In the United Kingdom, there are three types of theatre; the professional, the amateur and fringe theatre. It is often difficult to know where one stops and another starts and many productions that describe themselves as fringe would not be perceived as such by other people in the industry.
Amateur productions are, some would say, the purest form of theatre. A group of like-minded people from all walks of life who enjoy staging plays. The standard of many amateur productions is as good as the professional theatre. What can make amateur theatre particularly enjoyable is when it is possible to hire in professional theatre sets and costumes. For example, it is possible to hire costumes from the Royal Shakespeare Company. This will often have the bonus of the original actor’s name sewn into the collar. Likewise, progressive firms in the sector will hire out professional theatre sets and props to anyone.
Professional theatre is where the actors and technicians are paid. Fringe is more difficult to define as sometimes those involved receive some money or they may be on what is termed a profit share. This is often accepted as a euphemism for no money at all.
The motivation of people on the fringe is often that they are starting out on their careers and want to get noticed and hired by professionals. This goes for the designer and director as well as the actors which is the reason why it is important that the show looks as professional as possible and why at Keeley Hire we are always happy to help with props, particularly theatrical props.
