and costume so that this would be realistic in terms of budget.
To further highlight the docks feel to the set we opted for Hussein rugs and bits of rope inside the container.
Below is a mood board on themes for set .



Themes we were particularly focusing on were 
Industrial , Harsh , Cold and Uncomfortable. 
We also looked at making fish and chips a central theme to our set. This did add the obstacle of the budget increasing due to having to pay for extra facilities to keep the food warm for actors. However it highlighted the environment of violence and sons and also showed the father incapability to be able to nurture his son in a healthy way. 

Shopping For Props

Looking Costume

Along with props we wanted to try and keep our costume budget as low as possible. However it was also very important to keep the authenticity of the costume to the script of violence and sons. In the play costume is central to explaining character and therefor key items like Suze's red silk robe couldnt be changed.

Below is the budget for the costume .

Shoes, underwear and shoes will not be provided by the company  

LIAM  

Bow Tie - £0.88 (Trendsgal)

Shirt - £19.95 (T.M. Lewin)

Belt - £3

Trousers - £25

White Regular Fit Crew Neck T-Shirt: £2.50 (Primark)    

JEN

Black and White Chequered Tie - £2.99 (Amazon)

Black Skirt - £6 (Primark)

Bullet Proof Vest - £335 (Safe Guarding Armour) - rented   

White Regular Fit Crew Neck T-Shirt: £2.50 (Primark)

Shirt - £19.95 (T.M. Lewin)

RICK

Vest - £4 (Primark)

Mid-wash Denim Jeans - £9 (Primark)

SUZE

Leggings - £4 (Store 21)

Purple Dressing Gown - £19.20 (Dorothy Perkins)

 

Total: £116.47

Budget: £170

The Prop Working Budget

Our company decided that we wanted to spend a large chunk of our budget on set design , therefor our spending on props would be kept low in order to balance the budget.

Below is our working budget of prop spending. We are looked especially into sourcing props for free or very cheap second hand prices using sites such as gumtree.

Props Budget

Sonic screwdriver £2

Dvd box + disc £2.40 £3.59

Tv remote £0

Batteries £1

DVD player £0

Toilet paper £1

Make up

Bag £10

perfume £5

Phone x 2 £5 each

Bag of crisps £1

Six pack of cans £5

Plates cutlery £7.50

Salt & vinegar 29p + 21p

Ketchup 55p

Hairdryer £5

Cardboard box £0

Empty bottles £0

Bag for life 5p

Sleeping bag £5

Pink toothbrush £4.69

Mugs £1

mug rack £ 4

newspaper £0

kettle £0

old bed sheets £5

poster (football/an action film/topless woman...etc) £0

envelopes £1.99

food, kitchen facilities soho theatre

£76.27

First Budgeting Notes

5 weeks rehearsal, 3 week run

• Production manager in charge of the budget
• three quotes is best for costing things
• keep updated

Expenditure

Production Costs

Design

• Costume
• Set
• Lighting
• Sound

Marketing

Venue Marketing

Ad design

Flyers

Poster

Print Distribution

Trailer

Company T-shirt

Publicity Photos

Wages

• Rehearsal Wages                               

number of actors                                 4

wage per week per actor                     440

number of weeks rehearsal and run    

subtotal

number of stage managers                        1

wage per week per SM                              440£

number of weeks rehearsal and run

           subtotal

Fees for creative Team

         director’s fee

         designer's fee

         lighting designers fee

         sound designers fee

         Stage Managers fee

Total Fees

physical costs  

       set,costumes , props

       lighting

       sound

• Production Wages
• lighting control
• sound control

Education

• running a workshop
• hiring spaces
• site staffing
• Specialist carers dependant on themes of play

Venue

Free - Soho theatre , upstairs Space

Our Production Meeting One - Agenda One

PRODUCTION MEETING - AGENDA 1 - 13/11/2015’

To Be Discussed:

JODEN & RUBY

Set and Costume - Budgets, Artistic Vision

SASKIA

Present updated budget

FFION

Props Budget

WILL

Plans for workshops and how to market them

HARVEY

Discuss new marketing strategy based on new artistic vision + ideas for trailer

SEAMUS

Draft/Notes on press release

MEETING MINUTES:

Set - in thrust, fake post on floor - costs, into budget?

• More detailed plans of set, sketches
• Cheaper garden chair quotes
• Finalise dimensions and decide on 10ft/20ft container (update budget)

Costume - Look into costumes for Kevlar jacket

• £170, set aside for costume

Props - Need to evidence all costs and quotes

• Liaise with Ruby to combine ideas for props
• Look into kitchen facilities for chips at Soho Theatre

Marketing - Make company Logo

• Storyboard a trailer
• Print Distribution: Theatre, Flyers

Education - show trailer at end of workshop

• Costs are only printing for scripts and flyers
• Research schools for the workshops and what they need
• Find charities to help your education program
• Find some funding streams/grants to help with the community emphasis
• Think about community discounts