Performance Pathway: Theatre/event budgets 101

Want to put on a theatre show but don't know where to start? Scared of spreadsheets? How should you estimate income and expenditure, and what is a box office split anyway?

Producers Rosie Kelly and Elizabeth Lawal walk you though the process of creating a budget for a performing arts event: where to start, what to look out for, and how to move forward.

Rosie Kelly is an experienced producer working across cultural programming, artist development and cross-sector collaboration, with a career spanning multiple artforms including theatre, performance, combined arts and interdisciplinary practice. She is currently Senior Producer for the Schwarzman Centre Cultural Programme, where she supports the delivery of ambitious projects that bring artists into dialogue with university research and public audiences. Her practice is rooted in collaboration, with a longstanding interest in how the arts intersect with health, research and learning. Previously Senior Producer at China Plate for over a decade, Rosie led artist development programmes, producer training, programming, and commissioning, alongside extensive advocacy for artist wellbeing.

Elizabeth Zeddie Lawal is the Theatre and Performance Producer at The Schwarzman Centre for The Humanities, and award-winning international creative producer, theatre maker, facilitator, and host as well as a co-founder of More than a Moment, a creative agency, and innovation lab, with a mission to end civic, cultural and economic inequality in the 21st century. Since graduating from The University of Birmingham in Drama and Theatre Arts in 2016, she has worked between the culture and the Tech industry and is committed to empowering leaders and communities to thrive whilst using creativity as a mirror to society. She is the writer of a play called Exhale, has performed at the Global Amnesty International human rights forum in South Africa, and co-wrote and performed at the UBUMUNTU festival in Rwanda. Elizabeth is also the creator of Empires, Pioneers, and the New Radicals," an Augmented Reality walking tour, 'The Commons', a playful model that explores new ways of collaboration and problem-solving and is the founder of Beautiful Futures Festival. She has been recognised by Birmingham Mail 30 Under 30 (2018), The Stage 100 (2020) for More than a Moment pledge, Finalist of Woman of the Year 2022, finalist for the Birmingham Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2023, and Winner of Potential Unlocked Awards 2024. She is also Trustee of Birmingham Hippodrome and is on the West Midlands Cultural Leadership Board.

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