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The first thing that I will have to say about starting a new group is that you must be aware of how much work is actually involved. The group doesn’t just occur in your life during the rehearsal times … it is more likely to take over the majority of your life and have a huge impact on your spare/social time.

I’m definitely not trying to put anyone off from starting a new amateur dramatics group, however I’m also not going to kid people into thinking it’s easy – because it isn’t!

Below I’ve put together a few top tips, which helped me when I started my own amateur dramatics group in Sept 2001 – they are useful things to think about when starting your group …

Do the preparation – don’t just leap into setting up a new group – the secret of longevity is the basis and ethos of the group … think about if your having any rules / regulations – will you have age limits, what are you going to perform, when will you rehearse, where will you rehearse, how many people do you want in the group? If you think about these before hand it makes it so much easier to attract members and keep the group running smoothly.

Amateur dramatics group tend to attract people who are wanting to have fun and enjoy themselves, however you do tend to find there are people who turn up to cause hassle or bitchiness – sometimes there can be a lot of politics … don’t let this put you off…instead explain to people that this won’t be tolerated and you are not scared of ejecting people from the group – be up front and honest … it cannot then backfire on you.

There are some legalities to think about before hand…you must get Public Liability Insurance and it can cost a few hundred pounds, also will you have sound equipment/lighting rigs etc – you will need to insure them too. If you are allowing children in your group then you should perhaps talk to the local school/youth centre about police checks for your members … again just to be careful.

Approach other groups and let them know what you are planning they may be able to help you. Lend you equipment, give you advice, get you in contact with relevant people in the community etc.

You will need to raise funds … there are a number of options to do this:

• Charge a one-off membership fee – eg £20
• Have subscriptions each week of £1 to cover the cost of the room hire.
• Approach the local parish council and see if they will help fund the purchase or hire of equipment … remember you’re starting a group for the good of the community as well as your own enjoyment.
• Approach local businesses – if you have a large multinational with headquarters near you, an airport or similar organisation, then they will have specific funds to improve the local community. You will be surprised by the amount of help they will be willing to give you.
• Approach the local community college/school/youth centre – they will know of the local arts programme within your district and will be able to advise you on who to contact at your district/county council to apply for funding.
• Lottery grants are always mentioned – however the paperwork and process is extremely lengthy … you might as well try and bid for one though – you can download forms from the lottery website.
• Apply for a small loan from a bank … if you want to buy sound equipment and costumes etc then write down the prices of purchasing/hiring in a document and talk to the bank.

Be realistic when you are thinking about purchasing things … maybe it is simpler to hire them or borrow them. Remember to try and save, as much money as you can – never pay the full price. Be cheeky and ask for a discount!

You can order costumes/props over the Internet cheaper than in costume hire shops. They can be anything up to 60% cheaper! Try making your own costumes … you’ll be surprised the amount of people who can sew! Alternatively go to some charity shops – they are great … you can tell them what costumes you want and some will even ring you and let you know if they have new suitable stock that they think you might like.

Pick a good well-known production to start with. A pantomime always goes down well – however you need to purchase a licence for the rights to perform the play and the scripts. The last pantomime I bought cost the group £400. So do what I did this year and write your own – it’s not as hard as it looks. I will be writing an article about writing scripts very soon!

Announce the group is starting in all the relevant newspapers/websites/community venues. Think about whether you are auditioning for members or whether you’ll let anybody join. It’s always worth seeing what people will bring to your group by hearing them sing, and letting them act out a scene for you.

Never think – “it’s all right we’re just amateurs” – if you think about things professionally, and try your best then you will be the most professional amateurs that an audience will see!

Selecting a Script

A major part of amdram is finding new, good and suitable scripts to perform. It’s not easy because a lot of scripts out there have performance rights and copyrights etc. It certainly doesn’t always come cheap … however, here are a few tips that you may find useful!

• When looking at scripts ask around and look at what is already being put on in your local area. This will save you a lot of hassle and time wasted when you read scripts and then realise that another group is already performing it. However, if a group not too far away have performed something in the past (a couple of years ago) then contact them and see how it went, ask if it was a good production, see if they found any difficulties … who knows, they may still have costumes and props you can hire cheaply!
• Scripts cost money to purchase in the first place. So sign up to your nearest (and biggest) library – you will find that you can lend groups of scripts for a long period of time at little or no cost to the group!
• Get members of your group to read through some of the scripts and to find ones that could be potential productions … if a majority of people enjoy the scripts they’ve read, then that can be a pretty good indication that an audience will also enjoy it.
• Try writing your own or ask group members to see if anyone fancies attempting a script. You might be surprised into how good and willing your group members could be! See my tips on writing your own pantomime scripts.
• If you have little or no money to pay for performance rights and no-one in your group wants the challenge of writing an original then contact local writers or other amateur groups who have written their own. They will charge a lot LESS than big publishing companies, and if it’s a local writer and the production has never been performed before then they might like your group to perform it and not charge you…as a tester!
• Make sure you enjoy the script that you pick…it’s going to be the most read thing in your life for a good few months and so if you get bored of it the first time that you read it, then your heart will not fully be in the performance!

If you would like any further information about Choosing Scripts or if you have any other suggestions for articles/top tips etc then please contact me.