Short Summary
The Seedling Project grew (get it, plants?!?) out of the idea that theater needs to be more accessible to the public at large, as well as a desire to create work that challenges us as artists. We've decided to take a risk unlike anything we've seen in Atlanta: produce five fully mounted productions in one year that are free to our audiences, and to keep scientific records of what we learn along the way. It's like your high school science lab where you planted beans, if the beans were free plays, and you actually wrote stuff down in your composition notebook.
What We Need & What You Get
Each one of the Seedling Members has agreed to donate $100 towards each production (Which gives us $800 per show), but we expect each production to cost us between $1500 to $2000. We need to raise $5000 to fill in that gap so that we can offer free admission to shows that are worth seeing. The dollars you give go to venues, sets, costumes, props, advertising, and rights. If we exceed our fundraising goals, we will also be able to compensate the artists who have donated their time to our projects.
In gratitude for your donations, we have a range of perks from plants signed by the company members to Limited Edition Seedling Project trucker hats, to our soon to be famous autographs.
The long and the short of it is that your money is buying tickets for people who can't afford them. You are taking away one of the largest impediments to people accessing art.
You are also contributing to a truly unique science experiment. What discoveries could Galileo made without the Medici Family? You are our Medici Family. (Hopefully with fewer political murders).
Risks & Challenges
There are lots of reasons this could crash and burn.
We are going into this financially handicapped. $800 is simply not enough money to put on a show (in some cases, it doesn't even cover the cost of licensing the play). Fortunately, the generous Atlanta theatre community has been incredibly supportive of us thus far, and so some amazing commodities like venues and costumes have already been donated for some of our shows, so we are off to a good start.
But, even with free tickets, it can be hard to get people in the seats. We have to find a way to speak to our community. We can say confidently after our inaugural project of "Serial Killers", that we have this capability. We packed the back room at Manuel's Tavern for 4 weeks running with 5 bizarre 10 minute serial plays. It was a trial by fire, but it has already given us so much knowledge about what the people of Atlanta want to see, and we are ready to use that information to create a sell out season.
So yes, this all may go up in flames, but we think that is exactly where good art is made. It's only with great risk we can reap great reward.
Other Ways You Can Help
We are starving artists. We get it if you can't financially contribute. Truly, the best way you can help us is by attending our productions and talking with us about what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see more of. That is the kind of data we need to fulfill the scientific aspect of our mission.
Also, if you are in possession of a venue, costumes, cool props, lighting instruments or any other theatrical devices that you'd like to share we would be exceptionally grateful! Or maybe you have a few pesky community service hours to do- come volunteer as an usher or come work the box office, and we will attest that you are a contributing member of society.
You can also share our story and our campaign with others! Share this link, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter; Social Media is our friend! And so are you. Help a friend out!
