Policies

Musoc is a not-for-profit, volunteer, incorporated society. The objectives of Musoc, as set out constitutionally, include:

1. To provide, regular, high-quality musical theatre;
2. To provide members with the opportunity to gain experience and training in all aspects of musical theatre; and
3. To further the social and cultural aspects of all members of Musoc.

Further to these objectives, Musoc runs productions with a number of wider policies in mind, namely:

a. General Involvement

1. Whereby large numbers of people are welcomed to be involved in each production; and role duplication by a single individual is strongly discouraged so that more persons may be involved.
2. Whereby inexperienced persons are encouraged to become involved, in junior roles, so that they may develop their experience.

b. Student Involvement

1. Whereby at least one-third of the cast, crew, and/or Production Team of a show must be current students of the University of Canterbury;

c. Ambition

1. Whereby all those involved in Musoc’s shows aim to produce the highest quality show possible, to the same level as a professional theatre company.

d. Professionalism

1. Whereby Musoc distinguishes between ‘community theatre’ and ‘amateur theatre’ – community theatre being a production in which everyone is involved in a number of aspects of production, helping other production team members and cast, and thereby gaining valuable experience in a number of disciplines. As such, it may involve a number of inexperienced participants getting a feel for roles they would not otherwise experience. By contrast, amateur theatre is a production in which everyone focuses on their particular role and does that to the best of their ability, in order to ensure each job is performed with a substantial degree of depth and commitment.  Here, giving people additional experience is sacrificed for a greater overall quality of production.  While Musoc aims to involve a large number of persons in a production, and to further the skills, and social and cultural aspects of these persons, it still considers itself to be an amateur theatre company, with a level of production superior to that of a ‘community theatre’ production.  There is sufficient experience and talent within the student body for this to be achievable.  Therefore at all times, all members of the production shall strive to be as professional as possible, bringing their full talent and experience to bear on their specific role.

e. Specialisation

1. Whereby, given Musoc’s overriding aim of professionalism, each member of the production team focuses primarily on their given role, rather than sharing elements of several production team roles. In order to maintain professionalism, where members are less experienced in the given role, a junior position shall be taken, in order that that person may learn from a more senior and experienced member, to better develop their own skills and experience in the field.