There’s money in theatre…

If you start charging the playwrights!

I’ve rambled before about how hard it is to get a break in this business. You have to realise the financial risks a theatre is taking on if they were to accept your play – the have actors, directors, SM, lighting directors, sound operators etc to pay for… And that doesn’t even take the costs of the venue, front of house, advertising etc into account.

But there is one thing that still makes me mad. Charging Reading Fees.

Thankfully, I have never encountered an agent that has done this. If I did, they wouldn’t gain my manuscript. But it would appear that there is a growing trend for theatres to start charging.

Okay, let’s adjust that statement – there is a growing trend for US theaters (sic) to charge reading fees. But unfortunately, what happens stateside soon migrates to the UK shores.

I read this article about this very subject, trying to put both sides of the argument. And it is well written. After all, theatres do have to stay afloat.

But why should this be done that the expense of the playwright? If there were no new plays, the theatres would go under in months. They should be encouraging new writers, not placing financial barriers in place to stop them.

Look at the cost of mailing just on manuscript to a theatre: Not only do you have the printing costs and the postage and packing… But you have to shove in a postcard for them to return to you (postage paid) so that you know that they have received it (and don’t mention recorded delivery – you do that automatically to insure the contents) and enclose the required return packaging and necessities postage. So one submission cost three sets of postage (if there were more playwrights the Post Office would never be under threat!).

But having to pay a Reading Fee on top of that!

There are days when I worry about theatre’s future. If this is one of the trends that drift across the Atlantic – we all need to worry about its future.

Quandary?

So now I’m stumped.

I really like the idea of publishing one of my plays via Print on Demand (POD). I really think that it would have such an impact when it landed on a theatre literary advisor’s desk.

But then again, I see the value in writing that pitching letter. And I also see that I have to learn a great deal to write one that would a theatre take the time out to respond to me.

Maybe I should do both: write a pitch letter and enclose a POD copy of the manuscript?

But then, feedback has told me that no theatre would be interested in my pitch as soon as they saw the cast size (I was pitching Denim by the way – see my website for more details on the cast requirements).

So obviously, that is the wrong script to be pitching!

Not according to my playwright friends. And I trust their opinion. They LOVE that play. But then again, none of them have had a professional production either.

So what should I do?

How on earth am I ever going to get a theatre to take me seriously?

To make matters worse, I was driving back from the hospital today (and before you ask – it wasn’t anything serious) and was listening to BBC’s Radio 4. I heard a programme that inspired me to write a new play. More than that! It’s the next play I am going to write. I’ll even end up stop writing my current two Work in Progresses to do so… I may even start drawing up a synopsis tonight!

One day I hope that a theatrical professional will see this blog and give me some advice.

Until then, I’ll just return to pulling my hair out…

Getting it on, getting it wrong

One thing I hate to do, is admit that I am wrong.

But just because I hate doing it, doesn’t mean that I never do it. It just means that I lick my wounds a lot.

One of the links I provide on the website is to a site that I’ve been using for many years, Writers.Net. Over the last few months, I’ve been doing nothing but lurk there, listening in to other peoples conversations (and occasionally, their arguments).

I then had an idea. I had been trying to find a new way to pitch my plays – but this time concentrating on theatres, rather than on agents. The idea was fuelled by editing the anthology of shorts a few of us are about to publish.

I then thought about publishing one of my plays, buying a few copies and forwarding it to a number of producing theatres. But was this safe – what about exclusive rights?

I checked the T&C on the website of the Print on Demand publisher that I was considering using (and NO! It’s not PublishAmerica) and all appears safe – they enable you to cancel at anytime (provided you don’t link to another publication on their catalogue).

But is it still a good idea?

Writers.Net had saved me from a scamming agent a few years ago – why not ask there?

So I did. I posted for advice and was rewarded by a response from someone that works in an Irish theatre. His point was that I needed to pitch the theatre in much the same way as authors pitch literary agents.

So I wrote a sample letter and posted it for a (massive) critique on Writers.Net. Did it get one? No – worse! 4 replies – all telling me how wrong I had got it!

Okay, I expected as much – and I received a criticism about the cast size (I posted a query about Denim, as the playwrights I talk to all said this is the one to pitch).

Can I take the criticism? Yeah! Easy. I know that I’m not perfect at this game – else there would be a number of West End Playwrights asking me for a sub until opening night.

But why is it that I feel so uncomfortable?

Again – that’s easy to explain, but hard to develop the courage to admit it.

I’m still learning.

I know that I know more than most aspiring professional playwrights.

But I still know that I have a lot to learn.

I think that I know how to write… What I have to do now is learn how to sell.

I just wish that learning those lessons didn’t make me feel so uncomfortable.

I guess it’s time to stack up a few pillows around the PC, put on some relaxing music and start writing that pitch letter again.

I wish I had listened to my dad… maybe…

I’ve rambled once before that the inspiration for Mark of a Gentleman came from a conversation with my father. He once told me to stop being a ‘nice guy’ as nice guys always finish last. But I looked at him and realised that, although he hadn’t achieved all that he wanted, he was the best role model a young man could want. So I ignored his advice.

Now I witness my peers – or should that be, the people that used to be my peers? I still sit I my job, not heading anywhere particularly fast (albeit, it’s not what I really ‘want’ to do) while my former peer have all been promoted and gain the remuneration and kudos that go with it.

Why are they so different? I can’t stop being the nice guy! If someone needs help – I help! The problem is, they are all to willing to take the credit for my work.

But it spills over to my writing life.

I know that I need to write everyday. But do I?

I have a wonderful wife and two children that I cannot believe are mine, as they make the Cosby shows kids look unruly!

When they need me (which any parent will tell you is all the time) I’m there.

And my writing…?

I need to write more. I need to pitch more.

But how do I do that and still be as good a father as my Dad?

Answers on a postcard please to…

A new year… A new drive…?

At last, Christmas is over! Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy the festive season, but it tends to go on far too long for my liking. My father-in-law runs his own shop in Salisbury and he was under pressure to get the Christmas decorations up in the store in October!

In my family, we tend to have the visit by the ‘Christmas Tree Fairy’ the night before Christmas Eve. And the decorations came down last night.

It’s not just the commercialisation that puts me off Christmas – its more the things that you are ‘expected’ to do. Not just the four hours preparing and serving the Christmas Lunch, the buying presents for relatives you haven’t seen in many years, the hours wasted writing out cards to people that you haven’t seen this millennium (but have to respond because they sent you a card last year)…

My main disappointment is my own fault. With Christmas coming, I knew that I was going to be on leave. I set myself targets of that I was going to achieve over that leave period (I have a horrible habit of setting myself goals – leading me to feeling under pressure most of the time). But I thought that I was being realistic this time; I was only going to review the script (no major edits) that I wrote with my dear co-writer and complete a scenario for a 30-min play I want to send to a TV company.

How many of those did I achieve? Yep – none!

Why? My parents descended, we had to call on 5 couples, the kids fell ill for 4 days… 14 days leave meant that I only managed to get 4 solid hours behind the PC (when the wife and kids went to visit my in-laws for the night).

Now I’m presented with a huge list that needs to be completed:

• Edit the anthology of comic dramatic shorts
• Publish the above
• Review script written with co-writer
• Edit above
• Stage read-through of above
• Re-edit above
• Enter above into competition
• Complete scenario for 30-min play
• Write 30-min play
• Submit 30-min play
• Complete scenario for ‘The Breakfast Show’
• Write above
• Find cast for Anthology
• Produce Anthology for RNTF
• Redesign Website
• Pitch agents
• Pitch theatres
• Develop theatrical contacts

Okay – I do have all year to do this… But considering that I didn’t manage to get two simple things done over Christmas…

At least one positive came over Christmas; I gave up caffeine. I can’t believe how much this has changed my life! I sleep better, I’m more alert during the day and find that I can concentrate on a single task for far longer.

Let’s hope that this new vigour ends up in my writing and development.

Now which item on that list do I want to tackle first?