Harnessing People Power!

Sheryl Watson looks at ways to recruit and manage volunteers in your theatre company.

Many theatre patrons are blissfully unaware of the number of people involved behind the scenes in getting a production “on the boards.” Even staging a play with a handful of actors can necessitate the support of thirty or more enthusiasts in the various production areas. To get a play or musical from first read through to opening night, on to the performance season and final pack-out, a kaleidoscope of skills are needed.
Whatever your talents, they can be made good use of at your local theatre and what you give in time and effort you get back ten fold in so many ways – life experience, camaraderie, a sense of community and the excitement of joining with talented and interesting people, all working together for a common goal.
There is an incredible opportunity to gain new skills without the constraints of a huge financial investment and also to branch out into other areas of expertise such as sound, lighting, wardrobe, props, stage crewing, publicity, and the list goes on.
Skills learnt can open up new doors to you in professional careers. Many well-known performers of stage, film and television, and those who have careers in the technical and production side of the performing arts, got their start at their local community theatre.
When staging a play, musical or any other theatrical entertainment, a good production assistant or production manager is crucial and can be likened to the axles of a car; keeping the artistic team, cast and production team all heading in the same direction while helping to prevent the wheels from falling off. This person needs to be a real people person who can help smooth ruffled feathers, lend a compassionate ear, be incredibly organised, solve problems before they occur and keep the real world out as much as possible for the duration of the journey.
Passion for the project must be uppermost when choosing a team to produce a show. Everyone involved must be committed and reliable, as the smooth running of a production cannot afford weak links.
When choosing heads of departments for the various production areas it is important to enlist the help of people who can attract others with their enthusiasm so that you have workable sub-teams within the overall team.
The “team” element cannot be over-emphasised, as you cannot have a successful and happy show without it. It takes more than one person to make a show even with a solo performance.
Some cost-free or low-cost ways of recruiting new members include editorials in local newspapers or magazines, having a chat about theatre activities on radio talk-back or community television programmes, placing “help wanted” posters around your district, asking other community organisations to include recruitment notices in their newsletters and making use of the many websites and chat rooms with a focus on theatre.
Another great way of raising new interest is by having an “Open Day” where the public are invited to come and tour your performing arts venue or club rooms and observe all the production departments in action.
Put photos of past productions on display, run demonstrations of stage make-up application, have props and wardrobe displaying their skills and have your theatre technicians explaining the wizardry of light and sound. Open up your set building area for the day so that visitors can learn more about set design and construction while having your set painters demonstrating a variety of set decorating techniques. It is also of great interest to the public to observe a director, musical director or choreographer working onstage with performers and these aspects would be worth including in any Open Day.
Getting all the pieces to come together is a real achievement for all involved and this is where the satisfaction lies. Amazing and magical things can happen with the power of people. You only have to compare the average final dress rehearsal to the opening night of any show to realise this.

Sheryl Watson
Manager – Playhouse Theatre, Glen Eden
Waitakere City, West Auckland
enquiries@playhousetheatre.org.nz