The harsh reality of the current economic climate reveals the significance that finance now takes in the establishment of theatre companies and performance itself. This focus upon money within the industry has lead some to believe that artistic creation is being risked at the expense of sustainability and profit. As Glinowski explains; “My argument is that within mainstream public arts funding and policy making during the last decade, after a promising beginning, artists have been marginalised and their activity has been instramentalised” (2008, p. 12). However, we must not be naive to the importance of financial planning in this current economic struggle. These recent cuts to the arts, although upsetting, emphasise the need for strategic budgeting in order to keep costs to a minimum and avoid substantial loss for developing companies.
In any theatre company (professional, amateur, large or small) production and performance depend on budgeting to create a successful evaluation for income and expenditure. It is vital for companies to try and stay within budget in order to avoid financial loss and maintain company efficiency. When creating STAMP Theatre’s budget, it soon became clear that our £250.00 funding from The Lincoln School of Performing Arts would not fully cover the wants and needs for our theatrical vision. In response to this, the company found sponsorship from Decon Designs to aid in keeping our expenditure low. This resulted in a £30.00 saving and complimentary printing of our advertisement flyers. Furthermore, company members each agreed to donate an additional amount of money towards the production. This provided us with a larger budget to operate with, keeping our financial standings on track and maintaining our efficiency. However, as STAMP Theatre have discovered, sometimes unanticipated expenditure can occur. With the inclusion of contingency within our budget we were able to combat this by using any extra funds to cover this unforeseen expenditure.
Below is an actual budget for STAMP Theatre’s production of ‘The Trial’ by Stephen Berkoff displaying our accurate income and expenditure:
As an amateur company, working as students within the University of Lincoln we were not able to apply for Grants for the Arts funding from the Arts Council England under their subsequent guidline:
“The following individuals or organisations cannot apply to Grants for the arts. If you fall into one of these categories, your application will not be eligible to be assessed:
- Students, for activities related to their course of study or their tuition fees. (By ‘student’ we mean a person following a course of study in a school, a college or a university.)” (Arts Council England, 2010)
However, if STAMP Theatre became eligible for subsidy from the Arts Council England, it is interesting to create a relevant budget in light of a larger income producing new opportunities and a chance to increase expenditure. Here is the following budget, created in the circumstances that STAMP Theatre are a registered company, with all company members based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire:
In evaluation of my financial management thus far, I feel that the company and I have overcome any obstacles by utilising our budgeting and creating a larger income when required. This has given us more scope to explore our theatrical vision as a company and source the correct materials, desired set and chosen costume to produce a clear envisioned version of Stephen Berkoff’s The Trial.
Works Cited
Arts Council of England (2010) Grants for the Arts: How to Apply, London: Arts Council of England.
Glinkowski, Paul (2008) The Art of Giving: The Artist in Public and Private Funding, London: Research at Wimbledon.
I think it sends a positive message that we are willing to invest in this performance with our own money, especially with a non-profit show.