This story is a sidebar to Telling Diverse Women's Stories.
Producing theatre doesn’t come cheap – and Julian Legere and Michelle Cyr are hoping that other people who believe the same as they do about the need for equality and diversity in theatre are willing to put money to that belief.
The co-founders of Bread is Not Enough theatre company, which has a mission to tell women’s stories on stage, are running a Kickstarter campaign to help cover the costs of their show.
They’ve committed to paying all the artists involved in their inaugural production of A Piece of My Heart (onstage Nov. 1 to 12 at the PAL Studio Theatre).
Legere is “putting his money where his mouth is” as an ally and fronting the money for the production to guarantee that the other artists will be paid, even if he doesn’t make all of his money back.
“But we don’t just want to pay them, we want to pay them fairly, and that is why we need your support,” the company says in its Kickstarter write-up.
The costs of putting on a show – for rental of theatre and rehearsal space, props, costumes, posters, programs, and, of course, payment of artists and crew – are high. And Legere and Cyr didn’t want to raise ticket prices to unaffordable levels (they’ve kept them at $20, $25 and $28).
“We've also chosen to keep our ticket prices low because taking space onstage for women's stories is only going to change the world if people actually get to SEE those stories,” their Kickstarter page says. “Not just people who can afford expensive theatre tickets, but EVERYONE. So by supporting this campaign, you're helping this vital theatre reach a broader range of people in our community.”
The campaign has a goal of $4,000. See their Kickstarter page.
