Our budget is... ZERO!!

I have never done a show that had no budget before. Usually when people ask about your budget, you say something casual like, "We had nothing, man." But that's misleading. For a Fringe/SummerWorks show, it's very difficult to spend under a grand. Most shows spend between $1000 - $2000, and some shows spend far more. In those cases, the festivals are actually subsidizing the cost for the companies by essentially dealing in bulk - using the other theatre companies to share costs, thus reducing fixed costs for everyone.

Now in this particular instance, we are doing a 2.5 week run by ourselves, mounting 16 shows, and not spending a penny!! What the hell?

Here's how we're doing it: We're using an unconventional venue that costs us NOTHING, we're doing most of our promo with free electronic software, we're going non-Equity (and splitting all the box office equally with the cast/crew), and using found props/costumes. The big savings is the venue. That's probably the most novel thing we're doing - and we're simultaneously creating a unique experience for the audience...

We're still trying to wrap our head around things like printing programs, but our stated goal is to procure a 16-show run for ZERO dollars. If it ends up costing us $200, we're prepared to live with that. ;)

Bobman