sudsonline.org Blog

Information about SUDS

What is SUDS?

SUDS is the largest and most active cultural society on the Sydney University campus. Each year, sixteen shows are performed in the society’s own performance space, The Cellar Theatre. On top of this, two Major productions are performed at professional theatres around Sydney. Everyone is welcome to direct, design, produce and perform.

By joining SUDS you become part of a theatrical tradition that stretches back well over a hundred years. Past members of SUDS include John Bell, Germaine Greer, Neil Armfield, Gough Whitlam, Clive James, Sascha Horler and Michael Gow. SUDS has been so important for so long because it offers actors, directors, producers, designers and technicians the opportunity to create theatre unfettered by commercial concerns. This allows us great artistic freedom, and obliges us to offer audiences original, challenging shows.

We are lucky enough to have our own performance space, The Cellar Theatre, where a new show begins every two weeks. At the same time, SUDS Major productions are running at professional theatres around Sydney. There are countless ways to get involved in SUDS, from directing your very own play to simply being part of the audience. Anyone can get involved, and we make it a point not to turn anyone away.

SUDS is a democratic society, and our fortnightly general meetings give all members the opportunity to propose, argue, question and contribute. No concept is too big, too small, too absurd or too risqué. Productions have included Hamlet set in a circus, a twenty-four hour non-stop improvisation and Sydney Uni’s first all-female production.

SUDS thrives on its members’ diversity and vibrancy, and it cannot survive without fresh ideas. While some shows have already been organised for this year, the opportunity for you to contribute is ever present.

SUDS is a highly social society, and we pride ourselves on our parties. Aside from the usual cast celebrations and opening night festivities, SUDS organises Cabaret nights, an Oscars Night, Pubcrawls and Barbeques.

How we operate and how to get involved

SUDS operates as a democracy. All artistic decisions are made by the SUDS membership by way of voting which takes place at our General Meetings. These are held every second Wednesday at 1pm in The Cellar Theatre, which is under the Holme Building Refectory, Sydney University, Camperdown Campus.

Our artistic program is broken down into slots. A slot runs for two weeks in The Cellar Theatre and has a budget of $350. In addition, SUDS offers 1 week Wildcard slots to other University Clubs and Societies, as well as numerous one night shows for its various sub-groups.

At each of our slots can be proposed for. That is, if you have an idea for a show you want to mount and you’re a SUDS member (joining is $5), you must put your idea to the membership at a General Meeting.

SUDS is administered by an Executive. The executive are elected at the Annual General Meeting, which occurs in semester II of each year. The executive have no more power than any other member of SUDS.

Types of productions

Cellar Slots: Cellar slots are two week runs held in the Cellar Theatre. A new Cellar Slot opens every two weeks of the university semester. These are SUDS’ main type of productions. In 2005 there will be ten Cellar Slots available to members.The budget for a Cellar Slot is $350, The Cellar Slots are completely free of commercial influences and to protect this value no external sponsorship is allowed.Each production has at least six to seven weeks to prepare for its opening.
Wildcards: These slots give other societies the opportunity to use the Cellar Theatre.There are four Wildcards a year held for one week each in the Cellar Theatre. Wildcards have a budget of $175 each.
Majors: SUDS produces a Major Production at a professional theatre around Sydney.The budget for a major is greater than a Cellar Slot and sponsorship can be attained.To propose for a Major Production you need to have been artistically and financially responsible for a Cellar Slot.

Proposing for a show

So you’re thinking about proposing for a cellar slot. The process may seem daunting but really it’s not that hard and with these
hints, your proposal process will run a little smoother.

Firstly, a little bit about cellar slots:

A cellar slot runs for a two week period (unless it’s a wildcard slot)
There are 16 slots a year so lots to chose from!
A cellar slot is allocated $350 by SUDS to put on the production.
It is recommended that a production has a Director and Producer.
The Director’s role generally includes casting the show, running rehearsals and creative input to the run of the show.
The Producer is generally in-charge of the allocated money, the publicity, organising t-shirts, promotion and generally the administration side of things.
Both the Director and Producer are responsible and accountable for the allocation of budget money.
If you are ever having problems, feel out of your depth or just want some advice, never hesitate to contact the Treasurer or the SUDS executive about your problems.
You will be given the money after the production, or half at the beginning and half upon completion. It is therefore imperative that YOU KEEP ALL RECEIPTS. Otherwise you cannot be paid at the end of the show.
You are also required to handover all the ticket book stubs from during the show and ticket sales form and profits from the show before payment is allowed.

And remember you can always talk to the exec if you are having problems and they will help you sort it out!

The Proposal Process

Find yourself or write a play that you want to put on.
Work out when the next SUDS meeting is. They are generally every fortnight at 1pm Wednesday in The Cellar.
Work out when you would ideally like the play to go on, what slot this is and when proposals for that slot are being held.
The proposal process generally involves those individuals interested in a particular slot standing up and talking about their play and then answering some questions. Then the vote is held.
Before proposing think about how you will convey the following (and think about making a few handouts):

What is the story about?
Who does the cast comprise of? (gender split?)
What are your ideas about the set?
How are you going to use the space?
What are you going to spend your budget on?

Remember that someone on the SUDS executive is always available to talk to if you want to bounce some ideas around, or just run through your proposal.

If you have thought about all of these things and can remember the name of your play without prompting, you are ready to go.

Remember that if you aren’t successful, you can alwayspropose for the next slot and keep coming back till you get one. Some of the best shows have been those that haven’t gotten up the first time.

It is important to keep in mind that every proposal is valued in the SUDS community as we are committed to fostering an open, inviting, encouraging and creative space for all of our members and you should therefore never feel that you can’t propose, or are too intimidated because there was a time when everyone had their first proposal. You’re not alone. dawg.

SUDS Executive

The SUDS executive is responsible for administering SUDS and keeping it running smoothly on an organisational level. Its members have no more power than any other SUDS member.

As a group of people who collectively have a lot of experience in putting on SUDS shows, they are a good source of information and help. If you have any questions about any element of SUDS email the executive on exec@sudsonline.org or come to a General Meeting.

(meetings happen every second Wednesday at 1pm in The Cellar Theatre which is under the Holme Building Refectory, Sydney University, Camperdown Campus).

The Executive Are:

President: The President co-ordinates and chairs the meetings. The President is responsible for The Wash, the society’s fortnightly newsletter. To get information in the wash, email wash@sudsonline.org. The President is also responsible for liaisons between SUDS and other Clubs and Societies and with the University of Sydney Union. The President is available to answer any general questions you may have about proposals, projects or anything else. Contact: president@sudsonline.org
Vice President: The Vice-President works with the President and looks after The Cellar Theatre, including technical equipment. The Vice-President is also there to help with any proposals or projects. Contact: vicepresident@sudsonline.org
Treasurer: The Treasurer handles all details of membership and accounting for the society, especially budgets and expenditure. The Treasurer is available to help with any accounting matters you need assistance with. Contact: treasurer@sudsonline.org
Secretary: The Secretary records the minutes at meetings, handles contracts and mail and deals with all other administration. Contact: secretary@sudsonline.org
Cellar Officers: The Cellar Officers are responsible for the theatre and all technical equipment. They co-ordinate ‘bump in’ and ‘bump out’ for productions and ensure safe and appropriate use of The Cellar Theatre and equipment. Contact: cellar@sudsonline.org
Publicity Officers: The Publicity Officers are responsible for publicity on campus. They co-ordinate publicity for all SUDS events and are available to assist with publicity for productions. They also monitor and update the society’s website. Contact: publicity@sudsonline.org
Social Secretary: The Social Secretary organises all social events for the society, including Oscar nights, Cabaret nights and also co-ordinates events including new members of the society such as workshops and BBQs. Contact: social@sudsonline.org
Archivist: The Archivist contains and maintains archival material for the year on top of maintaining SUDS’ material from the many years previous. Contact: archives@sudsonline.org

Comments Off

Comments are closed.