12|3|14 - Site Specific - 'Find Me' - Legality

As we have to be aware that we are using a Site for the performance that is technically not owned by the school during the hours, we have to treat the location as a separate site. This means that we have discuss terms with MITIE the company that owns the school in order to come to an agreement on how we can use the building, with this we had to write a letter discussion what was needed, this is mine: 

Dear MITIE,

I am writing on behalf the N2C Theatre Company inquiring the use of your building that has the desired structure for a piece of theatre we’re hoping to present to a small public audience. The Play will require the use of the entirety of the school including A floor, B floor and the use of C floor for the cast members to move to their next scene. We will incorporate use of the voids and require the space outside of the music department and the student reception area. Staircases 1 and 4 will be used by cast members only and staircase 2 will be used for staging and for the audience to move around. We also require alterations to lighting for certain parts of the school.

Little alterations are desired to create a hospital institution feel; this includes removal of signs, such as those on the staircase, which will be returned to their places after the performance. We will also cover up school boards with black poster paper which will again be removed after the performance. During the performance we will stick our own pictures on the wall on staircase two and in the B7 classroom. These will be removed after the performance and will leave no damage to the school property. As a cast we will also empty the B7 classroom of tables and chairs to the classroom next door and will then be placed back to their original place after the performance. The company would also like to use their own LED lights, these will use the main plug sockets and we will take full responsibility of the set up and removal of them. We’re also hoping to cover a majority of the floor space outside the music department in toys; the audience will then be lead through the toys in order to reach the next scene. There is a low risk of any injuries as we will have normal high lighting for this section of the corridor.

As we are using members of the cast to lead the audience around the school we will feed in the health and safety talk directed at the audience. This will address the emergency exits and that they will need to listen to the cast members at all times. This will prevent people from leaving the group and wandering into parts of the school where staff may still be working. This shouldn’t be an issue as it will only be an audience in between 20 – 30 people which will be easy for 2 – 3 cast members to control.

There will also be a copy of the standard Risk Assessment forwarded to MITIE which will address any hazards we may see arise in development of the performance and how we will reduce the risk of injury to the audience and cast.

I hope that in reading this letter we have provided your team with enough information and detail into the use of the building in order to discuss a booking fee of the building and any equipment we intend on hiring.

Yours Sincerely,
N2C Theatre Company

And these are photos of the risk assesment done for MITIE evaluating hazards that may occur during the performance and how we can prevent/deter injuries or accidents happening: