How to get in the press at Easter!

Free performances of Passion Plays are taking place around the UK every Easter – how do we work with local newspapers to get the story out?

A good story

First, identify your story! What are the unique elements? Stories of contrast and colour will interest journalists. Local newspapers are always interested in human interest stories, especially community elements, so have a think about what makes your story unique or how it relates to current events or trends. You can also piggyback on stories that are already in the news or making a lot of noise on social media!

Statistics

Second, highlight some statistics! Newspapers love statistics and findings based on surveys.

• Is anything happening for the first time in your play?
• Is there any interesting combination of facts?
• Are there any interesting findings from related surveys?

Press Release

Third, write a press release. Put all the important information up front, with the less important details later.  All the key details should be presented first: who, what, when, where, and why.

You can also include quotations from key people in your press release. This will humanise your story and interest journalists…and make sure to include contact details so they can follow up and speak to those people directly.

Aim for objective, fact-based writing in the third person with no enthusiastic colloquialisms or superfluous details! It should read more like a news story than a social media post. Make sure your writing is proof-read with no errors.

Eye-catching photos

Fourth, use visuals! Having an eye-catching photo to send with your human interest story is key. Make sure you use high resolution and professional quality photographs and that they are credited with the name of the photographer/s.

Contact newspapers

You can contact the news desk at local newspapers, or contact local journalists. If possible, try to do a bit of research on specific journalists so you can personalise your email a bit more. Remember to use a catchy subject line that will make a busy journalist want to open your email, and once they do open it, make sure to have all the relevant information and the whole press release and images in the body of the email. Attachments can often be overlooked.

Sample Press Release

You can find an example of a press release for a Pasion Play below and there is more help and advice on PR on our website here.

Edinburgh’s Easter Play in Preparation

For the third year running, Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens is expected to draw a large crowd for this remarkable piece of open-air theatre.

It takes place on the Saturday of Easter weekend, 7 April, from 2:30pm. A free event, it was watched last year by a crowd of almost 4,000. Although it is being performed for the third time it has a number of new features:

• a new Jesus, played by Duncan Rennie
• a new script, written by Peter Hutley
• a new performance route for actors and audience
• a new cast (for which more actors are still being sought)

Apart from the professional director, stage manager, and lead actor, all the cast members, marshals, sound crew and other helpers are volunteers. The Easter Play is a community play, performed by actors from Edinburgh and district, for the people of Edinburgh and visitors to the capital, making it truly community theatre

The play focuses on the Easter story of Jesus – a story of love, hope, suffering and triumph. It follows the medieval mystery play tradition, with performers and audience alike making their way through West Princes Street Gardens as the drama unfolds

Suzanne Lofthus who returns as director of this year’s play says, “Theatre as we know it was born out of a desire from the Church to communicate the Gospel to the general public. Jump forward hundreds of years and we still see passion plays being produced around the world and attended by thousands of people.

“As director of a number of these plays, it is a privilege to work with those who have the vision to produce them, and to see their hard work and dedication. The term ’community play’ really does describe the cast and crew. As the plays take six months to rehearse, the cast certainly does become a new community.

“One of the trends today is a recognition of the changing face of theatre. It seems that it is harder to attract people into a theatre, so we are bringing theatre to the audiences!”

For more information, to arrange interviews, contact: Press Officer [phone number] or Director [phone number]. See also the Easter Play website: www.easterplay.org