HOW TO NECROMANCE
Thank you for your interest in Necromancers of the Public Domain, in which a dusty old book is resurrected as a low budget NYC variety show. Here’s how we do it:
0. Sign the LOA Ayun sends you! (if you have performed in previous Necromancers, you’re good to go!)
1. Read the Book. Or at the very least skim the book to identify a section or chapter that calls out to you and read it closely
2. Create a piece 4-10 minutes in length to be performed in front of a live audience. Sweet spot is about 7 minutes. (Don’t freak if you’re not off book – the audience gets that this is a world premiere and lyric sheets and scripts and notes are all part of the fun.)
3. If it’s not a solo piece, find collaborators and rehearse with them. It’s up to you whether you pay them, and how much. Make sure Ayun has the names of these performers, so we can list em in the program. Speaking of that, what’s your website? Theater of the Apes will hyperlink to it perpetuity.
4. Prepare your tech elements and communicate in advance and tech / equipment questions.
sound: mp3s
projections: jpegs or mpeg4 – if you want them to fill the whole screen, they should be formatted as a 4:3 Presentation. The free website, Canva, is a great place to make these, and very user friendly.
if you have more than one cue, put the files in order, labeled thusly:
01YOURNAMEdescription (for example 01AYUNhat, 02AYUNcookies – please put zeros in front of the first 9 cues – it’s a help w/ QLab, which is the program we use.)
if you have more than one cue, please bring a tech script for the booth operator, with cues clearly marked
If you need a stage hand, no sweat! That’s what we’re here for!
5. Arrive early to tech your piece the day of. You’ll receive an email with the actual times, but assume you can gain access to the space 1.5 hours before and the audience is admitted half an hour before showtime.
6. Help us promote the show via social media, email and word of mouth. THIS IS OF PRIME IMPORTANCE! You’ll receive an email with links to the box office, the show on both the venue & Theater of the Apes’ site, the Facebook event, and all sorts of social media worthy ads. We’d be much obliged if you help us get the word out! Don’t forget to tag the venue and Theater of the Apes on Instagram and Facebook.
7. If you have any golden press contacts that might lead to some advance ink, we’d be much obliged if you’d help us secure that. Gold star example is Necromancer Katie Fricas, who contributes to Hyperallergic … she hipped them to her participation and it lead to a nice little write up! Look!
8. Each act’s lead performer (ie creator) gets a princely pittance of $50 to keep or divide with enlisted collaborators as they see fit. If the venue provides us with a discount code to share with friends and family, we will alert you in an email.
Important contact info and links:
Upcoming Necromancers of the Public Domain (ie your upcoming show)
ayun.halliday@gmail.com 718-415-8552
Caveat, 21A Clinton Street, Manhattan, 10002 (212)-228-2100
Caveat equipment
many chairs
music stands
a little table
a tall stool
mics
micstands (boom and standing)
projector & screen
keyboard with weighted keys
shared dressing room
THE BEST WAY TO GET A FEEL FOR THE SHOW IS TO SEE THE SHOW!
If you can’t see the show before you necromance with us, here’s how it goes: Ayun opens the show with a bombastic arena rock style intro from the book, then explains the concept. Performers sit in the audience unless they need to spend time warming up or getting in some insane costume. It’s very informal in between acts. Ayun usually reads a few sentences from the book to prime the pump / kill time. About five minutes from the end, each performer is invited to plug an upcoming project (or something dear to their heart, such as a reminder to vote) We close things out with a semi-tongue-in-cheek final recitation from the book, everyone joining in to return the book to the vortex. Our purpose is to make the audience feel like they too have read the book, like they have unexpectedly learned something. Thank you for coming together to make this a reality.
NO NOs
Don’t drop out of the show at the last minute unless it’s an emergency
Don’t NOT read the book
Don’t bring in an existing piece that’s sort of related to the book thematically (like don’t use a biography of James Whistler as an excuse to trot out that funny monologue about the time your mother went on a blind date to a paint your own pottery place.)
Don’t embody racist or homophobic tropes of the book’s period, even if you think the audience will get that you are making a wry comment or comparison with today’s standards. Please note that while the books we choose are antiquated, we steer clear of those wherein the author deliberately minimizes the humanity of any other human group (ie – humans of another gender, race, or sexual preference)
Don’t shirk from promoting the event – the size of the audience depends on everyone doing their bit to get the word out.