Season Update Consultation

Proposal to change days of hire for student theatre seasons: Union Theatre

UHT is always looking for ways to make your seasons more cost effective whilst providing you with as much on the ground support as possible during bump ins. The best way we think this can be achieved is by a simple change to the standard one week hire period for Student Theatre Groups using the Union Theatre, because it means UHT Production Staff will be onsite to help you more.

Currently, the hire period for the Union theatre runs Sunday – Saturday.

The proposed new hire period would be Monday – Sunday.

Please read on to take part in the consultaion.

(If your STG mainly uses the Guild Theatre, this change won’t impact you).

What would this look like in the Union Theatre?

Groups bump in on a Monday.
Preview performance on Thursday
Official opening night on a Friday
Show on Saturday matinee (if desired)
Show on Saturday night
Show closes with a late afternoon performance on Sunday
Bump out Sunday night

What are the Pros?

More support at bump in

Commencing bump ins on a Monday, when the UHT production team is there to help, would allow groups to get a start on complex installs straight away and with more support, meaning more efficient use of time in the space. More done in less time.

Bump in on a Monday allows groups to commence their week with the full support of the UHT production team. Currently, when bumping in on a Sunday groups are often limited to what they can achieve, having to delay complex installs to the Monday when UHT staff are on the ground to assist. Overhead rigging, anything involving movement of the orchestra pit, and more are delayed until the second day of the hire period, meaning the first day becomes costly and inefficient.

Time on Mondays is also often spent righting missteps that occurred during Sunday installs (e.g. re-bracing set items, technical troubleshooting, etc), instead of moving forward with the setup straight away.

Easier to hire equipment

Groups can get their hired equipment delivered on the first day of their bump in, which means that you don’t have to pay for extra hire over the weekend and have a secure spot to have items dropped off.

Equipment may even be left overnight when bumping out on a Sunday for pick up on Monday morning before the next group is in (previously not possible with one group out on Sat and another in on Sun).

No more big Saturdays!

We know from feedback (and the look on your tired faces) that the size of Saturdays is a big concern. When groups opt to do a Saturday matinee, they are doing two full performances before having to bump out. This sometimes means a 13 to 14-hour day finishing bump outs at 1am. This is dangerous and runs the risk of offsite incidents with exhausted people travelling home late at night.

In 2025, the University is also introducing additional penalty rates for working past midnight, further increasing costs if bump outs go late into the night.

This new model means two-show Saturdays can still occur without having to bump out afterwards.

An Extra Show

Everybody loves a Sunday afternoon show. Starting around 4-5pm means most groups will be out of the venue around 9-10pm after bump out, if not even earlier. Plenty of time left to celebrate the close of the season with the group.

Having a Sunday means an extra show to make money from. Groups who can’t have a show on a Thursday for whatever reason still get an opportunity to have at least three shows across the weekend.

What’s the price difference?

There’s not much of a difference! Depending on the requirements of the show, a standard schedule in the Union of Mon-Sun, when compared to a Sun-Sat, works out to be similar in cost.

When would it come into effect?

Proposed: Semester 2, 2025

What are the questions we have for you?

Availability

Does the general availability of student groups work better with a Monday bump in? Are there generally enough people from your group to start the bump in on Monday?

Opening on a Friday

Pushing bump ins a day later may mean more complex shows might not be ready to open until a Friday night. If shows do open on a Friday, UHT isn’t on the ground the following day if help is needed to resolve anything that came up during opening night. To mitigate this, UHT encourages groups to do a preview performance on Thursday – like an additional dress rehearsal, but for your FOH team too who get to practice with a reduced capacity audience.

How might this effect your group?

Traffic

Mondays are a busy day on campus with more deliveries needing access to the loading dock. Getting large items in (or anything requiring a vehicle) on the bump in day may require a bit more planning.

Is this a consideration for your group?

What else?

Is there something we haven’t considered in how this will impact student theatre groups?

What’s the next step?

Consultation with Student Theatre Groups - our community.

We’re seeking your input and feedback to help us inform this decision.

1. Please help us by completing this poll:

Open until Friday 29^th November

2. Optional consultation chat:

Thursday 21^st November 2pm – 3pm in Building 189 Room 101 (Market Hall Building).

3. Get in touch:

If you’re a nuts-and-bolts kind of person and want the details – drop in or email: production@union.unimelb.edu.au with your questions.