How much does a theatre production cost?

Question:Ignoring salaries, venue hire etc., how much would the production side cost, eg. Sets, costumes, props, make up etc?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Ignoring salaries, venue hire etc., how much would the production side cost, eg. Sets, costumes, props, make up etc?

Difficult one to answer, as usually theatre productions have a budget which they work to. The Production Manager gets given the budget, and has to work out which departments get money. I have worked on productions with budgets which have ranged from a few hundred, to tens of thousands.
Costume departments have to work out whether making, buying or hiring is the best option. Props - beg, borrow, hire or make. Set - simple, or high tech. Not to mention lighting and sound.
Make-up in general is supplied by the actor, unless something specific is required (blood, mud, scars, pantomime characters etc).
Wigs can cost at least ￡400 to make, but can be hired too. On a low budget production, compromises have to be made.

I have found a little information. The National Theatre's average production budgets vary from ￡33,00 to ￡120,000.

And the Corpus Christie College Oxford (Scroll down to Motion 4 "The Marriage" - Budget of ￡1500)

One may have more money than the other, but both have to work within their means.

I agree with the other responder, that this question is not only difficult, but potentially impossible to answer.

What's the era? Is it Elizabethan or is it modern? Wigs and large dresses cost more than a show with modern clothes bought at Ross. How many people does it have? The larger the cast the more money. How large is the theatre? The larger the stage the more set needed and lights to cover the space/

Without an idea about the scope of the production, this total could be from a high school production with a total of $3,500 dollars; or a Broadway show of over 3.5 million. More information about the type of show would be very helpful.