Annual Season

The SLT annual season is the programme of productions in Bell Theatre and Prompt Corner, chosen by the Theatre Committee in August of the preceding year.

Introduction

The season runs from January to December, with two shows per month. Typically August is "dark", meaning no productions take place in either space, although this is not always the case (see the 2007 and 2008 seasons, for example).

In a conventional season, there are around 22 shows, with a Bell Theatre show beginning on the first Tuesday of the month, running for 5 nights until the Saturday of the same week; a Prompt Corner show follows the same format two weeks after that. In the past, the season was not always run in this way - for many years the Prompt show took place in the week immediately following the Bell show, and ran for fewer performances.

Although 5 performances are standard for SLT productions, Christmas shows and pantomimes typically have 10 or more performances over a two-week period, including saturday matinées.

Submissions

The theatre committee calls for submissions in June, via the SLT discussion board<ref>SLT discussion board</ref> and in Backstage. Typically the deadline is 31st July, by which time, prospective directors will have filled in an online submission or the equivalent form and have provided a copy of the script. The committee members read all plays submitted and meet in early August to select the season from amongst them.

Submitting plays for performance is explained in more detail on the Submissions Process page.

Factors for consideration

The Theatre Committee works hard to select as varied and exciting a season of productions as possible. From Shakespeare to gritty modern drama, from classic 19th Century naturalistic drama to musicals, from expressionist German theatre to French farce - every imaginable type of dramatic production has probably been staged at SLT in our 40-year history. The committee are heavily influenced by the following factors in choosing the season, which are more influential than the subjective criterion of personal taste:

Rights

All plays in copyright (including modern translations of non-English language plays) are scheduled subject to our ability to obtain the performance rights. Please note that, as a London Theatre, we are sometimes denied rights that are available elsewhere. Rights which have previously been available may sometimes be withdrawn. Conversely, rights which are not available now may be released.

Currently Carole Coyne is the SLT Rights Officer, handling all negotiations with the main British amateur rightsholders (Samuel French <ref>Samuel French Limited website</ref>, Josef Weinberger <ref>Josef Weinberger Ltd website</ref> and Nick Hern Books <ref>Plays section of Nick Hern Books website</ref>) and occasionally with agents and playwrights.

Genre, Style and Variation

Working to the maxim that 'variety is the spice of life', Theatre Committee tries to choose as inclusive and wide-ranging a set of plays as possible from all the submitted plays. In some years, we maybe flooded with submissions of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, at other times

Commercial considerations

SLT is lucky as an institution in having a large established membership and loyal audiences. This means we are under less pressure than some groups to turn a large profit on every production. However, it is important that the theatre continues to operate as a going concern. Theatre committee therefore chooses shows in the season which will be popular with the theatre-going public - comedies, pantomime,

See Also

• Submissions Process

References

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