Sponsored stunt at fete for theatre group, ideas please!

[darklisruthven]

I am looking for unusual ideas for an open air sponsored "something" for The South Devon Players theatre company at a local fete (or two) next summer.
We are a theatre group (not a childrens one!) specialising in historical shows, and something in-keeping with that theme is what we are trying to come up with.
It would be nice for it to be fun for people of all ages and abilities to sponsor, watch or participate, so skydiving is out methinks.
Ideas fitting the theme of a serious and high-grade non-profit theatre group (not a 2-year-olds or muck-about thing, and not wanting to give that impression either) specialising in historical shows, would be super.

[madelaine]

A Speech marathon?

[damian_steele]

Depends on lots of factors such as how much room you have available, how long you need your stunt to last, how interactive you want this to be and so on.


No audience participation:

The most people dressed as historical characters to cram into a mini. Not original and costume choice may be difficult is space is an issue, but probably quite amusing to watch.



Abbreviated versions of well-known plays - 5 / 10 / 15? minute ultra-condensed performances of each play back-to-back with actors making appearances that might last mere seconds as the orator reads out the play. A good way to use existing costumes.


Lots of audience participation:

Memory skills involving audience participation: several members of the players swat up on the birth and death dates of numerous well known historical figures. Members of the audience get to randomly choose cards with one set of dates on each. As they read them out the historical figure should be identified. A decent compère could turn this into something resembling a game show and make it as long or as short as needed. Sponsorship works for each correctly identified figure. Team members can take turns or rotate in and out over time. Doesn't have to be birth and death; could be any set of usable information to point to each historical figure.

[darklisruthven]

Both sets of cool ideas. cramming into something sounds great fun, as does the speech marathon. They have given me some great thinking matter.

[madelaine]

I love the idea of the shortened form of a famous play - cf. Dogg's hamlet and the Complete works of Shakespeare in one evening.

"How many pantomimes can you do in half an hour?"

[20sent06]

How about this for an easy one: get together with the Local History Groups/Libraries in your area - you then offer to dress-up and act out the characters that lived in times past (there must be some down your way!) and proceed take the paying public on a Local History Tour!

[darklisruthven]

a lot (not all, but a good 50%) of our shows are local history. we know from people doing local history walks the idea has usually failed as our local town is VERY hilly, and a lot of people dont like that.

[damian_steele]

How's this going? Any decisions made, yet?

[Armstrongs]

How long a person can last in the stocks (before shouting....I'm a South Devon Player - Get me out of here!!)

£1 a minute sounds good

Then you can charge the public "extra" for the wet sponges lol

Yvonne x