Now that the show is over it feels very strange not being with Sherbet Lemon Theatre every day, I got so used to seeing that lovely lot all the time. Now, I have a few final thoughts which I would like to address here.

 
Firstly, the show went marvellously well and the reception and feedback we got from it warmed my heart. It was so amazing to see that so many people were willing to spend their money on attending our show; we worked so hard to get it where it is now so all of the hard work definitely paid off!

 
Secondly, I am so proud of the Sherby Lems for all of their hard work and dedication to creating a new, unique piece of theatre, as “investors need convincing with an attractive proposition, which means a strong creative team and an attractive cast” (Trueman, 2013), Sherbet Lemon Theatre are in a very good place. Our show is unique in the ways it invites and engages an audience, as well as presenting uniquely hilarious content. Our strength as an ensemble is also testament to the strength and dedication of our creative and technical teams. They made it very easy for me, in my role as producer, to communicate well with each aspect of production. This was largely due to our weekly production meetings where we would address deadlines and other pressing matters.

 
So what have I learnt in my role as producer? I have a new understanding for what it means to have a foot in every door, metaphorically speaking of course, and keeping a close eye on every aspect of production. All of this “comes with experience and, as a new producer, it’s the one thing you don’t have” (Trueman, 2013). I have always found working with others enjoyable so this aspect of producing came as second nature to me; people management seems to be a strong point. Managing the company budget was completely new to me, and took a while to get my head around. I have learnt the importance of writing everything down in order to keep things as simple as possible, especially when it comes to numbers. If you would like to see more about how I managed the company budget, see the blog post under the ‘Producer’ tab.

 
So what’s next? I can tell you one thing for certain; this is not the end of Sherbet Lemon Theatre! We will be back to tell you The Truth about Bedtime…

 
H.M.

 

Trueman, M. (2013) So you want to be a theatre producer? Manchester: The Guardian. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/may/20/how-to-be-theatre-producer [Accessed 27 May 2018].

With reference to Sherbet Lemon Theatre’s company manifesto: “we want to create a relaxed atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable and involved in the action around them” (Sherbet Lemon Theatre, 2018), and this is what he aimed to do throughout our process.

 
Way back, before we even had a performance topic, we knew that we wanted to do something different with our seating in order to make audience members feel comfortable, involved and close to what is happening on stage. Once we had decided on our topic of sleep, this idea of an intimate stage space was put into action. We planned to flatten the auditorium space and sit audience members on chairs which formed a circle around the playing space in which the action took place. If you’d like to read more about how our set was designed and brought to life, visit our set designer Amanda Mason’s blog by clicking on the ‘Set Designer’ tab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2 and 3 are of the set of The Truth about Bedtime…

 

As you can see from Figures 2 and 3, the layout of the set and audience created an intimate space in which all were included within the performance.

 
However, in order to create this set and produce the atmosphere we wanted, we had to cap our audience at 80 people. The downside to this is that we then automatically lowered the amount of money we would be taking in from ticket sales, meaning Sherbet Lemon Theatre would have less money towards our next show. However, we believe that our show and the lasting impact we have on audience members is worth more than the money.

 
Also, our initial 80 tickets sold out before the day of the show and when a subsequent 14 tickets were released they told out too. This gives up a good indication that there is a demand for our show, and we are in a good place when it comes to making money from ticket sales.

 
A big thank you to all those who bought a ticket and attended our show, we are very thankful for your support and we hope you enjoyed The Truth about Bedtime…

 
H.M.

As our show was beginning to develop nicely, it became apparent that Sherbet Lemon Theatre would require more than our £200 budget from the University of Lincoln to fund The Truth About Bedtime... Because we already knew that we needed more funding, myself and Emma worked together in order to put fundraising plans in place. If you would like to hear more about Emma’s role as Sherbet Lemon Theatre’s Fundraising Manager, click on the ‘Fundraiser’ tab.

 
Having somebody in charge of fundraising was extremely helpful to me in my job as producer as two heads are always better than one, especially when it comes to money. During the process I kept track of what money was spent and what money was needed, which made organising fundraising as simple as possible as we knew how much money we wanted to raise. If you’d like more information on how I managed the budget, see my blog post on the ‘Producer’ tab, alternatively, see the official budget sheet on the ‘Technical Documents’ tab.

 
Having this insight into the amount of money needed for the show was very helpful, because, if in future I wish to apply for Arts Council Funding I know how much I would practically need to put on the show. As Arts Council England state on their website, “we won’t be able to award funding to everybody that applies, so make sure you’re definitely ready to apply when you do submit an application” (Arts Council England, 2018). So, this knowledge and preparation on budgets and funding will mean that I will be prepared for the application process, and therefore have a head start, so to speak . As the process can take up to six weeks to be processed, “it is important that you factor in enough time to allow us to do this when you plan to make an application” (Arts Council England, 2016).

 

 

H.M.
Arts Council England (2018) Developing Your Creative Practise. England: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/DYCP [accessed 24 May 2018].

 
Arts Council England (2016) Grants for the Arts How to Apply: £15,000 and Under. England: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Grants_for_the_Arts_How_to_apply15k_and_under_Nov2017.pdf [accessed 24 May 2018].

“Universally, a producer ensures that a production happens on time and in budget” (Hescott, 2015), therefore, this has been my primary focus for Sherbet Lemon Theatre since the very beginning. The role of producer is a big one and involves many different responsibilities, namely production deadlines and the ensemble, however, “no one in the industry would deny that the producer does control the budget” (Baggaley, 2008).

 
I took various different approaches to organising and keeping on top of the company budget, one was dividing our University funded £200 between people who needed it. For example, Set Designer (£80), Costume and Props Manager (£50), Marketing (£50) and Fundraising (£20). Once these figures were given out it became apparent that we would need more than our assigned budget in order to fund our show. To read more about this see what our Fundraiser, Emma, has to say by clicking on the ‘Fundraiser’ tab. Alternatively, see my blog post on working with Fundraising. Once our money started coming in from Fundraising, I began to split the money between each sector as required. For example, as can be seen on our budget spreadsheet in the ‘Technical Documents’ tab, Set Design needed an extra £20 on top of the original £80 budget, this was then taken from fundraising.

 
In order to keep an eye on what was being spent and what it was spent on, I put a few things in place to ensure I was kept up to date at all times. The first was weekly production meetings which were ran by me and our Stage Manager, Chloe. These production meetings allowed us all to discuss what needed to be bought for the show, which I then made a note of and transferred it to the budget spreadsheet. My second method of keeping up to date with money spent was by sending each person with a budget a ‘mini-budget sheet’. An example can be found here: Example. I found this was the most effective way to stay up to date with things we had bought for the show as I encouraged members to keep the sheets updated after each purchase.

 

 

Costume and Props Budget

Here is an example of one of the budget mini-budget sheets.

 
Some words of wisdom to end this post:
“Whatever the job involves and whatever it’s called – producing, creating, facilitating, enabling, realising – theatre can’t happen without it” (Baggaley, 2008).

 

 

 

H.M.

 

 

Baggaley, L. (2008) What’s the Producer’s Role? England: The Guardian. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2008/apr/04/whatstheproducersrole [Accessed 22 May 2018].

 

Hescott, T. (2015) Explained: what does a producer actually do? England: The Stage. Available from  https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/2015/want-next-cameron-mackintosh/ [Accessed 22 May 2018]. 

In one of our first rehearsals we sat down to come up with company rules which we were all to abide by throughout our process. One of our main rules was to always support each other, and listen when ideas were suggested. It is extremely important for a company to work in tandem with each other and show support and appreciation towards one another, in order to be as productive as possible.

 
It is also extremely important to show support for other artists in the field. For example, as a group of women in the arts field, Sherbet Lemon Theatre understands the importance of supporting other women and celebrating successes. One way in which we showed our support and appreciation for other women in the field was by attending the Women in the Arts (WITA) Festival, Lincoln. It was a fabulous event and the Sherby Lems met lots of amazingly talented women! It was also a great opportunity to network and promote our show.

 
Another way in which we have been supporting other artists is by working closely with one of our fellow theatre companies Bleeding Edge Theatre Company. Having another company to reach out to for advice and support has been a very important part of our process, we are very thankful for all of their support!

 
Overall, I have noticed that working with other artists within the arts has really given us, at Sherbet Lemon Theatre, a sense of what it means to be a part of a company in the arts and how even a little bit of support really goes a long way. This has helped up to become the hardworking and supportive company that we are.

 

H.M.