Are You Stage Ready?

Hello and welcome to Stage Ready. We are a new and exciting non professional theatre production company and we are looking to put on our first ever show, hopefully in the Sussex/Surrey area and around May/June of 2025. We are calling out to find motivated, talented individuals to join us on this magical journey.

This is a lengthy post, but we’ve been thinking about our launch for a long time and we want to nail our doubloon to the mast as it were so you get an idea of who we are. Perhaps if you get to the end and we ask the question again ‘are you Stage Ready?’, you may well want to say ‘Yes.’

The first thing to say is that you will not be paid for this. We will be running the show on an amateur basis with Actors, Creatives & Back Stage all working for free. We may have to pay for certain professional services along the way, but as much as possible we are hoping to find passionate people who are on a journey for themselves and want to be part of a great production. So sorry to say that if you are looking for a paid gig, this project isn’t for you.

We’re still in the process of deciding exactly how we’ll set up the company legally, but we’re pretty sure initially we’ll incorporate as a Limited Company, with a view to becoming a Community Interest Company if things go well. I personally will be putting in quite a bit of money to get things going, but also we’ll be exploring a number of funding sources from investment, crowdfunding, sponsorship, advertising and grants; we will aim to recoup if we can. And if there’s any Theatre Angels who happen to be reading this, we’d love to hear from you.

In return, we hope to offer you a wonderful, rewarding experience that you will be proud to put in your portfolio and be keen to come work with us again. We are not running an Am-Dram club and there is no membership or ‘pay-to-play’ fees – just your time, dedication and professionalism. Stage Ready will be run as a Non Professional Theatre Production Company, very much akin to the wonderful Pitchy Breath Theatre who we love to the moon and back and without whom we would not have the belief to move forward ourselves.

A very good question, and one which we want to answer within the next month or so. Our aim is to get some willing souls on board from the start and help us in the decision process. We’d like to keep an open mind, but we do have some guidelines that we want to work within and which will give you an idea of the direction we’re heading.

• We’re looking to put on a play, maybe a play with music, but not too much music – we would not want to do anything that would need a Musical Director or a band.
• We’re from a Techie background, so we want to consider plays that are interesting for lighting, sound & set design. All three can be minimal, but they must be interesting and must be integrated with the overall play.
• Not too prop heavy, something with easy scene changes.
• We don’t want it too long – around the 2 hour plus interval mark feels about right.
• Nothing that involves children – we love ’em but don’t want to get into chaperoning for the moment.
• We’re not interested in panto, village hall farces, murder mysteries, door slammers etc. Nor do we want to put on an old blockbuster TV sitcom – all are great and no judgement here, just not for us.
• Not that interested in religious stories or anything too allegorical.
• We love a classic, but it has to be relevant today – perhaps a modern adaptation.
• We love comedy, but we’re thinking of something a bit more dramatic with a bit of comic relief.
• Modern is great as well.
• Will consider original work, but you’d need to sell us the vision first – it’s not a script competition.
• We’re going for a cast size from 5 to 10 physical actors, don’t mind a bit of doubling. Something with a wide range of playing ages.
• It should be something that you could take your teenage children to watch. That doesn’t mean we shy away from controversial issues, but things should be dealt with in an intelligent, trigger aware way. Not too gory, not too sweary, not too sexy I suppose.
• Needs to be engaging and relevant for a diverse modern intelligent audience – it needs to get bums on seats darling!

Nothing is set in stone of course and perhaps we don’t really know exactly what we want until we see it. We do have a couple of scripts that we’re very keen on, but we also thought we’d throw it out there to see if anyone can wow us. In the end if you have a passion for a great story and a vision about how to touch an audience, we’d love to hear from you. Also, if you’d like to be part of a review panel/reading group please do get in contact. We’re hoping to make a final decision by the end of September as venues like to know the show before they will let you book.

We haven’t decided on a theatre yet, but we have been very busy over the last few months visiting a variety of venues with a view to hiring for our show. We are also aware that we would need rehearsal space nearby. As mentioned above, any hiring venue would most likely want to know what we want to perform. In terms of timeline, we’re sort of going for May/June 2025, but many theatres are starting to get booked up, so it may be that we have to push into July/August 2025. In many ways it’s a bit chicken and egg because it sort of depends upon the show we pick and who puts themself forward to be part of the crew, but we know that there’s lots of variables here and lots of hurdles to jump; one way or another, with the right people, we’ll jump them. Here’s some musings so far:

• We’re based in Crawley, West Sussex, so ideally we are looking for a venue in a 30 mile radius. Preferably in a decent sized town with easy access via public transport as well as ample parking.
• Minimum of 120 seats, Max 200. Around the 150 seat mark would be great.
• Must have a decent lighting rig with the right cabling, both on stage & FOH. We would want to add to the standard rig as well.
• Must have a good PA/Sound System.
• Ideally somewhere with a bar and friendly bar staff. FOH staff/volunteers also very important.
• At the moment we are not interested in open air theatres.
• We do love the idea of a Proscenium Arch, but it would have to have decent wing space. But we could work with a Studio/Box also.

If you know of a great theatre that might be a good fit, or you happen to work for a hiring venue that you think is a good match, please get in contact.

We want to build a strong, dedicated and passionate team of leaders who will make every aspect of our first show come alive. Ideally we’d like to have a nice mix of seasoned experience and newbie enthusiasm, with both sides of this coin being respectful and responsive to each other. We quite like the idea of having an advisory group, so perhaps you have experience but not so much time, but could help by dipping in and out in a mentoring role. It’s very important to us to have a company that provides a supportive space with opportunities for people to grow.

Could you help us with our graphic design or marketing? Maybe a role for a student who’s creating a portfolio and who wants to be part of a slick, professional campaign? Give us a shout and tell us who you are.

Or perhaps you’re a photographer or videographer who would like to get some exposure and would like to join us on this wonderful journey? Ping us a message.

Would you consider becoming part of our review panel and help us decide on the best script for our show? Or maybe you can spare a bit of your time as an advisor or mentor? We really would love to hear from you as it’s great to brainstorm against clever people.

For techies and backstage crew, it may be a bit too soon for you to sign up, but still let us know that you’re out there and may be interested as we’d love to have a pool of professionally minded peeps to call on.

Maybe you’re still a bit dubious and don’t want to commit without some firmer details, in which case could we ask you to sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media? Even a like and the occasional share, or a cheeky lil’ comment on one of our posts will go a long way to getting us up and running.

My name is Richard John Harvey, you can find me on Facebook here. I’ve only been involved with theatre for about 3 years but I am well and truly hooked. I initially got involved after I got divorced because I have a passion for writing and wanted to learn a bit more about drama. I first got involved crewing for an Am Dram panto, but before I knew it I’d mentioned that I could put up a stud wall and there I was building a set. Also I got my first taste of running the lights for a small production, which really tied in with my background in IT. Since then I’ve been involved in a number of set builds, I’ve crewed for some larger operatic societies, and I’ve had the chance to run Sound and Light for a number of shows. I’ve directed a private showing of Chekhov’s The Proposal, which I really enjoyed. I’ve also tried my hand at acting which I must admit is not really my thing.

We set up Stage Ready for two reasons. The first being that we want to offer our services as freelance technicians and set builders, and we are just starting to get a few paid gigs which is really rewarding.

The second reason is that we wanted to put on our own production, and we want to do it in our own way with a group of like minded people. We want to be part of the magic, we want to create those moments when a play and the actors connect with the audience and evoke tears, laughter, anger, love & jealousy. So now, here we are, hoping to pull together a team so we can put on our first show. Thank you for reading all the way through, I hope you don’t mind me asking you again – ‘are you Stage Ready?’