How BATS is programmed

Our annual programme is structured around the four main festivals that we participate in:

The Fringe Festival: February - March
The Comedy Festival: May
Young & Hungry Festival of Plays: July
the Dance Festival: June

Festivals

The festivals are programmed with up to 3 shows a night, usual slots are 6:30pm/ 8pm/ 9:30pm. Shows share a generic lighting rig, can only have basic set requirements and have a 30min turn around between shows. Festivals are the perfect opportunity for low risk development of new work especially by entry level practitioners, and the seasons tend to be shorter than outside of Festival time.

STAB

Our programme is also structured to allow 6 weeks for the pack-in and staging of our annual STAB commissions in October & November. STAB is committed to the development of new styles of presenting theatre
and/or the combination of technology and live performance. Contact BATS for a STAB submission guide, or check out the STAB page on our website.

Mainbills

A mainbill season allows for a company to fully realise their production in terms of set, costume, lighting and sound without the pressure of sharing their season dates with another show. A mainbill of anywhere between 2-4 weeks can be for full length shows and is usually programmed between festivals in order to allow the staff and venue
to breathe.

Shorter seasons (5 to 12 performances) within the mainbill are perfect for the development of new New Zealand theatre works. These works are encouraged to fit into an hour time frame so more than one work can be staged
at a time. Usual slots are 6.30/7pm and 8pm/ 8.30pm. Positive reasons for shows sharing season dates can be the ability to share audiences, marketing, publicity, technicians and designers. There is however restriction placed on production values and show duration.

Return Seasons

Return seasons of hit festival shows are usually encouraged within a short timeframe of the first season in order to retain the interest and enthusiasm of past audiences. Return seasons that are staged at a later time frame are encouraged to analyse the good and not-so-good parts of their original production and
to rework the show accordingly.

Matinees