Hey, thanks for not only checking out Confrontational's website, but following the link to our new blog! General overview on who we are and what we do is on the site, but here would be the place to get into a bit more detail on the nuts and bolts. So that's what this post will be. Look for another post soon about our upcoming show, the hostage drama by Lee Blessing, Two Rooms.
It is our fervent hope that Confrontational will continue to be a strong contributor to Seattle's wonderful theater scene, and that as our presence expands this blog will be a useful resource.
How It Works
Confrontational exists, on one level, to prove and continue proving that a specific business plan can work in theater, and even more so, that theater can work as a business, rather than as a non-profit. After working in theater for a number of years and seeing what, to me, really didn't work, I had some strong ideas as to what would.
One problem is that traditionally, small theaters operate like big theaters, only...and try to keep up here...smaller. Thinking about it now, I don't think that works or offers best practices for anyone. You can't run a garage startup like Microsoft and vice-versa. I wouldn't run a bar with a twenty-person capacity the same way I would run a bar that could hold more than 100 people. And so on. But that's what small theaters tend to do, try to put on four-week runs of shows, which, especially if you're renting space, means you can be really deep in the hole before you even start.
To me, it just boiled down to the overhead. The hardest part of starting a theater company is building an audience. Unless you make an incredible splash, as New Century did a few years ago with their debut, The Adding Machine, it's going to be a process. That process means you shouldn't assume you can sell out three whole shows, let alone three whole weekends. Instead of doing an extended run, create an event over a single weekend, and really make it an event. Make sure people know that if they miss it, they really missed out. Every performance for Proof cost $200 to turn the lights on and pay for the rights for the script. For one weekend, that wasn't a crippling amount of money. Planning to do that for three or four weeks, before we even open the doors, is a much, MUCH bigger amount of money.
Now, there are strong arguments against this. Plenty of people will definitely miss the show if you have such a small window. Some people just won't be in town that weekend, or what have you. Even if we sell out every show, we're not in a position to spontaneously decide to extend a run. Until we start doing more shows, we'll never be eligible for a Gregory, the Seattle theater awards. You need to run for three weekends or 12 performances to be on their radar and have someone officially attend your show. Unless you can get a critic to come to a rehearsal, you'll never get reviewed, or if you do, who cares, since the review will be for a show that has already closed?
There are a few other specifics, but really, the business plan we work through makes it so that if we sell out just one performance, we're basically in the black. No one's getting rich, maybe no one ever will, but the producer gets his money back, plus his return on investment, and there's some profit to divvy between him, me, and the actors and other helpers.
It is our fervent hope that Confrontational will continue to be a strong contributor to Seattle's wonderful theater scene, and that as our presence expands this blog will be a useful resource.
How It Works
Confrontational exists, on one level, to prove and continue proving that a specific business plan can work in theater, and even more so, that theater can work as a business, rather than as a non-profit. After working in theater for a number of years and seeing what, to me, really didn't work, I had some strong ideas as to what would.
One problem is that traditionally, small theaters operate like big theaters, only...and try to keep up here...smaller. Thinking about it now, I don't think that works or offers best practices for anyone. You can't run a garage startup like Microsoft and vice-versa. I wouldn't run a bar with a twenty-person capacity the same way I would run a bar that could hold more than 100 people. And so on. But that's what small theaters tend to do, try to put on four-week runs of shows, which, especially if you're renting space, means you can be really deep in the hole before you even start.
To me, it just boiled down to the overhead. The hardest part of starting a theater company is building an audience. Unless you make an incredible splash, as New Century did a few years ago with their debut, The Adding Machine, it's going to be a process. That process means you shouldn't assume you can sell out three whole shows, let alone three whole weekends. Instead of doing an extended run, create an event over a single weekend, and really make it an event. Make sure people know that if they miss it, they really missed out. Every performance for Proof cost $200 to turn the lights on and pay for the rights for the script. For one weekend, that wasn't a crippling amount of money. Planning to do that for three or four weeks, before we even open the doors, is a much, MUCH bigger amount of money.
Now, there are strong arguments against this. Plenty of people will definitely miss the show if you have such a small window. Some people just won't be in town that weekend, or what have you. Even if we sell out every show, we're not in a position to spontaneously decide to extend a run. Until we start doing more shows, we'll never be eligible for a Gregory, the Seattle theater awards. You need to run for three weekends or 12 performances to be on their radar and have someone officially attend your show. Unless you can get a critic to come to a rehearsal, you'll never get reviewed, or if you do, who cares, since the review will be for a show that has already closed?
There are a few other specifics, but really, the business plan we work through makes it so that if we sell out just one performance, we're basically in the black. No one's getting rich, maybe no one ever will, but the producer gets his money back, plus his return on investment, and there's some profit to divvy between him, me, and the actors and other helpers.
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