This is your information pack. Take a little time to go through it, follow our suggested timetable for the 8-week countdown to the show, and you should find everything you need to know for a relatively stress-free ride.

The pack is divided into sections, each labelled as to when you need to read it and to act on it (eg. 3 weeks before). There is a countdown timetable and a table of contents on the following two pages.

The pack has been designed so that you can remove all forms that need to be returned to us, and pages you might need to give to other people. You are welcome to copy any of the pack.

If you need anything more, don’t hesitate to contact us.

For further information please contact:

Emma BrookesRiding Lights Theatre CompanyFriargate TheatreLower FriargateYork YO1 9SL

tel: 01904 655317fax: 01904 651532e-mail: emma@rltc.org

SO, YOU’RE HAVING A CHRISTMAS SHOW FROM

RIDING LIGHTS!

written by Nigel Forde

directed by Paul Burbridge designed by Anna Gooch

Riding Lights Theatre Company presents

2

THE TIMETABLE

Weeksto go

Organiser Publicity Tickets

8 Read this pack: fill in PERFORMANCE BOOKING FORM / VENUE INFO

PLAN: which people and groups to tell about the show? Announce Show.

PLAN: Is there anyone else to ask to help sell tickets?

7Start distributing POSTERS/FLYERS

start selling tickets

6Ask other LOCAL CHURCHES to promote the show.

continue selling tickets

5Create a FACEBOOK EVENT - ask friends and churches to share/invite

continue selling tickets

4Find volunteers for the night: Refreshments / Stewards / Merchandise

Ask local charities/arts orgs/bookshops to promote the show

continue selling tickets

3Arrange food for cast / refreshments for the night

Make sure churches are promoting the show - can they give a notice at the front of church?

continue selling tickets

2Check - anywhere you’ve missed or people still to talk to?

continue selling tickets

1Is everything ready for the performance?

Last minute notices and reminders - email/Facebook etc.

Is everything ready? Do you have volunteers to help with tickets / Box Office?

CONTENTS

Countdown Timetable 2Frequently Asked Questions 4Technical requirements (8 weeks) 5Publicity (from 8 weeks) 61 week - checklist 8Checklist (1 week) 9On the day - timetable 10Venue layout 11

3

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

A CHRISTMAS

NEARLY THE GOATan action-packed christmas play for all the family, and other animals...

When was the last time a goat was on hoof to save the day?Somewhere between the tinsel and the cabbage leaves, the crackers and the parsnip peelings, comes the remarkable story of NEARLY THE GOAT…

…bending his amazing acting talents to impersonate a host of harassed innkeepers and help George tell a spell-binding Christmas story. To say nothing of the wolf!

Will Nearly in his DIY travelling machine get to Bethlehem before the wolf does? And how can the kings return to Persia without their camel? This night of all nights is heading for a flock of disasters. Well, Nearly. And if it wasn’t for one relentlessly cheerful, extremely interrupting goat butting in…

With an extraordinary range of puppetry skills, Riding Lights brings you the Christmas story in unforgettable style. Hilarious and magical, Nigel Forde’s delightful play has drawn acclaim from both young and old.

BOOKING FORMS

Enclosed is your performance contract.Please also fill out the following online forms at:www.ridinglights.org/organisers/nearly

• Performance Booking Form• Publicity Order Form• Venue questionnaire

If you would like physical copies of these forms please call 01904 655317.

WHERE SHOULD I HOLD THE SHOW?

If you are hoping that the show will attract an audience from the local community, try to pick a venue that they are going to be happy coming to: this may well be a local school, arts centre or community centre rather than a church! Think carefully about access and parking. Will your expected audience fit in? Does it meet our technical requirements (see pg.6-7)? Will you be able to provide refreshments for your audience?

WHO IS THE PRODUCTION AIMED AT?

Nearly The Goat is designed as a family show, particularly with primary school children in mind. The performance lasts approximately one hour, and is suitable for children aged five and up.

WHAT ABOUT THE COST?

The cost of a Riding Lights Christmas performance is £600 including VAT. This amount helps to cover the cost of the set, costumes, actors’ wages etc. It is imperative that we are able to meet these costs if we are to keep touring our special blend of Christmas magic year after year.

Please make your cheque payable to RIDING LIGHTS and send it straight to our office.

DO I NEED A PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS LICENCE?

This depends on where the performance is being held. Some venues already hold Public Entertainments Licences and you should check this at the time of booking. Other venues may require an application to be made for a temporary licence. You should always have a discussion with your Local Authority about

this matter and follow their advice. Please note that Riding Lights cannot be responsible for any costs involved in obtaining the appropriate licences or in the necessary arrangements for operating the venue in accordance with the licence.

WHO HANDLES THE TICKETS?

We leave it to you to produce your own tickets for the show but please ensure that they have all the right details on them - venue, date, time, name of the show etc. If you need any help, just call our Box Office on 01904 613000 and we will try to answer any questions you have or offer advice. We recommend charging £7 and £5 for tickets, (and possible £20 for a family of 4).

ARE THERE PROGRAMMES?

The company will bring programmes with them on the night. Please arrange for one or two volunteers to be on hand to sell them in the half-hour before the performance.

4

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

8 WEEKS BEFORE

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU COMPLETE AND RETURN THE VENUE QUESTIONNAIRE FORM,

TOGETHER WITH PHOTOS AND A PLAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

VENUE Please choose a venue that will be suitable for your expected audience size, and with a good performance area.

SPACE For Nearly The Goat we need a clear performance area (at least 5m x 5m) at one end of the room, free from obstructions, with a flat, stable surface and 4m of height clearance. (Please see the venue plan on the back page)

We recommend that the first couple of rows are reserved for young children, sitting on the floor rather than on chairs. You don’t need to make any special arrangements for staging or find a venue with a stage.

Please send us a clear plan of the venue and performance area, including measurements and any obstructions (eg. pulpits, choir stalls, steps, height clearance etc).

PLEASE NOTE: until we have received a plan of the venue, and have confirmed that it is suitable, we will not be able to send out your publicity material.

LIGHTS Stage lighting is not essential, but the better the lighting, the better the show will look. A good general light cover is sufficient. If you are using stage lighting, please provide an operator.

SOUND Generally speaking, the actors do not need to use a PA system: they are trained actors with good projection. If you think your venue may have exceptionally difficult acoustics, please speak to the office.

HELP! If you are uncertain about anything, please phone the office (01904 655317) beforehand or ask the cast when they arrive.

5

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

It is vitally important to publicise your performance as widely as possible: after all, if people don’t know it’s happening, they can’t come.

HERE ARE OUR TOP TIPS ON PROMOTING THE SHOW:

• Plan: think about who might be interested in the show, and who might help you with publicity

• Be enthusiastic: More than any plot synopsis or well designed flyer, being enthusiastic about the show tells people that it’s worth seeing.

• Start telling people now: Particularly how much they will enjoy the show. Giving people a little bit of info regularly, in the 8 weeks running up to the show tends to be the most effective way to publicise it.

• Tell people in different ways: e.g A combination of a Facebook event invite, printed flyer, and a notice in church can be very effective. Screen the trailer in a service, or on a laptop at the back of church. Ask people in your church to take flyers and invite friends.

MAKE USE OF EVERY AVAILABLE CHANNEL FOR PUBLICITY, INCLUDING...

POSTERS AND FLYERS

Each venue will be provided with printed posters and flyers for your performance. Try putting up posters and leaflets in: schools & colleges libraries & bookshops churches shops, cafés & supermarkets community centres village halls windows of cars windows of houses restaurants arts organisations tourist info offices basically... all over the place

PLUS - If there are other local events in your community taking place in the month running up to your performance, you could try asking them if they’ll hand out flyers after their event too.

CHURCHES AND OTHER LOCAL ORGANISATIONS

Past experience has proved the benefit of several organisations teaming up to support one central venue, ensuring wider publicity and greater ticket sales. Finding others in these organisations who are enthusiastic about the show can be very helpful too.

- Local chuches - across the denominations (churches together organisations can be very helpful) - Other community organisations (Childrens Groups/Community Centres/Brownies/Cub Scouts etc.) - Local Schools (particularly church schools or secondary schools with drama departments) - Arts centres, libraries, book groups, local charities or theatre companies/drama societies.

Ask these groups how they’d prefer to promote the show, but verbal notices combined with a flyer are often most effective. Alternatively if they have a weekly email/notice sheet, web diary or Facebook group, any of these could be used for publicity. Giving an allocation of tickets to other churches to sell after services can also be an excellent way to sell more tickets and reach a wider audience.

6

PUBLICITY, MARKETING AND PRESS

FROM 8 WEEKS BEFORE

PRESS AND PR

Press contact will be looked after by our Marketing Department who will make contact with you to discuss local press and radio contacts you might have in addition to the people that they will be contacting as a matter of course.

Please have a think about any local newspapers, radio stations or particular journalists active in your area and add the details to the Publicity Material Order Form. If you would like to contact any of them directly then please indicate this on the form. Otherwise we will contact them along with the other publications and radio stations on their lists.

Local monthly magazines and free-sheets that run ‘What’s On?’ guides often need information 8 weeks before publication in order to meet their printing schedule. (This can also be the case for monthly e-magazines – giving time for design and allocation of space.) For this reason it is important that your list of relevant local publications is with us as soon as possible – ideally 8 weeks prior to your performance date. You don’t want to miss out on any possible publicity.

ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

There will be a dedicated section of the Riding Lights website for this tour (www.ridinglights.org/christmas). We will also produce a video trailer which you can find on this page. We will also be using Twitter (@ridinglights) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/ridinglights) to promote the show.

You can then use all of these materials to promote your performance by:

• Directing people towards the website• Posting links on Twitter/Facebook/blogs/church websites to spead the word about the show• ...and encouraging others to do the same• Creating a Facebook event for your performance of the show• Asking other churches to add it to their websites / events calendars / Facebook pages & groups

ONLINE PUBLICITY IS ESSENTIAL FOR REACHING A WIDER AUDIENCE - if you’re unsure on how to do any of this, we’re very happy to help - JUST ASK US. Plus there is likely to be others in your church who can help too.

and finally... WORD OF MOUTH

Often there’s nothing better than a friend recommending a show to encourage someone to come along. When talking about the show be enthusiastic (particularly if you’re giving a church notice etc.), and make sure you tell people why they should come and see the show...

Please complete the PUBLICITY MATERIAL ORDER FORM and return it to the Riding Lights office ASAP. Don’t forget to add the name of the person who is in charge of publicity to this form.

7

1 WEEK BEFORE

CHECKLIST

Seating

Meal and/or drinks for the Company

Tickets

Front of House staff

Bookstall table and staff

Compère

Audience refreshments

Seating Health & Safety compliance

8

9

ON THE DAY

ARRIVALThe company will need access to the venue at least two hours before the performance is due to start. Please ensure that the initial meeting point, if different from the venue, is clearly marked on the map. They will assume that they are to be met by the contact at the venue unless told otherwise.

SEATINGPlease set out seating before the company arrives. If you would like to confer with them about the best way to do it, please do, but as they will be setting up their own equipment they will not be able to help put out seating. And if you would like to leave a few rows closest to the performance for young children to sit on the floor, please feel free. PLEASE NOTE: you must ensure that your seating plan complies with Health & Safety legislation, and that you have sufficient stewards.

MEALSIf you are having an evening performance (after 5pm), please provide a light, hot meal for the actors at the venue about one hour before the show. They would also appreciate tea, coffee and cold drinks as required. If you are having a matinée, please provide the actors with tea, coffee and cold drinks.

TICKETSYou will need a couple of people on the door to sell tickets, sell programmes, and be generally welcoming. We also recommend you provide your box office with a float.

MERCHANDISE STALLThe company will bring a selection of merchandise with them. Please provide a small table and someone to run this, from about half an hour before the show, and immediately afterwards.

COMPÈRESomeone will need to act as a compère to give a very brief welcome to the audience, and to introduce the show.

INTERVALRiding Lights Christmas shows do not include an interval.

10

ON THE DAY - TIMETABLE

The company will be working to the following approximate timetable.This is based on a 7.00pm performance.

5.00 The company arrives at venue. Look at performance area with local organiser and discuss any alterations that need to be made to the layout of the venue (eg. chairs etc)

5.05 Unload van

5.15 Putting up the set, Membership stand and merchandise stall

6.00 Food - a light meal provided by the host / venue

6.20 Company prepares for performance - getting changed, warming up, praying etc

6.30 House opens and the audience begins to arrive Compère confers with the company over introduction etc.

6.58 Compère confirms that the company is ready to begin, and asks them to "stand by"

7.00 Compère welcomes audience, gives out any relevant information (eg. fire exits, refreshments etc) and introduces the company, "... please give a warm welcome to Riding Lights Theatre Company!"

8.00 After the show, as the audience leaves, the company will be at the door and at the Membership stand. They will then get changed, take down the set and pack up.

8.45 Load the van and hit the road…

11

Any questions - please call 01904 655317 or email emma@rltc.org

STAGE(5m x 5m)Doesn't need to

be raised

Audience

mats/cushions (optional)easier for younger children to see if sat at front

Walkw

ayWal

kway

Nearly The GoatVenue Plan

Notes:

• The stage should be a clear, flat area of at least 5x5 metres. It doesn't need to be raised and should have 3.5 metres height clearance.

• Please make sure there is a 1 metre wide walkway either side of the seats. You may want to add a central walkway too if the space allows (any seat should be, at most, 7 seats away from a walkway.)

• It is often easier for younger children to see the stage if they are sat at the front, some venues find it best to provide mats or cushions for them to sit on.