What's included
Every other project asks when it will be finished. A theatre production knows, to the hour, and works out what has to be true before then. The template is built in that direction:
- Development, rights & greenlight — The press night date and the theatre booking, rights and licence, capitalisation and investors, the creative team, and the back-schedule agreed from the fixed date. Milestone: production greenlit.
- Casting & design — Casting breakdown and submissions, auditions and recalls, offers and Equity contracts, the white card model, and the final model showing that releases the workshop. Milestones: cast contracted, design signed off.
- Construction & rehearsal room — Scenic construction and paint in the workshop, costume making and fittings, the rehearsal room weeks with run-throughs, and the plots drafted off the marked-out floor. Milestone: producers' run.
- Get-in & fit-up — Handover from the previous production, rigging in an empty house, the get-in itself, automation and flying commissioning, focus and sound tuning in the room. Milestone: stage available to the company.
- Production week — Spacing rehearsal, technical rehearsal act by act, notes and scene-change re-plotting, and two dress rehearsals — the crunch that cannot be extended because the theatre is booked. Milestone: first audience.
- Previews, press night & run — Preview performances with daytime rework calls between them, the show freeze, press night on the contracted date, reviews and marketing re-cut, then the run under stage management. Milestone: press night.
How to customize it
- Set the press night date first, then drag everything else in front of it. If the back-schedule does not fit, the fix is upstream — a smaller build, earlier casting, more rehearsal room weeks — never a shorter production week.
- Match the rehearsal room weeks to your company agreement; four to six weeks is common in subsidised work and less in commercial, and understudy cover has to fit inside it.
- Lengthen or shorten the get-in and fit-up bars to your venue. A repertory house handing over on a Sunday is a completely different constraint from a dark theatre you have for a fortnight.
- Split the technical rehearsal into acts, and add a separate bar for automation or flying if the show has it — those are the sequences that eat tech time.
- Add a bar for daytime rework calls between previews. Previews are not just performances; they are the last chance to change the show, and the calls are real scheduled work for the company.
- Mark design sign-off as a hard milestone. The workshop cannot start without it, and every day it slips comes straight out of the paint and fit-check time at the other end.
Scheduling tips
- Sign off the design early enough for the workshop to build calmly. A late model showing does not delay press night — it just means the set arrives unpainted and the fit-up runs into tech.
- Protect the producers' run. It is the last moment the show can be seen whole before the theatre swallows everyone's attention, and cutting it to buy a day of rehearsal is almost always a bad trade.
- Plot lighting and sound off the rehearsal room, not off the stage. Anything the designers can decide before the get-in is time bought back in tech, where an hour is worth far more.
- Do not schedule the company on stage before the fit-up is genuinely finished. A spacing rehearsal that shares the stage with crew still building is slower than waiting, and it is where injuries happen.
- Treat previews as part of the rehearsal process. Book the daytime calls, budget the overtime, and decide in advance which preview is the show freeze so the company knows when changes stop.
- Keep the wardrobe and quick-change plot in the schedule. Costume changes are the most commonly under-rehearsed part of a production week, and they are the thing that visibly fails in front of the first audience.
Related templates
- Film Production Schedule Template
- Conference Production Schedule Template
- Event Planning Gantt Chart Template
- Browse all Gantt chart templates
Frequently asked questions
How do you schedule a theatre production?
Backwards from press night. Fix the date, then work out the latest possible start for previews, production week, get-in, rehearsals, construction, design and casting. The template is laid out in that order so the constraint stays visible.
What is production week?
The week between the company arriving on stage and the first audience: spacing, technical rehearsals, notes and dress rehearsals. It is the crunch point where every earlier delay lands, and it is bounded by the theatre booking on both sides.
How long is a normal rehearsal period?
Four to six weeks in the rehearsal room is typical for a play, with musicals often longer. The template uses six weeks including run-throughs, but it should be matched to your company agreement and the scale of the show.
Can production week be extended if we are behind?
Almost never. The theatre is booked, previews are on sale and press night is contracted, so the stage time is fixed. Recovery has to come from the rehearsal room, the workshop or the design sign-off, all of which sit earlier.
When should the show be frozen?
Usually a performance or two before press night, so the company plays the reviewed version at least once. Put the freeze on the chart explicitly — an unstated freeze date means changes keep arriving up to the night itself.
Is the theatre production template free?
Yes. Free Excel, PowerPoint and CSV downloads, and free online editing with no account and no watermark.