Theatrical New Year started

The Bench Theatre is planning on entering the Totton Drama Festival in March 2007. Last year the company entered two plays written by our own members and which had previously been part of the Supernova event in 2005. The event itself is well organised and takes place at the Hangar Arts Centre, which is worth a visit and certainly as a performance venue for a non-professional company.
This year we have a much expanded company because of the influx needed to mount His Dark Materials. Naturally this creates a problem in how do we keep so many people interested for the rest of the season. Most of the newcomers are youngsters who are planning to go off to university or drama school in the summer but we want to keep them happy and occupied as Bench members until then. Also we mustn't forget that other members joined who are intending staying for the forseeable future. The company have already cast and are rehearsing a three hander, Frozen by Bryony Lavery, for performance at the end of February. It seemed a good idea to follow the enormous cast play with a small cast play at the time, but in hindsight perhaps this isn't the best policy. The next production on the stocks is Play It Again, Sam by Woody Allen, which is scheduled for April. This needs a larger cast and certainly the age range required is more suited to the younger end of the membership spectrum, the 20s and 30s. However the company needs to find more outlets.
Until its performances in March, the Totton drama festival entry will provide a way of engaging as many members as want to be involved. Furthermore, the company is requesting that directors consider larger cast plays, and probably ones with greater female participation, for the July and November slots (the September slot is Supernova - the Bench encourages new writing - and the whole company is involved in mounting performances of new material). My personal feeling is that this is shutting the stable door after the horse has fled! The young people going off to university and drama school will not be here in November and will probably be making other plans and arrangements in July. We could end up in the situation where we might actually have difficulty in casting plays chosen for the July and November slots when it comes to auditions. I am all in favour of the principle of looking around for plays (quality plays) with a greater number of female roles ( after all I have three actresses in my own nuclear family to satisfy) but principle needs to mix with a little pragmatism and a little foresight to avoid creating a situation which is equally problematic.
At the moment the Bench mounts productions in February, April, July, September and November (every other year the November slot becomes the December slot, as we do a large scale Christmas show, like His Dark Materials in 2006 or Christmas Carol in 2004). These five productions a year are probably all that the Arts Centre can sustain, as there are other user groups such as Dynamo Youth Theatre, Humdrum, Havant Light Opera and the Arts Centre own youth drama groups, Act One and Act Two. If the Bench Theatre had its own premises and performance venue....... ah, fantasy!
To this end I have suggested a Bench touring arm. This would mount extra productions quarterly in March, June , September and December. These productions would need to be flexible and to respond to the demands of the five main house productions outlined above. For example, every other year the touring would not take place in December, as the emphasis would be on the Christmas show at the Arts Centre. The September slot could be problematic but could be resolved if the main house production is given the priority in casting and support before the touring company. In Supernova years, the touring could be suspended or the Supernova plays could be given further performances as part of the touring circuit. The annual March touring production could be the Totton Drama Festival entry.
The touring would be to venues other than the Arts Centre. David Penrose used to lead a troupe called Cunning Plan, which performed for Hampshire colleges, and this would provide one type of venue which could be recultivated. During a recent performance of Dude, Where's My Script? (the improvisational arm of the Bench Theatre) a member of the audience asked whether we would be interested in performing Dude at their recently modernised village hall. A little bit of research revealed that there has been a huge investment programme in village halls nationally but in particular, as far as we are concerned, in Hampshire and West Sussex. Some of these establishments have facilities to rival Havant Arts Centre and Hangar Farm Arts Centre!
My intention is by June 2007 is to have found 6 to 8 venues willing to mount a performance by the Bench Theatre. We would pay for the rights and cost of production and the venue would be responsible for getting an audience ( as they would be collecting audience receipts as revenue for themselves, they would see this as mutually beneficial hopefully). The performances would take place over the period of a fortnight similar to a main house production so that the touring production is self contained. The problem is going to be rehearsal space and we may have to change our working practices in order not to impact in any way upon the main house productions. There are several ways of doing this and all need careful research and consideration, but, for instance, we could do Sundays (either independently of the main house production or piggy back, i.e. concurrently) or weekdays when the main house cannot rehearse for logistical reasons (absence of cast members or director or technical crew) or find a new venue for rehearsals. Costs need to be kept to a minimum but where there is a will there is a way. If the company continues to expand this idea would provide gainful employment for more members, if the company shrinks touring could be tailored to fit or even curtailed.