The University of Exeter’s award-winning musical theatre society, Shotgun Theatre, is planning to take its first show to the Edinburgh Fringe this August.
Following a sell-out run in Exeter, we’re excited to bring 'Godspell' to a whole new audience at the world’s largest arts festival. However, we need your help to get us there!
One voice unites a community. Not just about faith, Godspell is a vibrant and compelling musical about love, hope and finding friendship.
Cast completely gender blind, our production features a powerful ensemble of aspiring actors from the University of Exeter, including a female actor who plays Jesus. Our show will warm your heart with its endearing characters, colourful staging and infectious score. Performed in the round with a live band and featuring chart topping music by Stephen Schwartz, Godspell is the perfect family show.
Our original production in Exeter ran for three nights in November last year to sell-out audiences and rave reviews. Local student press described the show as "a spellbinding success" (★★★★ - Exepose) and "pure magic" (★★★★½ - Razz Magazine). We can't wait to revive the show this August as the same cast take on the Edinburgh Fringe!
The Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, with thousands of acts performing at hundreds of venues across the city. We are excited to take advantage of such a fantastic opportunity to showcase our work and build the reputation of our society.
We’ve secured a slot to perform for 15 nights at Greenside @ Nicolson Square in the Emerald Theatre from the 4th - 19th August (not 13th) at 6:30pm. Nicolson Square is a fantastic city centre location, tucked in beside Assembly Gardens and the Pleasance Dome, right at the heart of the festival. The Emerald Theatre itself has a generous 90 seat capacity which we hope to be completely selling out towards the end of our run. However, to be cautious we’ve based our budgets on a conservative prediction of 60% fill.
Throughout our time at the Edinburgh Fringe we will be working hard to promote our show and really make the most of the experience. For our cast and crew, this project represents a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into working in the arts industry and particularly into working on a show with a sustained run and a chance to build a strong reputation. Every day we’ll have teams out on the Royal Mile distributing Godspell flyers to the public and busking to promote the show. Our plan is simple: do everything we can to sell every last seat, every night!
Sadly, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe is not cheap. There are lots of different costs we need to cover from venue and technical equipment hire to performance rights and marketing spend. We want to be as transparent as possible so we have included a detailed breakdown of projected income and expenditure below.
We are committed to making the most of all the money we receive from public donations for Godspell. This crowdfunder makes up just a small part of the money we are raising. As you can see from the detailed table, we will also be looking to earn significant revenue from ticket sales, attract direct funding grants and make a small amount from good old-fashioned fundraising events like bake sales at the University of Exeter.
We’ve worked hard to come up with some enticing rewards to give something back in return for each donation. From limited edition Godspell poster prints and branded t-shirts to free tickets for one, two or even the whole family to see our show at the Edinburgh Fringe. However, you’ll need to move quickly, our best rewards are so good we’ve had to put strict limits on how many we can give out!
For more information about the rewards available please see the full reward descriptions in the righthand column (on desktop browsers) or when you click the ‘Support Us’ button.
Shotgun Theatre is the University of Exeter’s boldest musical theatre society. We produce innovative and dynamic musicals with an inclusive ethos. Our past productions include: Made in Dagenham, Songs for a New World, Avenue Q, RENT and Spring Awakening.
Outside of our productions, Shotgun also has a thriving social calendar with a number of workshops and other events throughout the year. We are particularly known for our popular open mic cabaret nights where anyone can come and perform a musical number or two in front of a supportive audience.
In 2014, Shotgun Theatre’s production of Spring Awakening won multiple awards at the National Student Drama Festival including the Cameron Mackintosh Award for Best Musical.
For more information about Shotgun Theatre please visit our website.
We don’t want to hide anything from you. If you have got any questions about our crowdfunding campaign, the production or Shotgun Theatre in general please do not hesitate to get in touch.
You can contact us by filling out this contact form or dropping us an email to [email protected].
Shotgun Theatre is part of the University of Exeter Students' Guild, a Charity and Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Charity Number: 1136468, Company Number: 7217324; registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Devonshire House, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4PZ.