Bakkhai Production Meeting Minutes 1

Bacchae Production Meeting Minutes



Date: Thursday, 07.02.2008

In attendance: Tanushka Marah, Julian Deering, Simeon Lewis, Charlotte Atkinson, Emily Dell, Roberta Edwards, Jenny Glithero, Samara Harrison-Moore, Shabana Rehman, Naomi Wagner, Zoe Walker, Charlene Webster

Absentees: Laura Marston

Sound/Music: There are two separate groups of people working on the sound and music, Zoe was given a CD by Jules to listen into and was has been asked to compose a new piece of music using the ancient Greek text ‘Eleleu Eleleu …’
The second group consisting of Shabs and Naomi were to work on the Turkish song ‘Uskudara Gideriken (Katibim)’ by Nuri Halil Poyraz and combine the messenger speech in ancient Greek with the song into a new piece of music. Both groups need to keep a record of their work and ideas in form of tape or CD recordings. The budget for the sound/music will most probably not be very high as we will mainly use CDs or mini disks to records and sing and play instruments live on stage.

Lighting: Samara who is working on the lighting was given a book by Jules to gain more information. Her job is to think of how to light the performance, i.e. the atmosphere we want to create, the use of shadows, possible projections, lights underneath the set or from the front.

Costume: Emily and Roberta are working on costumes. They discussed costume ideas for the play and explained that they wanted to play with the idea of grotesque, dirty bodies and clean, tidy dresses as a contrast.
To keep a record of their ideas they were asked to make a portfolio of colours, patches and materials. It is also important to know whether the dresses will be bought or tailor made. Jules suggested taking the quickest into account as we haven’t got much time left. We also need to know the budget for the costumes as soon as possible. Tanushka asked Emily and Roberta to make a selection of choice by picking up clues and hints from our rehearsals in class. Please also consider that the group needs to be able to freely move in the costumes. Any floating material should be suitable for costume making.

Set-Props: Charlie and Shabs are responsible for set/props. Their idea for the set was to make a huge wall of different sized, shaped and coloured bottles as well as columns of glass. This idea, Simeon said, is feasible but needs to be thought through thoroughly as glass bottles present a health and safety risk on stage.
Tanushka asked the two to think of more than one idea and suggested again to keep record of those ideas in form of a portfolio. The theme of the set should ideally represent a heightened reality which does not exist in any time or space. Simeon also mentioned big blocks of sponge that are available and could be used for the set.
We need the measurements of the stage in the Jackson’s Lane Theatre as soon as possible. Simeon and Jules are going to the Jackson’s Lane Theatre on Tuesday next week and will take the measurements.

Marketing/Publicity: Jenny, Charlene and Laura will be working on publicity and marketing. They were asked to have a meeting on Friday the 8th of February 2008 to discuss ideas.
After a long discussion we came to the conclusion that the title for our performance will be Bakkhai.
The image of our posters and flyers should be post-gender and feature the overall theme of brutality and ecstasy. Tanushka suggested setting up pictures/portrait shots of different facial expressions for the posters and flyers. She said that a face on a poster looking at the spectator is very expressive and attracts attention.
For the posters and flyers we first of all need to know the capacity of the Jackson’s Lane Theatre. Jules also suggested thinking about making a decent program which we could sell for £ 0.50 or £ 1 on the performance night. It is important to get different quotes for printing prices. Ask the Student Union where they print their flyers and also ask the copy and printing shop on Holloway Road. Also think about advertising the show on, for example, myspace.com, or facebook.com or in ‘What’s on in London’, as well as other performance places. It might be good to make up a production email address, such as bakkhai@hotmail.com etc.
On the flyers and posters following information needs to be included: title of the performance, dates, times and perhaps a map of the Jackson’s Lane Theatre. The map cannot be taken off googlemap.com.
Collect theatre flyers to get an idea of how to make one. See what works and what does not.
Think about where you want to distribute the flyers, for example the City Campus, libraries, pubs etc. Ask flyer companies whether you can use their space in pubs. We will need approximately 5000 flyers. Tanushka promised to bring samples of flyers and e-flyers next week.
We will be performing 3 nights at the Jackson’s Lane theatre and there will be 600-700 tickets available. Please make sure that we get as many spectators as possible.
Find out if Jackson’s Lane has a press officer for a potential press release.
Tanushka asked the group to make a portfolio with pictures, inspirations to keep record of their process.

Any other business: Our budget for this production is £ 900 + £ 10 per person = £ 1000 all together. We will need approximately £ 200 for marketing/publicity and a 10% for contingency. Each group needs to write down their approximate budget as soon as possible.
For every purchase I need to see receipts, otherwise you will not get your money back.
On the receipt needs to be the student’s name and the date; the purchase and amount need to be highlighted. Large purchases need to be discussed with the group upfront. Also check whether someone in the group has the desired article at home or not. Every material that is to be used must be either fire proof or fire resistant.
Please be aware that we are not allowed to eat or drink in TMG 65. We are, however welcome, to meet at TMG 68, Simeon and Jules’ office, where we can eat or drink, if we don’t mind the background noise.

Next meeting date/time: Thursday, 14.02.2008 (Valentine’s Day!)