All the World's a Stage: running a theatre show on open source software

You can run anything on open source software, even a big conference. But have you ever tried running a theatre show with free and open software? Turns out you can. For the last five years, I have been running the technical side of a local theatre company with only free and open source software. Come to my talk to hear how we did it, what software we use(d) (and why), and what kind of bumps we hit.

We use open source software for the entire process, from preparation (writing the script, holding meetings), to ticket sales, our website, seat planning, audio mixing and broadcasting, video broadcasting and programming the lights. No closed source software is used in the process. An added challenge is that neither the theatre group, nor the public, are a technical audience or are aware what open source software is.

If you ever want to assist your local theatre group (do, they really can use technical people who don’t want to be on stage), come and listen!