Edinburgh Quaker MeetingHouse

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1 Edinburgh Quaker MeetingHouse 7Victoria Terrace EdinburghEH1 2JL Tel: Fax: Website: Dear Friends; Here is our Venue information for the 2009 Festival Fringe (August 10-29), including seating and lighting plans for the theatre. Venue 40 is a friendly venue ideally situated at the tourist heart of Edinburgh, on a terrace above Victoria Street, close to the Castle, the Royal Mile, the Grassmarket and the Fringe Office. We provide full length blacks around the stage area, a 65 seat rake, a basic manually operated lighting rig to the plan enclosed and a manually operated sound system with CD player, mini-disc player (and tape deck if required). It is usually possible for you, in consultation with our technical manager, to add to the lighting and sound system to meet particular requirements. We offer standard two-hour theatre slots, with five performances each day, so there is usually reasonable get-in and get-out space between each performance. We only offer complete weeks and we only operate in Weeks 1, 2 and 3. We ask that no performance lasts more than 1.5 hours unless there has been special negotiation. The Venue is closed on Sundays, but available for rehearsal during the afternoon and evening by agreement. This Quaker Meeting House is home to a large and active Quaker Meeting. Modern British Quakers are of a tolerant and open-minded disposition and are particularly concerned with issues of peace and reconciliation, of social justice and of integrity. In putting together our Fringe programme, we are looking for balance and quality and wish to avoid material which is gratuitously offensive or which conflicts with our values. We aim to construct a programme which includes drama and comedy and we are particularly interested in attracting shows suitable for children and families for the morning and afternoon slots. All our venue profits go to charity. If you would like to be included in our 2009 programme, please use the form on our website or complete the enclosed response pro-forma and return it to us as soon as possible. We start programming in January and hope to complete the process by early March. In the meantime, please don t hesitate to contact us if there is anything you wish to discuss. With good wishes Anthony & Sue Buxton Meeting House Managers

2 Venue 40 FESTIVAL FRINGE 2009 Our accommodation includes in addition to the theatre: - a spacious foyer, where we run the box office and where there is room for promotional displays; - a vegetarian café next to the theatre; - small changing rooms and limited costume/prop storage space. Our staffing includes Managers resident throughout the year and a support team of box office and house staff throughout the Festival. Theatre slots: we offer 2 hour slots each week day (Monday to Saturday) leaving time for get-in/get-out, rehearsals etc - 1: : : : : Week One: Week Two: Week Three: Monday 10 to Saturday 16 August Monday 17 to Saturday 22 August Monday 24 to Saturday 29 August Charges per slot per week: 11 am 1 pm 780 per week 2 pm 4 pm 850 per week 4 pm 6 pm & 6 pm 8 pm 910 per week 8 pm 10 pm 850 per week Charges include: - All pre- Festival arrangements and advice; - Services of box office and house staff, including house ticket sales and programme distribution; all money taken by us for your ticket sales will be passed on to you with no deductions, other than performing rights charges, at the end of your run. - Publicity displays in foyer and window space: we arrange displays in consultation with you; - Full details of your production will be given a page in our house programme and on our venue website;

3 - The printing of all venue tickets for your show; - Technical support and back-up : our house technician will be present when you set up to advise and support and will be available to trouble-shoot during your run; - Rehearsal space in theatre : we arrange a rehearsal schedule in consultation with all the companies performing here; - Dressing room space, though space is very limited and often shared with another company; props storage space is similarly very limited and it is essential, as with most Fringe venues, that you travel light. - Public liability insurance. Charges do not include: - Technical staffing of your show: if you would like the services of our technical manager, this will need to be arranged in advance; the charge is 45 per slot or 225 per week. - Insurance for your property you need to take care of that yourselves. - Performing rights fees. The arrangements for this year have not yet been finalised. In the past this has been arranged by the Fringe Society through us and companies have needed to complete a form for us, whether they have fees to pay or not. Theatre Layout This is a small black box theatre with performance area at floor level and a steep seating rake giving a good view from all the seats. Three sides of the stage area are hung with full length blacks, which hang about 30 cm from the walls. The performers stage entrances are down-stage left and right, coming either side of the seating rake. There are no wings and no upstage or side stage entrance. The rear of the rake is high enough to enable performers to wait underneath it (where costumes for changes may be hung and props kept) and to access either stage entrance. Actors can be seen by the audience when they about half way along the side of the rake. The stage floor is matt honey maple. Most companies are happy to use this while some prefer to bring a floor cloth. The ceiling is 4.1 m above the stage. The lighting bars hang about 3.8 m above the stage area. The working stage area is approximately 7.0 m wide by 4.5 m deep. (The depth from step at front of rake to blacks at back is 4.9 m, the width between the blacks at the back is 6.5 m.)

4 Photographs of the venue and theatre are available on our website. The theatre is equipped with manually controlled sound and lighting systems. It is possible to modify the lighting system for your show, in consultation with our technical manager. The equipment we hire each year may change. If you are brining items yourself to supplement the basic rig (e.g. gobos) please consult with us to ensure compatibility and avoid disappointment. We have an additional space that can be made available for theatre workshops or for talks given by companies wishing to expand on themes or issues raise in their productions. If you are interested, please contact us for for further information and to discuss what you would like to do and whether this is possible. The Venue is staffed throughout the year. Messages left on answer machine, fax or will normally receive a prompt reply. Personal callers are welcome; telephone to make an arrangement. We shall require from companies who make successful applications photographs and programme copy for our Venue Programme by Monday 20 April. Anthony & Sue Buxton Meeting House Managers

5 ADVICE ABOUT PERFORMING ON THE FRINGE (especially for Fringe virgins) GETTING AN AUDIENCE AND REVIEWS If you are successful in booking space in our theatre we will do all that we can, within the terms laid out in our Venue Pack, to make your experience a positive one. But you should be advised that, with the huge number of shows being staged in Edinburgh during Festival time, your main challenge, once you have ensured the high quality of your production, is getting both audiences and media critics into the theatre. The central location and reputation of this venue are an encouragement, but nothing can replace the work you will need to do to ensure an audience and reviews. We and the Fringe Office can advise but we cannot do this work for you. Putting your own publicity machinery in place should be a key part of your preparation. We do not recommend that you use a flier and poster distribution company; in the experience of other companies this is an expensive and not very effective way of making your show known. Nothing is better than your own direct contacting of media, using any particular angles which will be newsworthy and press write-ups from previous performances. Similarly, your own direct distribution of posters, fliers and street theatre, just before and during your run are essential, if you are to make a mark in a city which is overbrimming with competition. Do talk to us; we have onthe-ground experience! We recommend A3 and A4 portrait posters. PRICES AND PROGRAMMES We recommend that ticket prices don t exceed 8 ( 6 concession) and that you provide programmes free of charge, and keep them simple (unless you have sponsorship). We are happy to distribute programmes to the audience prior to each show. TRAVELLING LIGHT We have, in common with many Fringe venues, very limited green room and prop storage space. You will probably share space with other companies. It is essential that you come with lightweight, quickly demountable and fire-proofed sets and simple props. You may have only 15 minutes get-in and get-out time at either end of your show. We require, at the time of contract, details (including dimensions) of set equipment and large props and of any special effects you plan to use. Fire regulations and inspections are rigorous. Smoking on stage is prohibited under Scotland s smoking ban, and we do not permit naked flames (e.g. candles). FRINGE OFFICE APPLICATION We recommend that you consult closely with us while completing paperwork for the Fringe Office, to avoid later misunderstandings. Anthony & Sue Buxton. Meeting House Managers.

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8 Edinburgh Quaker MeetingHouse 7Victoria Terrace EdinburghEH1 2JL Tel: Fax: Website: APPLICATION FOR THEATRE SLOTS FESTIVAL FRINGE 2009 Please use block capitals Name of Company Title of Performance Name of applicant Address Telephone No. Day Home Fax No. Slots requested MARK CLEARLY IN EACH CHOICE BOX: a. Which week(s) you want: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 b Which slot time you prefer: , , , First choice: Second choice: Third choice: Company information (e.g. past productions, reviews) (For new companies only)

9 Outline of Subject Matter/Content (NB We may request a copy of the script before issuing a contract and will require full details of set, props, lighting, sound and special effects requirements at time of contract.)