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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 19, 2023 23:22:33 GMT
What's the difference between a 'playtext' and the script of a play? I've tried Googling the answer but the sites I've looked at seem to use playtext and script interchangeably and primarily focus on the difference between 'script' and a 'play'. So a playtext is the formal version as agreed by the writer. The script may well not quite match. A performer may go in rehearsals "I don't think my character would say mother, she would say something more casual like mum" and so change it for that specific run (even on a brand new work) but the published version may be what the writer really wants. Not necessarily I recently worked on the first revival of a script. We signed the rights contract to perform as written... We were lucky to have contact with the author and he came to a rehearsal. Turns out that the published version was not the version they performed. The script had to go to print before the end of rehearsals and so some sequences were edited and some cut completely. So we were the first to stage some of the script. So much depends on when the script is delivered to the printers... |
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Post by sfsusan on Feb 21, 2023 18:25:47 GMT
Thanks to all who answered my question about a playtext. Is it possible to have one playtext for one run of a play, then a different playtext for a different run (especially if it's some years later)?
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Post by Dave B on Apr 10, 2023 9:49:04 GMT
What is the deal with 'house seats'? I've seen a few mentions of them on here recently. Are they seats generally not put on sale in case of a celeb or journalist, or someone with some stature (alleged or otherwise) turning up on the day or putting in a late request? Do they get released on the day if not in use or are those the occasionally good empty seats you can still see at a sold out west end show?
Thanks!
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Post by alece10 on Apr 10, 2023 10:02:17 GMT
What is the deal with 'house seats'? I've seen a few mentions of them on here recently. Are they seats generally not put on sale in case of a celeb or journalist, or someone with some stature (alleged or otherwise) turning up on the day or putting in a late request? Do they get released on the day if not in use or are those the occasionally good empty seats you can still see at a sold out west end show? Thanks! Theatres usually have house seats in case of any issues such as double bookings or other admin errors. They can be sold at last minute to people in the returns queue. I remember going to see Les Mis concert and I had an upper circle seat but wasn't able to climb all the stairs. I got offered a house seat in the stalls and just paid the difference. |
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Post by properjob on Apr 10, 2023 22:09:32 GMT
What is the deal with 'house seats'? I've seen a few mentions of them on here recently. Are they seats generally not put on sale in case of a celeb or journalist, or someone with some stature (alleged or otherwise) turning up on the day or putting in a late request? Do they get released on the day if not in use or are those the occasionally good empty seats you can still see at a sold out west end show? Thanks! Yes as well as covering box office problems they are also used for the cases you listed, people who are important to the show or venue. Therefore they are generally good seats and are released for sale whenever the venue/company are confident they don't need them. That could be just minuites before curtain up. |
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Post by TallPaul on Apr 15, 2023 10:36:33 GMT
A reasonable chunk of the Theatres Trust annual income comes from the sale of what it calls 'Proprietary Seats'. Alongside rent of £417,000, in the financial year to March 2022 this amounted to £75,000. It also received an insurance pay out of £34,912 for the loss of sales during the lockdowns.
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Post by crowblack on Apr 15, 2023 10:42:29 GMT
How far in advance are theatre shows cast? I take it if it's a big name it must be timetabled some time ahead but just generally I wondered about this and with TV and film. I notice with TV and film you often don't get names announced until filming has actually started.
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Post by Jon on Apr 17, 2023 14:39:14 GMT
I know there's often competition for theatres in London but is is similar on tour? I imagine a show like Wicked and The Lion King probably are able to decide which dates they want at what venues.
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Apr 17, 2023 15:25:59 GMT
I know there's often competition for theatres in London but is is similar on tour? I imagine a show like Wicked and The Lion King probably are able to decide which dates they want at what venues. Idk about how the competition works, but I saw someone who works at the Mayflower mention on Twitter that they weren’t able to book Beauty and the Beast for that theatre because they’d already filled the available dates the show was offering (mostly with standup shows, probably because it was only just post-COVID) |
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Post by Jon on Apr 18, 2023 18:23:01 GMT
I have another touring query, is it deliberate for certain shows to only play one region? I understand for somewhere like Ireland, it's down to lack of suitable theatres and that people can travel to Dublin from both ROI and NI fairly easy but I wonder if producers of The Lion King for example know that people will travel to see the show no matter.
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Post by longinthetooth on Apr 25, 2023 17:49:48 GMT
Apologies if this has been asked before, but in this age of tickets being sent to your mobile, how does it work if one of your group is delayed in getting to the theatre? Is it acceptable to forward them the email with the ticket attachment?
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Post by alece10 on Apr 25, 2023 18:14:07 GMT
Apologies if this has been asked before, but in this age of tickets being sent to your mobile, how does it work if one of your group is delayed in getting to the theatre? Is it acceptable to forward them the email with the ticket attachment? I've done that before and usually tell the other person which seat I'm taking so that they know to get the other one scanned. Otherwise could cause an issue if one ticket has already been scanned. If that makes sense.... |
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Post by longinthetooth on Apr 25, 2023 21:43:13 GMT
Apologies if this has been asked before, but in this age of tickets being sent to your mobile, how does it work if one of your group is delayed in getting to the theatre? Is it acceptable to forward them the email with the ticket attachment? I've done that before and usually tell the other person which seat I'm taking so that they know to get the other one scanned. Otherwise could cause an issue if one ticket has already been scanned. If that makes sense.... Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the tip. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Apr 27, 2023 10:08:12 GMT
How far in advance are theatre shows cast? I take it if it's a big name it must be timetabled some time ahead but just generally I wondered about this and with TV and film. I notice with TV and film you often don't get names announced until filming has actually started. Unless an actor has been 'attached' to the play for a while for some specific reason (celeb casting, director and actor pitched the project together, playwright wrote the character with that actor in mind) it's usually pretty short notice. Anything from two weeks to six months ahead of time, with smaller roles cast right up to the wire. I've cast shows where we were still calling agents on the Friday for rehearsals starting on Monday, but only for tiny roles or last minute emergencies. For leads, well how long is a piece of string. I'm currently casting a play that starts in November, partly because they're looking for a name for the lead, and partly because the casting has rigid requirements that won't be easy to meet. |
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Post by crowblack on Apr 27, 2023 11:03:04 GMT
How far in advance are theatre shows cast? I take it if it's a big name it must be timetabled some time ahead but just generally I wondered about this and with TV and film. I notice with TV and film you often don't get names announced until filming has actually started. Unless an actor has been 'attached' to the play for a while for some specific reason (celeb casting, director and actor pitched the project together, playwright wrote the character with that actor in mind) it's usually pretty short notice. Anything from two weeks to six months ahead of time, with smaller roles cast right up to the wire. I've cast shows where we were still calling agents on the Friday for rehearsals starting on Monday, but only for tiny roles or last minute emergencies. For leads, well how long is a piece of string. I'm currently casting a play that starts in November, partly because they're looking for a name for the lead, and partly because the casting has rigid requirements that won't be easy to meet. Thanks! I used to live in a houseshare with theatre actors many years ago and it all seemed very precarious. |
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Post by anxiousoctopus on May 4, 2023 11:03:02 GMT
I heard from someone that performers in a show that has closed recently had had their contract renewed to run until October - only for the theatre to bring their closing date forwards. Obviously it depends on the specific contract but can theatre owners close a show before the contract end-date without any risk of getting into legal trouble for breaking a contract?
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Post by Jon on May 4, 2023 11:19:24 GMT
I heard from someone that performers in a show that has closed recently had had their contract renewed to run until October - only for the theatre to bring their closing date forwards. Obviously it depends on the specific contract but can theatre owners close a show before the contract end-date without any risk of getting into legal trouble for breaking a contract? It's a stop clause, I assume Access Entertainment were able to invoke it because of perhaps box office falling below a certain number over a number of weeks. |
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Post by anxiousoctopus on May 4, 2023 14:11:37 GMT
I heard from someone that performers in a show that has closed recently had had their contract renewed to run until October - only for the theatre to bring their closing date forwards. Obviously it depends on the specific contract but can theatre owners close a show before the contract end-date without any risk of getting into legal trouble for breaking a contract? It's a stop clause, I assume Access Entertainment were able to invoke it because of perhaps box office falling below a certain number over a number of weeks. Actually it was apparently because they were trying to get Les Dennis back with the aim to close in October but didn’t act fast enough before 42nd Street swooped in, so they pulled the plug early (as they weren’t confident enough in ticket sales without A Name) |
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Post by lemur on May 16, 2023 20:39:02 GMT
Hi everyone! I might be completely wrong on this but I vaguely remember reading something that said a production is required (by who or what I can't remember) to put on a certain amount of access performances depending on the length of the production's run. Does anyone know anything about this? TIA!
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Post by originalconceptlive on May 16, 2023 21:38:29 GMT
This might be more of a silly 'UK living' amnesty question, but I'm just curious, is getting around the UK by car a bit of a nightmare? I've noticed that discussion here about whether or not getting to a particular show is viable, is usually about the trains. Are roads just off the table as an option most of the time due to traffic or similar? (Of course, particular individuals might avoid driving for a range of reasons if they wish; but I just wondered if there was more to it.)
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Post by sam22 on May 16, 2023 23:02:23 GMT
This might be more of a silly 'UK living' amnesty question, but I'm just curious, is getting around the UK by car a bit of a nightmare? I've noticed that discussion here about whether or not getting to a particular show is viable, is usually about the trains. Are roads just off the table as an option most of the time due to traffic or similar? (Of course, particular individuals might avoid driving for a range of reasons if they wish; but I just wondered if there was more to it.) I don't think the roads in the UK are bad generally. Driving into London is a bit of nightmare as it is so busy so I always avoid that and suspect often when people are talking about trains it is travelling from different places in the UK to London for a show. Otherwise I don't think driving is too bad generally. The cities are obviously busier and roads bad on days like Bank Holidays..but I generally drive everywhere else in the UK without much trouble! |
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Post by profquatermass on May 17, 2023 0:09:25 GMT
Hi everyone! I might be completely wrong on this but I vaguely remember reading something that said a production is required (by who or what I can't remember) to put on a certain amount of access performances depending on the length of the production's run. Does anyone know anything about this? TIA! What are access performances? |
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Post by lemur on May 17, 2023 9:58:19 GMT
Access performances are performances suitable for certain disabilities which fit under the Reasonable Adjustments in the Equality Act.. There are around 4 different types:
Captioned - there are screens near the stage providing subtitles for those who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing as well as Auditory Processing Disorder (which I have).
Signed - a British Sign Language Interpreter stands near the stage to translate for patrons who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing.
Audio-Described - headsets are given out that provide audio description during the performance. This benefits those who are Blind/Partially Sighted.
Relaxed - the standard theatre etiquette is relaxed (such as noise allowed, people allowed to walk out) and the performance may be changed slightly (like lower volume and gentle lighting). This is for people who may struggle in a traditional theatre environment, such as autistic people and those with sensory issues. Many are also more suitable for children and babes-in-arms. There are also Dementia-Friendly performances which I believe are very similar to Relaxed performances.
While it's great to have access performances, many shows do not perform these often, perhaps only a few times a year (Frozen for example), and some not at all (such as Cabaret and Operation Mincemeat). I've been emailing a few to ask why there aren't any and getting either half-hearted apologies or no reply at all. It's a shame because I would love to go to the theatre more but I have to hope there's actually going to be an access performance on a day that I can make. Sorry to rant lol
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Post by n1david on May 17, 2023 12:48:59 GMT
This might be more of a silly 'UK living' amnesty question, but I'm just curious, is getting around the UK by car a bit of a nightmare? I've noticed that discussion here about whether or not getting to a particular show is viable, is usually about the trains. Are roads just off the table as an option most of the time due to traffic or similar? (Of course, particular individuals might avoid driving for a range of reasons if they wish; but I just wondered if there was more to it.) There is very limited parking in Central London, and where there is can be expensive - even where I am which is outside the very central zone on-street parking is £6/hour, add to that the Congestion Charge which is £15 if you drive into Central London before 6pm in the evening, so if you want to eat before a show, you could be looking at £40 or so before you start thinking of petrol prices (which are higher in the UK than many countries). London has excellent public transport so even if you're coming from outside London you might choose to drive to a suburban station and get public transport in from there to avoid the parking hassles. Outside London it's less of an issue and some theatres (e.g. Chichester) have large car parks and it's obvious after a show that most people have driven there. Having said that, I live in London and would normally try to take the train to a provincial theatre to avoid the hassle of finding parking, etc. |
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Post by sfsusan on May 19, 2023 20:27:31 GMT
I'm just curious, is getting around the UK by car a bit of a nightmare? I think this holds true even outside the UK when talking about heading into a major city where decent public transportation is offered. In New York City, for example, I would think most people coming in from the surrounding areas would take transit to the theater. |
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