Crescent Theatre Blog

Robert Ball, Arts Manager, has now extended his lead to three points on BBC Radio WM’s Workplace Challenge (daily on the Les Ross Show at 1445 and 1515 GMT). But, with two rounds to go everything could still change.

The latest edition of the Crescent Theatre’s brochure crescentscene has now arrived. Issue 7, which details shows from January to April 2009, will soon be available at the theatre and be sent out to members of our mailing list.

If you would prefer not to wait until you receive your copy, you can download or view an online version here …

If you cannot see the brochure above, please use this direct link [ 3.9Mb].

I’m pleased to announce that the following directors were appointed at this week’s board meeting:

THE RIVALS: Ian Nicholson

BY THE BOG OF CATS: Gerry Lucas

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR: Juliette Walton

IRON: Thom Sellwood

As yet there has been no appointment made for either KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN or THE TAMING OF THE SHREW so there is still an opportunity here. If you’re interested please get in touch via the usual routes.

I’m sure each of the above directors will be publishing information soon about their productions including details of how to get involved!

It was a very busy Sunday today at The Crescent (and in fact it probably still is as I write!).

Two plays have been rehearsing (Winnie-the-Pooh and Of Mice and Men), while the three plays in the terrorism mini-season held their joint familiarisation session and first round of auditions.

This evening King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys were playing live in the main house while the Youth Theatre Juniors performed a very special selection of sketches to family and friends in the Ron Barber Studio. I was delighted to sit in on the latter which – as ever with the youth theatre – was a great celebration of theatre and entertainment.

Meanwhile, of course, off site The Wassail has been performing at Coughton Court.

It’s days like today (busy, stimulating, exciting, creative) that make me really appreciate what we have at The Crescent. A big thank you to everyone!

Oh, and don’t forget today’s weren’t the only auditions for The Bus, Terrorism and Talking to Terrorists; check the page on our main site for further details.

Several members of The Crescent Theatre were on hand today (Friday, 5 December) to add a little theatrical pizzazz to the Publicity Association of Central England (PACE) Christmas Lunch at the Burlington Hotel.

The theme for this year’s lunch was pantomime and The Crescent was happy to dress up and mingle with guests as they arrived. Pictured are Guy Radcliffe and Mary Fielding.

A quartet of new poster designs for forthcoming shows are now being printed and, all being well, will be proudly on show around the theatre some time next week. One design that didn’t make it to the printing press though, was that for “The House of Bernarda Alba”…

That’s because rather than just one play, the mighty Youth Theatre will now be showcasing a trio of Federico García Lorca plays, namely the ‘rural trilogy’ featuring “Blood Wedding” and “Yerma” alongside “The House of Bernarda Alba”.

More news about this exciting endeavour is coming soon…

The Bus – along with Terrorism and Talking to Terrorists – will have its familiarisation session on Sunday, 14 December at The Crescent (check the auditions page of the web site for full details).

In the meantime, my visit to Cologne to see a German language production has today received a mention in The Birmingham Post.

I’m also delighted to report that Graeme Allan is directing Terrorism for us.

I hope to see lots of people at the familiarisation session, it will be a great chance to find out more about the mini-season – even if you’re not planning to audition!

Robert Ball, Arts Manager

Hi all

It’s The Crescent’s Arts Manager here! Just to let you know that tomorrow (15/11/08) I’m off to Cologne on theatre business (grant funded for those of you worried I’m spending theatre money). I’m visiting Echt! Politik im Freien Theater which is an annual festival of theatre held in the city.

I shall attempt while there to keep you updated on what’s going on and what I’m up to via this blog, so check back regularly for updates.

All the best

Robert

With the first part of the new season underway, it’s time to start thinking about the designs for the flyers and posters for the shows still to come. And ideally, I want to get these ready in time for when we also begin producing the next issue of our brochure crescentscene so that we can integrate aspects of the design more closely. All this helps with the ‘branding’ of a show, where consistency is important in helping people recognise the various things we put out there – whether this be posters, flyers or, new for this season, business cards…

The process of creating a new design starts with learning a bit about the play and then trying to think of and find a suitable image. We ask a lot of this image – it must both inform about the play’s subject and also its tone. Ideally, it should also raise a reaction in the viewer – whether this be a chuckle or a question – in order to engage them and point them towards the box office.

Images are then integrated into the new brand template that was introduced so successfully a couple of years ago, and all the details are added.

Getting the front of the Harvey design was not straightforward – how do you represent an imaginary friend? There were quite a few rejected designs before we arrived at the final, subtle image of a hat with bunny ears…

But eventually, that’s the front taken care of…

For the flyers, we have experimented a little by waiting for publicity photos to be taken. Normally, these have just been used with Press Releases, but I wanted to try and get more value out of them by using images on the back of flyers as well – alongside the synopsis, map (we wouldn’t want anyone getting lost!) and extended booking details. I always like to use images of people, as when you come to the theatre that’s what you’re coming to see (and especially as the Crescent membership is such a handsome lot!)

Some shows, such as those aimed at schools, need their collateral early so the necessary mail-outs can take place, but for some shows we can wait a while, and I think it’s worked particularly well on the design for Harvey which you can see here…

Flyers and posters are essential, but also often controversial! Rather than worrying about finding the right image – the reaction of fellow members to how you’ve chosen to show off their show is the really scary part!