Choosing Equipment for Community Theatre

Community theatres often share spaces, rotate volunteers and run on tight budgets. A few principles help.

• Pick equipment volunteers can run. Show-Ready wireless racks arrive programmed and coordinated, so setup is plug in and label.
• Plan for different venues. If you perform in rented spaces, favor portable racks and projectors with interchangeable lenses, so you can match each room's throw distance. See Throw distance and lens choice.
• Rent for the big shows. Own enough channels for most productions and rent the extras.
• Standardize. One wireless brand means interchangeable spares and Bodymics wired the same way.
• Keep a written setup sheet with frequencies, gain settings and a labeled photo of connections, so the next volunteer can repeat it.
• Insurance and rentals: your organization's insurance may satisfy the rental COI requirement. See Rental protection.

Paying: community theatres can order online by card, or ask about net terms for approved accounts.

See also Building a theatre technology budget, which includes questions to ask before buying.

Still need help?

Call us at 718-874-2642 or email hello@shopstagegear.com. You will reach people who work in theatre. See How to contact Stage Gear support for what to include so we can help faster.