Rushen Players
History Committee Constitution
Social Activities
| Unless
they themselves are members of a dramatic society, even regular
playgoers are often quite unaware of the heavy expenses involved in
staging a play. First there is the cost of the scripts, one for each
member of the cast plus copies for the director, the stage manager, the
properties mistress, the prompt and the technical director responsible
for lighting and sound. This is followed by the expense of hiring rooms
for regular rehearsals, two nights a week for a period of about two
months. The concert hall for the production itself must be reserved for a full week to allow time to erect a set and to hold a dress rehearsal before the three or four nights run of the presentation of the play. There is the cost of the materials for building the set and the purchase of any special items of property not readily available to borrow. If costumes and wigs need to be hired this can constitute a major item of expenditure. Posters and programmes have to be printed and the Society may decide to advertise in the press or on the radio. Royalties payable for every night of the production represent a further substantial financial commitment. Numerous smaller items such as mailing list postage or gifts to guest players all add to production costs. At this point it may be appropriate to record that in recent years several supportive local traders have paid to have advertisements inserted in the play programmes, thereby covering the cost of programme production. Modern technology has enabled the Society to include photographs of the members of the cast too. Generally speaking most societies are content if they can break even or perhaps achieve a small margin of profit. But this is not always possible. In the minutes of the annual general meeting held in 1977 the Treasurer reported "that the Society is still keeping its head above water". At that time the Society was in credit to the tune of £223.19. Shortly afterwards, however, a note in the minutes of a meeting of the committee held on 5th January 1978 records that "For the first time in the Society's history we made a loss". This related to a Christmas play 'The Geese are Getting Fat' which incurred a loss of £16.91. This was followed by the loss-making 'On Approval' in the Spring of 1978. By this time the Society's financial resources were virtually exhausted but solvency was restored by a donation of £60 from a film company which used the Isle of Man as the location for a film called 'Mysteries' in which several members of the Rushen Society took part as unpaid extras. It is relevant to make further reference here to the summer of 1978 when the Society presented a comedy in the Port St. Mary Town Hall for one night a week over a period of five or six weeks.'Job for the Boy' played to full houses and netted a profit of £503.59. Similar productions over the next few years were equally successful. There is a note in the account of the annual general meeting held in 1981 to the effect that the Society had enjoyed a very successful year financially and could boast a bank balance of £1,278.73. Throughout these years of new-found affluence the Society was pleased to be in a position to offer financial support to several local charities. Some of the other dramatic groups are assisted by a grant from the Island's Art Council but the Rushen Society has not found this to be necessary. |
| The following pages are taken from Stan Woolock's History of Rushen Amateur Dramatic Society's written in 2001 and with some updates to reflect changes from 2001 to 2013 |