Hyde Park Community Players encourages its members to take real ownership of the process of bringing theater to life in our community and on the stage. Active members are Players who know that our community theater is not something someone else is doing.
In our bylaws, an active member is defined as someone who is involved, in any way, in the work of each HPCP production in a year and who buys/sells at least two advance tickets to each HPCP program of that year.
The requirement to buy or sell two tickets to each production really means we assume that, if you want to be part of the Players, you will be interested in being part of us by attending our plays, thereby treating yourself to some excellent theater and at the same time supporting community theater and your fellow Players. That’s if you’re not in the production, of course. If you are in it, we’re sure you’ll want to find at least two friends who want to support your passion for drama.
But what about the requirement to be active in each production? For starters, there are all the roles that must be filled to bring a play to life: not just actors, but director and stage manager (and possibly their assistants – being an assistant to the stage manager or to the director is a good way to learn the ropes of those roles, in case you’re interested in someday directing a play yourself); sound, lights, props, house manager, ticket takers, and so forth– and of course the stage needs to be designed and built. And don’t forget publicity!
And do you have a special skill that you could offer to help the Players?
Grant writer – It would be a great help if we had a Player who writes grants professionally and who could help us apply for grants.
Fund raiser – We’ve started a Fundraising Committee for people to brainstorm and lay the groundwork for fundraising to cover our expenses that are growing as our organization grows. Do you have a knack for creative fundraising? Why not help out the Players?
Sound technician – Is there someone who has the skill and the equipment and the time to help give our productions that special polish that comes through fine sound design. This can get especially interesting in the fall when we’re working on our Halloween show and would love to have someone work closely with the sound effects team to give a new dimension (and audibility) to their creations.
But what if, much as you would like to get more involved in the Players, that’s just not possible for you right now? We understand; that’s why we say an active member just has to be involved “in any way.”
There are always lots of little things to be done. For example:
Publicity : put up flyers on one of Hyde Park’s business streets (15-20 flyers), or volunteer to get the flyers or the program printed. If you have a knack for design; volunteer to submit a design for the flyer, the program cover, or a t-shirt. Be the contact person for one or more media outlets.
Support: Recruit one (or two?) new Sustaining Sponsors from among local businesses and organizations; we have the information you need to make the case to your favorite local vendor. (Check out the list of our current sustaining sponsors on the sponsors page on this website to see what a range of organizations and individuals are happy to be listed as our supporters.)
Is there an organization or group where you could be an “ambassador” for the Players, letting people know about this group you are proud to be a part of, giving them a chance to buy tickets to the next show? Do you have access to space that could be used for meetings, rehearsal, set building?
As the show approaches, we always need Players to come together to build the set. We also need a place to build, a place to store, tools to work with, and transportation to the build site and from the site to the performance space. If you’re on our e-mail list, you’ll get notice of when this is happening. Can you give an hour or two or three to help out? Do you have a good working space? Can you help by lending tools? Can you offer your car, be the driver? If you’re a skillful builder, that’s great. We can use your talents. But even if you’ve never picked up a hammer, come anyway: there’ll be things for everyone to do.
During the run: On opening night, you can come early to help set up. You can provide a food or drink item for the opening night reception–what could be simpler than that? You can volunteer to take tickets or usher for one of the performances. If you’re able to attend every performance, sound or lights are usually fairly simple in our shows, and with just a little prep in the week before the opening, you could be a vital part of each show.
After the show: following the last performance, we need people to strike the set.
In short, we always try to find something useful to do for those who want to stay active but can’t really get as involved as they would like. The trick is: wanting to be a reliable part of the team that each and every time helps carry a theatrical idea through all the stages from conception to performance.
Also, join us for our general meetings (we will do our best to list these on the calendar on the home page). We always have a good time at our meetings, and active members who attend meetings get to vote on HPCP business, like Board elections.
It’s not hard to be an active member of Hyde Park Community Players, and the rewards are great. The strength of HPCP rises out of the investment of the individual Players working together to make something exciting. Why not be a part of that?
Ready to get involved? Drop us a line at info@hydeparkcommunityplayers.org