Island Stage Left: Safe & Stable Theatre Seating

* FOR A LIMITED TIME * The Community Foundation will match 50% of your donation, up to $1500 total to complete this project!

Island Stage Left performs at several different venues and set-up for each performance requires the coordination of many hands and a lot of equipment. One of the more challenging elements has been the theatre platforms for audience seating which over time have molded, rotted and needed ongoing work to maintain safety.

The acquisition of safe, stable, easily transported and set up theatre seating platforms is a long term capital investment in Island Stage Left performances.

With professional actors, top-notch scripts, a loyal audience, a nomadic style (ie. no building overhead), and over 3,507 volunteer hours in 2011,  Island Stage Left is proud to enter its 14th year of operation -  its 14th in the black.  Careful business planning and respect for limited resources  have enabled Island Stage Left to continue to provide top quality theatre on a budget that is tiny compared to most theaters that hire professionals, but the trade-off is that for every indoor show, Stage Left builds not only a set, but a mini-theatre.  Lighting instruments, the light board, the sound board and all their cords and cables, instead of being permanently hung, are put up and taken down for every show;  The front of house area including the theatre seating platforms are set up and taken down for every play. This creates much more wear and tear on the few items that make it possible to produce a season, not to mention hours of volunteers’ time.

Over the years, the  original seating platforms began to mold and rot. The tops have been replaced, donated carpet attached and the legs have been screwed together and unscrewed so many times that they were starting to split. These platforms began to be unsafe.  Stage Left volunteers were getting older and began to experience back pain and knee pain.  It became increasingly apparent that providing a new set of theatre seating would be necessary before the Spring 2012 show could open.

A turn of events opened a door and Roche Harbor has paid for half the cost of a new, lightweight, set of expandable theatre seating platforms and steel railings that hold nearly 300 pounds per square foot and can be erected in less than an hour by two people with no screws or hammers. (compared to needing 9 people and 3 hours to set up)

Manager and Director Helen Machin- Smith took advantage of a no-cost shipping opportunity.  The acquisition of safe, stable audience risers is an absolutely essential capital expenditure that will last long into the future.

Organization Description: Island Stage Left provides top quality professional theatre - free of charge - to all islanders and island visitors, no matter what their financial or social status. Stage Left is a non-profit theatre company founded by Daniel Mayes and Helen Machin-Smith to provide professional quality theatre to the residents of the San Juan Islands and to its visitors. Each summer in July and August, Stage Left, in a stunning outdoor setting, presents another production in its continuing series "Shakespeare under the Stars". In the fall, winter and spring the company produces a wide range of plays both old and new, written by playwrights at the top of their profession. Stage Left strives to attain an artistic vision that illuminates and questions the human condition. Funding is entirely from voluntary contributions. Production design elements are kept deliberately simple and the concentration is on acting and interpretation. In this way the company is able to focus on the art rather than the administration, and on serving the island community of which it is a part. Island Stage Left has always kept its expenses low, particularly its overhead. With no physical building to maintain, the company manages to keep costs down, focusing instead on quality acting and production. The company has played in converted lumber yards, in warehouses, on beaches, in private living rooms, in school auditoriums and on multiple outdoor stages. This ingenuity and determination has, for more than thirteen years, allowed Island Stage Left to fulfill its mission, to give the experience of great theatre to all islanders and visitors, regardless of their income or social status.

Organization Mission: To give the experience of professional quality theatre to all island residents and visitors, regardless of their income or social status.

Organization Revenue: $88,906
Organization Administrative Expenses: $4,957
Organization Program Expenses: $83,949