Student show: Student director wants financial contribution.

[SMfairy]

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone could offer any guidance on the following situation:

One of my final year modules is called 'Original Performance'. This entails each student being involved in an original piece of theatre, written, directed and produced by students, which is then performed in a festival-style season of performances. The piece I am working on has a large number of assessed students on it as performers, one of whom is the playwright/director. I am stage-managing this piece.
My issues lies in the fact that the director said the other day that he expects each of the assessed students to make a financial contribution of £40. Now, I feel that this amount is far too high (which I have said to him). Also, before the summer break, I seem to remember him saying that he was going to work throughout the summer in order to raise money for the piece, thus meaning that the rest of us would not have to contribute. With this in mind, I spent my summer doing a lot of unpaid stage-management work so I could gain experience. All of the other assessed students have agreed to this £40 contribution, so I feel bad that I am not willing to pay the £40. I have spoken to other students working on different shows, and they have not made such a significant financial contribution. Of course, I am willing to put my hand in my pocket, but if there is a pot of money (of an undisclosed amount) that exists for this show, I really don't think that we should contribute our money before the 'pot' is used.
At the end of the day, this is a student production in a festival season. There should not be large production costs, and I fear that the show is getting far too big for it's boots. Obviously, as the director has spent over 2 years writing this piece (don't ask!) I think I will find it very hard to tell him this. Of course, there are staff members who, in the production meeting 2 weeks before the show, will tell him this, but by then it will be too late.
If anyone could give any advice on how to deal with this situation, I would very much appreciate it!

Thanks you,
-Claire.

[On_Headset]

Do you have access to any sort of faculty advisor or departmental production management staff? If so, go and speak to them: 40 is a LOT for a student production, especially in an institutional setting where, presumably, you're getting access to the department's collection of costumes and properties.

It's unlikely that your advisor or production manager will outright say "stop charging so much money", but they might rather be able to talk him down from his grander designs, and they're in a better position than you are to do so.

[loebtmc]

I am having trouble answering calmly because this sense of entitlement - "pay me for the privilege of working on my project" - is so ridiculous and infuriating. It's that student's project, and part of his job - and (I am sure) grade - is figuring out how to accomplish his vision within a specified budget that he has to provide. And since most prop/set/light houses (at least in the US) frequently offer discounted rates for worthy causes, that's the place this person needs to start w his requests.

Now, I have been involved with shows where small outlays out-of-pocket were reasonable for things like specific clothing/costumes (esp period stuff) or very specific props, but all with deepest appreciation to the people donating their personal effects.

[missliz]

Another idea might be to ask the cast/crew/director to split costs of the show AFTER it has opened. Find what you can for free, pay for what you have to, and then split the bill up evenly. I think it would keep costs down considerably.

(But on a personal level, I agree with loebtmc that it sounds like people are paying for the privilege of being in the show!)

[SMfairy]

Thanks to you all for your contributions.
On_Headset I think I shall definitely speak to the theatre manager (also course leader for Technical Theatre) about this issue. Any yes, you presume correctly that we have access to the theatre's resources-so much so, that we will go in to a basic rig with the black box already set out in traverse (It's festival theatre  ). However, due to the vision of the director, he does not want to take advantage of the large resource of costumes (which I think is invaluable, and they ARE good) available to the university.
With reference to loebtmc'scomment, he is a drama student, so his mark will have nothing to do with the production side (or at most, a VERY small percentage of his mark will count towards it). I appreciate, that as the director and playwright he has his artistic 'vision', and it is his 'baby' of 2 years, but.....
missliz; I will try and promote the idea suggested by you, the model by which, as I understand, most other shows are working to. This is the way in which I would prefer to work, especially as the 'beg, borrow or steal' method seems to work rather effectively (yes, I did borrow a zimmer frame from an old people's home once-I thought they might be reluctant to lend one of those!).
Also, I must point out that I was asked to work on this show (not sure about the cast members) by the director. Plus, this show is only scheduled for ONE performance!!
OK, mini-rant over. Time to think about a solution, now I have wise opinions. Thank you! 

[SMfairy]

UPDATE:
After raising the issue with the director and cast, the contribution has gone down to £20. I am just about OK with this. I'd better get it back from ticket sales!!! 

Thanks for all of your advice.

Claire