Hiring the Theatre...

The Terry O'Toole Theatre welcomes hire enquiries from both community groups and commercial companies.

Charges:  different tariffs apply according to the status of your company; please contact Al Duncombe [Theatre Development Officer] to discuss your requirements on 01522 870251. 

Hire Deposit:  a deposit is required to secure a booking; dates will be provisionally held on the theatre diary for a maximum of 6 weeks; cheques payable to North Kesteven School.

Hire of the Theatre includes:  use of the theatre auditorium and greenroom, box office services, theatre foyer cafe and FOH team, but NOT stage crew and/or theatre technician nor pre-rig.

Stage Crew & Theatre Technician:  not included in the basic hire fee; services charged by the hour or part thereof.

Pre-rig:  not included in the basic hire fee; crew and technician time is chargeable by the hour or part thereof.

Consumables:   hirers are required to provide batteries for microphones, gaffa and LX tape, fluid for haze/fog machines etc. Please contact Andy Swinney [Technical Manager] 0785 526 3153 for advice.

Insurance: The Hirer will obtain in respect of the performance or event adequate public and employee liability insurance to a minimum of £1,000,000 and supply written details of said insurance cover to the theatre with the hire form.

VAT: Please note that all hire and service charges for the theatre are subject to VAT.

Please Note: The theatre is owned by North Kesteven School and is used as a teaching space during term time on a daily basis; this necessarily limits the availability of the theatre to hirers during term time.  As a general rule, the following applies:

REHEARSAL & PERFORMANCE HIRE

Get-in & get-out time/s:

Term Time: during term time the theatre may not be available before 6.30pm if a school twilight session is taking place, unless otherwise agreed by North Kesteven School. In the first instance Hirers should contact the Theatre Development Officer who will liaise with the school. If North Kesteven School is not using the theatre for twilight sessions, access to the theatre may be possible from 3.15pm by negotiation.

Weekends and School Holidays: the theatre is usually accessible from 9.00am thro’ 10.30pm; 11.00pm on performance nights.

Rehearsal Curfew: we request that the theatre is clear by 10.30pm latest; dress rehearsal time may be extended to 11.00pm if this is agreed in advance [4 weeks notice required]

Performance Curfew:  performance curfew is 10.30pm; the auditorium should be clear by 10.45pm and get-out completed by 11.00pm latest, unless additional time has been negotiated in advance [4 weeks notice required].

If it is likely you will exceed these time, please contact the Theatre Admin Office in order that staffing/security arrangements can be made.

A fee of £25.00+vat per additional half hour, or part thereof, will be levied after 11.00pm. 

YOUNG PEOPLE IN PERFORMANCE

Please read the guidance notes in the theatre's Terms & Conditions of Hire booklet on ‘Children in Performance’ carefully; if your production involves young people of statutory school age you are required to provide approved Chaperones; the only exception to this is if each child’s parent is able to be with him/her at all times when he/she is not onstage.  Please note that parents may only take responsibility for their own children.  This applies to all performances; charity and church performances are not exempt from this requirement.  We ask that you provide the names, contact telephone and CRB refs. for approved Chaperones.

The theatre strongly recommends that you begin the process of applying for chaperone approval immediately a production is decided upon, since the CRB checks can take some time to come through.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Health & Safety:  please read the Health & Safety and Technical Guidelines contained in the Terms & Conditions of Hire booklet carefully.

Visiting Technicians:  hirers may employ their own technicians, provided that the nominated person/s is fully competent in the operation of theatre industry standard equipment.  If the visiting technician is not deemed competent, the theatre reserves the right to insist that house technical staff is used for the performance/s; an hourly charge will be levied for technicians’ time.

Only technical staff approved by the theatre’s Technical Manager will be admitted to the Control Room. 

The visiting Technician/s must be aged 18 years+. 

The name/s of visiting technician/s should, where possible, be advised at the time of booking; it is a condition of hire that a meeting must be arranged between the nominated visiting technician/s and the Technical Manager at least 4 weeks prior to the performance dates to discuss production technical requirements.

The theatre acknowledges that it is not possible to confirm all technical requirements until a show goes into rehearsal; however, it is helpful if companies can give some advance indication of their technical requirements. 

Pre-rig: if you require a pre-rig, please confirm no later than 4 weeks prior to the hire and supply a detailed LX plan, tech.spec. & gel list. The theatre cannot guarantee a pre-rig if advance notification is not given since we have to negotiate with North Kesteven School for access to the theatre for pre-rig time.

Please note that house technical staff time is chargeable by the hour or part thereof. 

LX Gels & Consumables:  the theatre maintains a reasonable stock of gels, but we cannot guarantee holding unusual colours in stock; if gel has to be bought-in a charge will be incurred. Consumables such as batteries for radio mics, LX and Gaffa tape are chargeable.

ROYALTIES & PERFORMING RIGHTS

As a condition of hire it is understood that the Hirer will obtain in respect of the production all necessary licenses or permissions in respect of copyright works, including script and music [excepting music covered by the PRS licence], and supply written details to the theatre on request.

A copy of the Performing Rights Licence should be forwarded to the theatre for display FOH at public performances.

As a condition of hire, the Hirer agrees to complete a PRS form in respect of all music used in the production, including music written for the production, published works, incidental, entr’acte and exit music, whether recorded or performed live, and return said form to the theatre 14 days prior to the first performance.

PRS Charges: A % of the gross Box Office receipts charge, plus vat, may apply in respect of music used in performance.

• Variety & Pantomime 2%
• Classical 4.8%
• Popular Music 3%

Owing to recent difficulties with hirers not supplying information for the theatre’s PRS return, the theatre will not refund the hire deposit until such time as the completed PRS form has been received at the theatre administration office.

BOX OFFICE SERVICES

The theatre offers a special service to community groups based in North Kesteven as follows:

Sales of up to 500 tickets per production / £25.00+vat

Sales over and above 500 / 10% face value of ticket commission + vat.

e.g.  If a company were to sell 520 tickets priced at £6.00, the charge would be a basic fee of £28.75, plus commission of £13.80p; total £39.55

We can arrange to sell tickets to a seating plan, or as unrestricted seating [i.e. tickets are numbered, but not seat-specific]; tickets can also be made available for online booking via our website [Patrons pay a booking fee and postage for this service].