I'm really struggling with my rental policy for food and I thought I would
throw this out to the wisdom of CB for advice. My theater seats 415 people and the
lobby is about 300 square feet. When I first arrived in this position, groups were allowed to do whatever they wanted and the
lobby would be full of
catering warming ovens serving FANTASTIC Food, but creating huge messes with food in the
lobby, messes from food snuck into the theater, and food debris on the patio. So I have been progressively restricting food further and further. Here's what my
rider currently says about food:
Food, Drink, and Candy are not allowed in the Theater. Only bottled water is allowed in the theater, on stage, and in the greenroom. Simple handheld snacks and drinks such as candy, cookies, pastry, juice, and coffee, may be served to your audience in the lobby. You are not allowed to serve a “meal” to your audience. Any food requiring a full size plate and utensils may not be served. You may not serve anything requiring refrigeration or warming equipment. If you have any questions, ask the theater manager for approval about the snack you want to serve. You are allowed to serve food to the cast in the backstage hall way next to the greenroom.
There are some cultures where serving a large meal is an important and expected part of every theater event. Unfortunately for me, there are a lot of people from one of these cultural groups in my area. So at least once a month I have a rental where we struggle with the food issue. I keep re-writing my policy hoping they will get what I want. But, instead these groups are always testing my boundaries trying to find new ways to get me to approve them to provide more food to their audiences.
How do you deal with these things? How do I re-write my policy to be culturally sensitive, yet also get the
point across that we don't allow anything but snacks the way I think of them? I would love to hear your thoughts.