Month: July 2024

Performance Rights and Scripts

Over its 12 year life, Off Book has presented a lot of shows. Mostly those shows have been written by one of the people behind Off Book, or by a collaboration between us all. We’ve thought about this for quite some time now and have decided that we’re going to be publishing whatever scripts we can. We need to get all the rights and permissions in place, but co-founder Martin Williams will be making all of his playscripts available to purchase.

What you’ll get
In each show pack, we’ll be giving you ten comb-bound copies of the script in question. In addition you’ll receive a licence to perform the script for up to seven performances.

What Scripts are going to be available?
Initially, we will have:

  • Robin Hood
  • Sword in the Stone
  • The Chimes
  • Alice’s Adventures
  • Treasure Island
  • Heroes and Heroines

We hope to have more to follow, but that will be contingent on securing the rights and establishing agreements with the writers.

How much will it cost?
We appreciate that buying the rights to perform a script can be costly, so we’re hoping to minimise that cost by bundling everything you need into one place. Costs will vary depending on the size and length of the script, but we’re hoping to keep the costs below £100.

Robin Hood as performed in 2017 by us will cost around £60 for schools, amateur dramatics, and other non-professional organisations. This covers our costs of printing and binding 10 copies of the script; allows the writer a £5 royalty per performance; and any profit made beyond that goes to Off Book to help fund future productions. For professionals, or performance for profit-share the show pack will cost £175. In these cases, the writer will receive an enhanced royalty of £20 per performance and Off Book makes a slightly higher profit too.

Can I get PDFs or eBook copies of the scripts?
The answer here is…perhaps. Sadly, while the vast majority of people are honest and will use these digital versions in line with Copyright law…there are people who won’t. We are preparing eBook copies that can be purchased, but we aren’t currently sure if these can be bundled with the show packs yet.

Can I get a perusal copy of the scripts?
Absolutely! However, the perusal copies will come in an entirely different format, and be watermarked. We haven’t yet set up the system to request perusal copies, but that’s in the works as I write this!

When is this all launching?
Soon. We don’t have a definitive date yet, but as soon as we do we’ll post all about it!

The Future of Off Book Theatre Company

It’s been a while for us here at Off Book. Like many creative organisations we were hit hard by COVID. We lost a dear friend and colleague, and I too have suffered a blow to my health. We did what we could to put things together online and have taken some much needed time off in 2022 and 2023.

However, things are happening! So, I wanted to give you all a bit of information on what we have planned for our future.

Scripts & Adaptations

I’ve been preparing a business plan to offer scripts and adaptations to schools, amateur groups, and even fringe professionals. These scripts will be available to purchase as a ‘performance pack’. You’ll be able to get 10 comb-bound copies of these scripts along with a licence to perform the show for up to 10 performances for a single price. Our hope is that any sales of these performance packs will allow us to invest in producing more shows in the future.

Family Shows

I have dearly missed directing shows. More than that, I’ve dearly missed presenting these shows to the family audiences that we served best. I’m currently developing a new family show that ought to be ready in 2025.

The Chimes – Live

During COVID we produced an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ The Chimes this is a story with a lot of relevance to the world today and while we stand by what we produced with minimal resources and minimal prep time, I’d love to present a live version of this show. For the last year I’ve been reshaping the script as my health has allowed specifically to present to in-person audiences. My hope is to bring it to the first audience this winter (2024).

Scene Partner

Another project born of the lockdowns, Scene Partner was meant to be an interview show where we spoke to performers about their careers and their love of the craft of performing. Ill health hasn’t allowed for production or development of this show, but I’m currently in talks with a producer and with a few performers to try and reignite this show.

Twelfth Night

In 2021, we recorded a virtual version of Twelfth Night with an incredibly talented cast. Sadly, at the time we were ready to publish the show we had our Facebook account hijacked. The result of this has been copyright strikes that have prevented us from posting the show more publicly. I feel extremely sad that all of the hard work of the amazing cast didn’t see a more widespread audience, but it has been a tricky area to navigate for us.

On a more personal note, I never really managed to take to time to thank all of the creatives who have been reaching out to offer help over the last two years. Many know that we lost people, even more have reached out to offer support. I went off and taught for a year and have taken much needed time out to rest and recouperate. I’m not totally healthy yet, nor am I sure that any of this is the best course of action. It is scary after two years to be thinking of stepping back into the creative space again. But as and when health allows, I’m doing what I can to position things so that Off Book can once again showcase some skilled creatives and bring our silly brand of fun to audiences. So please be patient with us.

All the best, Martin Williams – Co-founder Off Book Theatre.