O'Reilly Theatre

15/11/2021

We are now accepting bids for shows in Hilary 2022 at the O'Reilly!

Please send your bids to us by Tuesday 30th November (Tuesday of 8th week).

Information about how to make a bid is all on our website.

https://www.oreillytheatre.co.uk/

If you have any questions feel free to contact us.

The O'Reilly Theatre, is one of Oxford's newest student theatres, opened in October 2002 and located in the grounds of Keble College.

09/06/2021

Bids are now being accepted for the O’Reilly Theatre in Michaelmas Term! For full information, please see the website at https://www.oreillytheatre.co.uk/perform-here. Please note especially that a social distancing statement is still required.

Please send your bids (and any queries) to Emi at [email protected]. The deadline is Saturday 19th June (the end of 8th week).

Happy bidding!! :))

If you would like to perform your show at the O'Reilly follow the links below to learn how to make a Bid, how to apply for funding and all the documents needed to make an application. 

11/09/2020

Dear All,

We have taken the decision to EXTEND the deadline for O’Reilly bids until 5pm on Thursday 17th September.

Remember that, due to the reduced technical capacity of the theatre this term, we welcome bids from shows that WOULD NOT NORMALLY BID FOR THE O’REILLY: whether that’s because of a more inexperienced crew, or a more intimate production concept.

04/09/2020

Dear All,

After lengthy consultations with college, we are now able to release more detailed information about the health and safety regulations companies performing in the theatre in Michaelmas will be expected to follow. None of these should significantly affect companies at the bidding stage, but we encourage anyone planning to submit a bid to read them thoroughly: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H5jOQ1oDwb9Ths4aFHIRthC1RuoHGuWXYUnniY8ko_I/edit?usp=sharing

As this is a constantly evolving situation, it is possible that some of the regulations may change over time - and we will clarify any points which remain TBC as soon as we are able to do so. If you have any questions in the meantime, you should contact either [email protected] or [email protected].

O’Reilly Social Distancing Regulations The following list of regulations is non-negotiable and observance of them will be strictly enforced. A member of the MES committee will attend your dress rehearsal to make sure that nothing in the production breaks any of these rules. They will watch the ...

26/07/2020

****O'REILLY MT20****

Venue Fees:

The Martin Esslin Society are pleased to announce that venue licensing fees (£350) will be waived for productions in the O’Reilly in Michaelmas 2020. This is due to the additional pressures placed on production companies by the pandemic, and we plan to reinstate the usual fee structure in all subsequent terms. Please note that companies will still need to pay the Technician’s Fee (£150), as well as the security deposit (£250).

Due to reduction in income this will cause, MES will not be able to offer any new funding for shows in MT20, but we hope to return to our usual funding structure in HT20.

Any Questions?:

On 29th July from 6:30pm – 7:30pm, the MES committee will be holding a drop in Zoom Call, where anyone thinking about bidding for the O’Reilly can ask questions about next term’s shows. We will do our best to answer any questions you might have about social distancing in the theatre, inclusion statements, or just an O’Reilly bid should look like. We will post a zoom link on our page closer to the time – we hope to see lots of you there!

15/07/2020

Information about what to put in Inclusion Statements is now on our website! Make sure to check it out if you're planning on bidding for a slot at the O'Reilly 👇👇👇

As of MT20, all bids for the O’Reilly must contain an ‘Inclusion Statement’. The committee of the Martin Esslin Society have taken the decision to introduce this new policy because we believe that (left as written) the nature of many plays in the ‘Western canon’ creates a superabundance o...

13/07/2020

****O'REILLY BIDS MT20*****

Dear All,

The Martin Esslin Society are pleased to announce that we are now accepting bids for Keble O’Reilly shows for MT20. At the bottom of this post, is a link to a document detailing the regulations shows will have to operate under. Every company bidding for a slot must include a ‘Social Distancing Statement’ in their bid document outlining how they will meet these. The regulations are non-negotiable, but if you have any questions about them don’t hesitate to contact us - and please rest assured that neither we, nor the college, have taken any of these decisions lightly. We recommend that companies read both the attached document and this post thoroughly to aid them in putting together their bids.

As you will see, perhaps the biggest change will be that productions will not be able to perform to a live audience. This is in keeping with the latest government advice, which you can read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses?fbclid=IwAR1t_m1qp_GGZJy9mnl_XqdNeI9U2f4Jl5SA2r3OTLRnaLq9L5PQgk8zmfE
Instead, companies will have to make arrangements to stream their shows online. The kind of shows we can put on, and the technical complexity of productions will also have to change - as will the way we move in and think about the space. We encourage companies not to think about how they can cram a ‘normal’ O’Reilly show into these new restrictions, but to try and think about how they could create a piece of work specifically for these conditions - or even how they could use this as an opportunity to transfer a piece of work they would not usually consider for a venue of this size into the O’Reilly.

Of course, all of this comes with a caveat: we can only open the theatre if doing so is in line with government advice and university and college policy. No one can predict what might happen between now and October; being offered a slot does not guarantee that your show will be able to go ahead, and we have no idea how short notice a cancellation might be. But we hope that won’t happen, and we will continue to plan for how we can open the theatre as soon as it is safe to do so.

More detailed regulations will follow these ones. We are not yet in a position to confirm what these will be, but they should not affect companies at the bidding stage. As ever, as soon as we know, we will let you know. We will be holding a drop-in Zoom session on the 29th of July, where anyone thinking of bidding can come and ask questions, or you can contact us on [email protected] or [email protected]

Diversity and Inclusion

Another change coming to the O’Reilly in this round of bidding is the introduction of new diversity and inclusion guidelines. From now on, all bids for the O’Reilly must contain an ‘Inclusion Statement’. In it, you should outline:
- Anything your production is doing to promote diversity and inclusion - for instance, that it has a majority female cast or is a piece of work by a black playwright.
- How you intend to mitigate any access issues in your chosen play text -- for instance, if you are bidding for a show set in an all-boys boarding school, what you are going to do about the fact this presupposes a cast of upper class male actors, or if you are bidding for a piece of physical theatre what you are going to do to ensure that actors with a disability can perform in it.
- If there are any access issues in the production that you can’t do anything to alter - for instance, if the rights agreement prevents you from changing the gender of characters. If you feel that the message, or some other key element, of the play would be undermined by altering a particular aspect of it, you should also explain why.

More information about Inclusion Statements will be added to our website shortly.

The deadline for bids is Thursday 10th September, and you should send your bid documents to [email protected]. We look forward to seeing what wonderful shows you all come up with.

Best wishes,
Dorothy McDowell (President)
Juliet Dowley (Treasurer)

MT20 PRODUCTION COVID REGULATIONS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VExKkxaxlJJm_O2_TNUJvbYJo0WZx5xI/view?usp=sharing

15/06/2020

A STATEMENT FROM THE MARTIN ESSLIN SOCIETY ABOUT O'REILLY PRODUCTIONS IN MT20:

Dear All,

We hope you are well, and looking forward to a holiday at the end of this strangest of terms.

The committee of the Martin Esslin Society are currently in discussion with the management of Keble College about what Michaelmas Term 2020 might look like for the college, and whether it might be possible for the Keble O’Reilly to host student productions. However, it is likely to be some time before we can answer this question for certain.

As the University Drama Officer outlined in his statement earlier this term, we are attempting to plan for a range of different scenarios come Michaelmas. In consultation with the UDO, as well as the other Oxford venues, we decided not to hold bid interviews in their usual mid-term slot. With the support of the UDO, we have now had to take the decision to postpone them once again. We do not feel able to open bids until we can give companies a more concrete idea of what exactly they are bidding for. If we are able to open bids, it will be some time over the summer vac, but we cannot be any more specific. As soon as we can confirm for certain whether we will be able to hold bids we will let you know, and a bid deadline will be set with sufficient notice to allow plans to be prepared.

The only thing we can say more-or-less for certain is that, if performances are able to go ahead in Michaelmas, they will look very different from a normal O’Reilly show. A range of restrictions are likely to be imposed on productions, and while we are still working out what these might be, they could affect anything from audience numbers, to cast and crew sizes, to the space performances are held in. We have to comply with both government advice and college policy, and above all we have a duty to protect the casts, crews and audiences who use our theatre. Our advice to companies hoping to bid is to keep planning but be circumspect: we will give you more information as soon as we have it to give, and in the meantime don’t make any irreversible decisions.

We appreciate that this information may be disappointing for some of you. We are sorry that we weren’t able to say anything earlier, or say anything more definite now - but the nature of the current situation means that we simply didn’t know anything until very recently. We are incredibly proud of our theatre, and of the wonderful work you all create there, and we will do all we can to make theatre happen at Keble in Michaelmas.

If you have any questions, you can contact our President, Dorothy, on [email protected] or our Treasurer, Juliet, on [email protected].

We wish you a safe vac, and hope to see you all next term.

Best wishes,
Dorothy McDowell (President)
Juliet Dowley (Treasurer)
Justin Kendall (Secretary)
Bryony Streets (Marketing Manager)
Amelia Tupper (Outreach Officer)
(MES Committee 2020)

12/02/2020

**BIDS BIDS BIDS BIDS**

tl;dr - bids are open for the inaugural Keble Garden Play!

The Martin Esslin Society are thrilled to announce that bids are now open for the inaugural Keble Garden play. Production Companies from across the university are welcome to bid for the slot: so if you’ve always fancied having a crack at a garden play, now is your chance!

The garden play will run Thurs - Sat of Week 3 Trinity Term, and will be staged in the HB Allen Centre (Keble’s postgrad campus, a 2 minute walk from our main site). For more information on the specifics of the space, performance times etc., please have a look at this page of our website: https://www.oreillytheatre.co.uk/the-keble-garden-play

We recommend coming to look at the space before submitting a bid. To arrange a time to do so, please contact the MES development officer on [email protected]

Bids should be emailed to the MES secretary ([email protected]) by 5pm, Thursday of Week 6 Hilary Term. Bid interviews will be held on Friday of Week 6 Hilary term.

As the garden play will not be as technically complex as usual O’Reilly shows, we welcome applications from teams, regardless of level experience!

Happy bidding!

Bids are now open for the inaugural keble garden play! Student companies from across the university are welcome to bid, and Bid documents should be submitted to [email protected] by 5pm, Thursday Week 6 Hilary Term 2020. Please see below for more details on the performance space, dates ...

21/10/2019

🎶🌟THE NEW O'REILLY THEATRE IS HERE🌟🎶

The brand-spanking-new O’Reilly Theatre will be re-opening next week (3rd) so get excited for a show-stopping line up of three amazing productions taking place this Michaelmas.

3RD WEEK

***The Life of Galileo***

5TH WEEK

***Hamlet***

7TH WEEK

***Chicago***

23/05/2019

🎶🌟BIDS INTERVIEWS FRIDAY 5TH WEEK 🌟🎶

Interviews for bids to perform in the O'Reilly Theatre next term will take place between 9am-6pm in the Stafford Crane Room (Keble)

You will be emailed with a time slot for your interview after we have sorted through all the bids!