Angels in America!

[LK Today]

Firstly, congratulations to David, Ali and the whole cast and crew of Angels In America for a job very well done. I unfortunately had to run off early, due to RAG Week / Mr St Andrews stuff, but what I saw was great, and I have had many excellent reports.

Venue 1, I will agree, is not an ideal theatre space. Far from it, but if Angels proved anything it is that good stuff can be done in there. Mermaids, of which I am very proud to say I am a committee member, is a thriving subcommittee, with a huge team of extremely dedicated volunteers, who make it what it is. I am not talking only about the committee, but the douzens, maybe hundreds, of people who direct, produce, act, stage manage, light design, sound design, house manage, publicise and do many other jobs which makes the St Andrews theatre scene so good. These people use the resources to the best of their ability. Why? Because that is what student theatre is all about.

Yes, it would be lovely if we had our own theatre, but the fact we don't encourages people to think outside the box, to look at venues which are slightly ghetto and non-traditional, making the whole experience, in my opinion, much more fun, fresh and exciting. Part of why I was so happy with Hedwig And The Angry Inch was that it proved you can use a tiny back room of a ub, and make it something special. A theatre would mean one type of layout for every show, which people would get bored of really soon.

As much as we may like to think that the 'union' (how are we defining that?) don't support us, they really do. Chris Marks was the sound technician in the first show I ever did here (along with Phil Reid) and has helped me out on every one ever since, even Into The Woods, which was in Venue 1 during his sab term. David is helping greatly in the Showcase preparations, and came to see my last show, and, if I'm not misled (I hope not David) might be making his theatrical debut sometime soon himself!

So guys, with LOADS of shows coming up this semester, in a range of venues throughout town, let celebrate in the fact that St Andrews has one of the busiest and most exciting theatre scenes of any university in the country, and not pick holes in it, or it's relationship with 'the union'.

Please, enjoy what I see as perhaps the most exciting semester in theatre since I've been here!

Oh, and well done again to Angels!

[AR]

i agree that the sheer number of shows this semester is something very exciting, but I do think its important to raise these issues.

The fact that most threads about theatre turn into a rant is at least proof that people would like to see more cooperation. At the end of the day, new venues are exciting but its still a shame that we dont have a space where we're entirely welcome- other than the crawford, who's fate is not yet known. It's frustrating, and I wish that everyone could work together instead of feeling sometimes like if youre on Mermaids that youre the enemy. Maybe it's just paranoia, but I know I'm not the only one who feels it.

[hr]

"Well la de dah... la de dah"
--annie hall

[v1]

For example: THE CHRISTMAS BALL, which the union did everything to try and stop happening.
Mermaids this year is up in profits due to various productions MAKING MONEY and the ball. We make the absolute most from our resources except we can't because the union won't work with us.

I think that you may well find AR the the union actually helped you save money with the ball in various guises, trust me a lot of money.

Theatre clearly doesn't matter to the union, no matter how many students love it and are involved.

But from my experiance with theatre here at the union, i think that the union does care about theatre, but what most people forget about the union is that V1 is a multipurpose venue, that can house numerous different types of events, ranging from Plays to comedy nights. And i think the union does try its best to treat each and every event the same.

But as with most people comments i think, that the tech's for angels in america should be given a huge round of appluase for all what they went through

[AR]

wow, 'unregistered user', you know an awful lot about union finances. It seems odd you dont have a sinner name by now if youre so knowledgable.


[hr]

"Well la de dah... la de dah"
--annie hall

[LonelyPilgrim]

Venue 1 isn't hopeless. Gondoliers worked well in the space, and from hearsay I understand that Cabaret did as well. For the right type of show, it's a workable space.

As for Union finances in regards to theatre societies, it's a joke. I was involved in Gilbert and Sullivan and spent time on the Committee as Treasurer last year. Due to our tendency to turn profits we were not well liked by the powers that be, and were regularly informed that we had too much money in our account and that it might be necessary to appropriate some of our 'hoard'.

Never mind that our shows were expensive to put on. We may have had a lot of money, taken on face value, but in practical terms we only had enough funds to cover two years of operation, in the event of a disasterous show. That's good business sense, in general, but for something as fickle as the theatre world, it's a risky margin.

When we chose to perform in the Byre it was to make profits, since we inevitably lose money on the winter performances and other sponsored events. Every few years, we'd replenish the coffers by using the Byre's space. When performing in Venue 1 we'd aim not to make a profit, by design. We saw no reason to turn profit, and have to hand 33% of that profit over the Union on top of the flat fee we paid to use the space. Rather, we would go all out on the show and try to put on the best show possible, minimizing our profit margin. I never thought I'd see a society cheer upon recieving a financial report detailing loss until I was involved in Gondoliers and understood the situation.

Obviously, despite the setbacks and hurdles imposed by the Union, G&S and Just So do alright. However, why does St Andrews not have a dedicated dramatic society? Musicals are all find and dandy, but plays suffer in St Andrews by being entirely a matter of ad hoc affairs with no steamlined process of production. Considering the sharp costs imposed in staging productions and the difficulty in building up capital for future production due to the appropriation of earned profits, I don't think it's likely that such a society would easily emerge. And the lack is felt.

To sum up, Venue 1 works, for now, as a theatre space, and it's understandable that no one wants to see a dedicated theatre built. Not to mention that I suspect the Byre might try to block any such construction. However, the rules and policies governing SA/Union relations with theatre societies need to be overhauled. The cost to rent Venue 1 is too high for the lack of quality in the space. For once I'd like to see the Union/SA pro-actively do something for the culture of St Andrews rather than organising itself entirely around charity, laudable as that may be.

[hr]

I sing of arms, and the man...

[Midget]

Have just watched the video. It is too long. However there are some really really good performances. Harry Giles is awesome, although apart from the accent the character isn't that far off a rather OTT version of his real life self -I hope that isn't mean Harry, I really liked your character very real, you and Austin are great although it wasn't exactly the most cheery thing to watch and I don't think its helped my current feeling of crapness. Mr Mills was very convincing too.

[hr]

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