When given the role of Financial Manager within STAMP Theatre Company, I was aware that the role required trust and a large responsibility to handle and distribute the funds we had available. Although, not a registered theatre company, I still found it useful and applicable to invest in readings that investigated the function of finance within professional realms. Production Management: Making Shows Happen by Peter Dean was particularly useful in giving a detailed overview of not just finance but its position within a whole production, theatre or company. Dean emphasises the importance of business within theatre;

“All theatre is a dictatorship – though hopefully a benevolent one- but it is also a business. Everyone working in a theatre [or company] should be supporting the vision of the artistic director- but at the same time they should also be aware of their financial responsibilities or budgets. It is vitally important therefore that the vision and budgets are clearly expressed and understood by the whole team – for theatre is very much a team sport!” (2002, p. 15)

At the commencement of our Theatre Company, funds were discussed as a group and rough estimates were given to create a rough, initial budget. This was then developed along the way, once exact costing had been established and was passed on to me to create a more specific budget. Dean describes the self-evaluation process that theatres and companies use to remain efficient and successful;

“[Companies] will look back on the successes and failures of the previous year, and it may well contain a SWOT analysis of all the different areas of the organisation” (2002, p. 16).

I wanted to include this professional analysis in terms of my own self-evaluation and therefore I have created a SWOT analysis based on my role as financial manager and the general way in which the company handled its finance. A SWOT analysis is “a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of a business by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats” (Jobber, 2010, p. 60)

My SWOT analysis is as follows:

Strengths:

• Creating a budget early on within our process
• Professionalism – Creating a professional as well as actual budget
• Organisation – Keeping receipts in order.
• Being aware of expenditure
• Reliability and Responsibility – Handling funds
• Trust – Between members when funds were collected.
• Organising Reinbursement

 Weaknesses:

• Communication – Could be improved, regular meetings so everyone was clear about how much budget was available for each department.
• Contingency – Would have been useful for a larger contingency
• Deficit – After last minute materials were required, a small deficit occurred. This could be combatted in the future with a larger contingency, or a more planned route of expenditure.

Opportunities:

• Fundraising- With more time available more funds could be accumulated to add to the production.
• Selling of Programmes
• Selling of Merchandise
• Profiting from ticket sales – – If we were to  be a registered company in the future
• Training in Financial Management and Administration
• Arts Council Funding – If we were to  be a registered company in the future

Threats:

• Cuts to the Arts – Governmental cutbacks
• Other developing companies
• Less availability to budget

 

Works Cited

Dean, Peter (2002) Production Management: Making Shows Happen, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press Ltd.

Jobber, David (2010) Principles and Practice of Marketing, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education.

 

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.