5 Cheap Hacks for Theatre
5-7-13
Definition
Hack: A clever solution to a tricky problem or every day annoying task.
Putting on a theatre show for cheap can be an annoying task for any director. This week I've been working with a local school on their production of Alice in Wonderland. It was a bit of a challenge to do a big show with lots of technical elements and a large cast with a very tiny budget and a limited crew. (Myself and one fabulous Stage Manager.)
But I'm going to share with you some of our hacks that we used to make the show have more bang for it's buck.
1) Have the base of all costumes provided by the actors.
This trick saved us a lot of money and time. They provided all the basics. Shirts, pants, shoes, socks and we added all the accessories. We did hats, jackets, bowties, tutus. This made the show seem really spectacular at a fraction of the cost. We also did most of the costume purchaing on Kowloon side at the Ladies Market. It's about 1/2 the price of Pottinger St. Market. (Although it doesn't carry larger sizes for western size actors.)
2) Masks
We saved a lot of money on stage makeup by having all the characters in half masks. The students designed and made them which gave them a lot of pride in the production and it saved us lots of cash in stage makeup. Alice in Wonderland has a lot of animal characters which can add up to lots of grease paint. Because we used masks we only had to put lipstick on the cast. We bought Gatsby products and bought all our hair supplies at Sasa. We bought hair products and makeup remover wipes that were on sale to save.
3) A little sparkle goes a long way!
We used a lot of glitter in the show and bought a bubble machine for this production. The glitter and the bubble machine cost a whole whopping one hundred dollars. The audience loved both of them, especially the bubbles! A little bit of flash in your show can't hurt and will help bring up the theatricality of the production.
4) Sound Effects
Sound effects are relatively inexpensive and can help transport the audience to different locations. As a theatre artist you should have a pile of effects at your disposal ready to go. Music during the scene changes, the opening and the closing helps the show feel more lively and helps the cast carry their energy forward.
5) Paper Set
We made the set design out of paper and attached it to the white boards like you would with flats. The students then moved the flats in and out and flipped them around like you would traditional periaktois. All the paper cost us 500hkd and we used just simple spray glue, blue tack and tape to attach it. It took a lot of effort to build the set but it looked really good for the amount we spent on it. If you can't afford a big fancy set, use what you can! A paper cut out set is a completely valid options for tons of productions, especially when you're working with kids. If you have a man power problem you can always have the kids help you.
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