Ten Quid cancelled

I've been involved in some excellent shows that have played to nearly empty houses. Melville's production of "Navigating" comes to mind. Last year I directed "The Return", which, overall, played to very poor houses. 20 - 30 most nights, with the odd 60-ish house. I also struggled to cast the show. While it would have been great to play to full houses, I think everyone involved in the production was fulfilled, and proud of the show we put together. Other people seemed to agree that it was a good show. The public weren't staying away because of the quality of the show, they were staying away because the theatre going public is conservative, and won't part with their entertainment dollar for a show with which they are unfamiliar. For this reason we, as a company, have to balance shows like The Return and Navigating with shows like Doctor in the House, Pride and Prejudice and The Mousetrap. the latter will draw crowds regardless of the quality of the production. (Not inferring that our productions of these shows were/will be substandard). If we all did bums-on-seats shows all the time, what a boring, sterile place the theatre would be. We need to be able to perform shows with artistic merit, even if they don't pay the bills. This year Melville has found a good balance, I believe. We started the year with Zastrozzi and Crimes Of The Heart. Neither of these shows were expected to break any box office records, even though they were both very good productions (my opinion, and reviews were good). No one has heard of them. Crimes Of The Heart is still running for two more weekends by the way. Bookings on 9330 4565 :) We are going to finish the year with Don's Party and The Mousetrap. Even if both of these turn out to be rubbish, the punters will still come in droves, because they are familiar with the show. It's all about balance. www.meltheco.org.au