# The theatre that made national news without funding. Now with a payback model.

![moliere - fun poster - Based on a true story.](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJobOd9Zfg.jpg)

> **Proposal update, May 2026: A Solid Business Case**
> This is an updated version of our previous proposal. Big change! We added a concrete financial return (5% of all ticket sales back to the Nouns treasury, ~$24,500 over the run, making the net ask ~$15,500). Also made a stronger investment case with a full breakdown of what the marketing is worth benchmarked against other funded proposals. The story hasn't changed but the business case just got stronger.

---

# 1. Background: We tried crypto instead of public funding. It didn't get funded. It became national news anyway.

A theatre denied grants for 13 years turned to Nouns. The story reached 4 million readers across Sweden's biggest newspapers, triggered a national political debate, and ended up on the desk of Sweden's culture minister.

We did all of that without receiving any actual funding. Now we want to see what happens with it.

---

## Before you read: watch these two films.

They are the fastest way to understand what we are building and why.

![the_nouning_compressed](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BybktO9Wfx.jpg)

**🎬 Film 1 — The Nouning (2 min)**
👉 https://youtube.com/shorts/h5cvlkVQHGo
*2Lang meets Nouns*

![apocalypse_now_what_compressed](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B1SSFO5WGx.jpg)

**🎬 Film 2 — Apocalypse Now What? (2 min)**
👉 https://youtube.com/shorts/k1oZuBqcg-o
*366 days, 4 hours and 17 seconds later. Who lives, who dies?*

---

## What happened when we applied

We submitted our first proposal to Nouns in May 2025. We didn't get the votes, but something unexpected happened.

The story of a theatre turning to crypto instead of the state became national news in Sweden. Göteborgs-Posten, the city's main newspaper with 500,000 daily readers, ran us as the front page of their Saturday culture edition. Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest national paper with 4 million daily readers, picked it up the same week.

![GP article photo](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJI9tsAT-l.png)

*Göteborgs-Posten — 500,000 daily readers. Front page of the Saturday edition.*

![Aftonbladet](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJ9QKj0TZe.png)

*Aftonbladet: 4 million daily readers*

Sweden's culture minister was asked in the press whether popular venues like ours, that do everything right but still don't get state support, should simply close down.

And then the press didn't stop at the news story.

The culture editor of Göteborgs-Posten wrote a full opinion column about what our application revealed about the broken state of Swedish cultural funding. A theatre applying to a crypto DAO, without receiving funding, had triggered a national political debate.

**That media storm from an application alone, with zero funding. Imagine the reactions with it!** 

**Full articles:**
- [GP: Kvartersscenen 2lång får inget kulturstöd – försöker med krypto](https://www.gp.se/kultur/kvartersscenen-2lang-far-inget-kulturstod-forsoker-med-krypto.05de6ae8-7b95-4f90-b4b4-8d513ecce4d9)
- [GP: Johan Hilton opinion column](https://www.gp.se/kultur/kommentar/snart-ar-inte-ens-krypto-ett-alternativ-for-kulturen.bfa5d749-9e79-4105-ba26-5ab80de61919)
- [GP: Tre Göteborgsscener som går back](https://www.gp.se/kultur/tre-goteborgsscener-som-gar-back-har-ar-deras-jakt-pa-pengar.16309b1e-3f57-474c-ae0b-44d559097b54)
- [Aftonbladet](https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/16o2mQ/teatern-i-goteborg-kan-raddas-av-krypto)

---

## Who we are

![who_wins_election_poster](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkz_V99bMx.jpg)

*One of our popular productions "Who Wins the Election?" that runs every election cycle.*

**2Lång** is an independent theatre in Gothenburg, Sweden. We are playful, political, and we punch above our weight.

- **15,000+ annual visitors**, growing to 20,000+ following our 2025 expansion
- **10,000+ social media followers**
- **13 years** of continuous productions
- **0 SEK** in public funding
- **150 seats** and a professional restaurant & bar in the heart of Gothenburg

---

## The system we're up against

![shakespeare_fingers_up](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HkuNRdqWfe.jpg)

Sweden's cultural grants are decided by a small committee. The rules are unwritten but consistent:

*"Those who have once received operational support will continue to receive it year after year. Then there is no room for any new ones."*

That's what the cultural administration told us directly after we were rejected three years in a row for operational support despite being told we "do everything right." Thirteen years of applications. Zero kroner.

This year, the City of Gothenburg distributed SEK 52 million to 82 venues. All but six had received support before. We were not one of them.

---
# 2. The idea: The Complete Works of Molière — Nouns Edition
## A nouns inspired play with multiple meta layers, performed over 3 years

![moliere - fun poster - Based on a true story.](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJobOd9Zfg.jpg)
*Based on a True Story: A meta-play about Molière & a passionate theater saved by Nouns*

Molière spent his career mocking the French elite, exposing hypocrisy, and getting banned for it, until the King decided he was too funny to silence. Sound familiar?

The play works on three layers at once:

**Layer 1, The history:** A comedic portrait of Molière, master of satire, enemy of gatekeepers.
**Layer 2, Our story:** A theatre denied funding for 13 years, saved by a decentralised community of strangers on the internet.
**Layer 3, The meta:** Somewhere in Act 2, the audience realises this isn't fiction. This is happening right now. The theatre they're sitting in is the theatre in the story. The funding came from a DAO they've never heard of.

---

| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| **Mr. Noun ⌐◨-◨** | The hero. A central character representing the Nouns community, wearing noggles on stage. Developed collaboratively with the community during production. |
| **The Theatre Director** | A passionate artist trying to save his theatre. Based on our real story. |
| **The State** | The villain. Bureaucracy personified. |
| **Molière** |  A ghost from the 17th century who appears to mentor the theatre, only to find that nothing has really changed. |

**The ending:** The theatre is saved. Molière and the Director are nounified = noggles on.

**Our commitments:**
- ⌐◨-◨ **Noggles featured on stage** and on all production posters
- The Noun is a **central role**, not a cameo
- **Script open** for community input during development
- Nouns and the funding story **named explicitly**, not implicitly
- **Crypto payments** at the venue introduced at premiere, earmarked toward a 2Lång NFT
- A **Nouns primer** distributed to all ticket holders before the show, introducing the community, the funding model, and why it matters
- Nouns merch collaboration, relaunching our **webshop** with art from the community

**The script will be released CC0.**

Any theatre, anywhere in the world, can perform it. In any language. For free. So not just a production, but a template. The story of a theatre saved by a DAO can replicate itself every time another theatre is denied funding. 

---
# 3. Business Case: A good investment needs to be FEASIBLE, DESIRABLE and VIABLE. 

---

## FEASIBLE? ✅ YES, We have done this before

**13 years of uninterrupted productions.** No public subsidy. No safety net. Just audiences coming back.

Our most recent show, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, has been seen by 8,000+ people and is still touring Sweden nationally. Same team. Same format. Proven chemistry. And in 2025 we doubled our venue capacity without any external funding, by betting on ourselves.

**The risk here is not "can they pull it off." We have the venue and proven experience.** 

![Shakespeare action shot](https://i.imgur.com/VZpnXdc.jpeg)

*The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Seen by 8,000+ people and still on tour*

---

## DESIRABLE? ✅ YES, Our audience is ready & waiting

Our audience is curious, well-educated, culturally hungry people between 25 and 40,  **exactly the kind of audience that could be intreresting for Nouns to tap into.** They read articles, they care about politics, and they have never bought an NFT.
This audience has been built over a decade. They keep coming back. They bring friends. They fill 150 seats. And they are already invested in this specific story. **We know this show will sell tickets**

![audience_bord18](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJGO0ucbMg.jpg)
*Our loyal audience is waiting for us to announce the next show.*

---

##  VIABLE? ✅ YES, here is the full picture

**The investment**

$40,000 covers scriptwriting, production and staging, cast and crew salaries, and marketing and media activation. Everything beyond this is covered by the theatre: venue, ongoing operations, and additional labour.

| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Script & Creative Development | $6,000 |
| Cast & Director Salaries | $11,000 |
| Stage Design & Costumes | $8,000 |
| Marketing & Media Activation | $7,000 |
| Travel & Tour Logistics | $6,000 |
| Contingency | $2,000 |
| **Total requested** | **$40,000** |

**5% of ticket revenue returned to the DAO**

| | |
|---|---|
| Ticket price | ~$70 |
| Projected audience | 7,000 over 3 years |
| Gross ticket revenue | ~$490,000 |
| 5% DAO share | **~$24,500 returned** |

**The net cost to Nouns is approximately $15,500. More than half comes back.**

At 150 seats and 90% average capacity, each show brings in around 135 people. To reach 7,000 attendees over three years we need approximately 52 shows, around 17 per year. Our Shakespeare production consistently played at that capacity. We will report actual ticket numbers to the DAO quarterly.

---

## What is the marketing worth?

Most visibility proposals are evaluated on reach alone. But **reach is a poor measure of marketing value**. A billboard seen by a million people who forget it in five seconds is worth less than a story told to a thousand people who carry it home.

A more complete picture looks like this:

**MARKETING IMPACT = Reach × Audience Relevance × Engagement Level × Campaign Duration × Credibility of Messenger**

Here is how this proposal compares to other excellent proposals the community has supported:

| | Indonesia Sculpture | Underwater Reef | **2Lång Theatre** |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Reach** | ~29,000/month | 500k–1M/year | **7,000 live + ~4M via press** |
| **Audience relevance** | General tourists | Eco-tourists | Culturally engaged, 25–40, educated, not yet crypto-native |
| **Engagement level** | Glance | Watch | **Experience** (120 min of live emotional storytelling) |
| **Active marketing duration** | Static after installation | Static after installation | **3 years of active performances, press cycles, and tour dates** |
| **Credibility of messenger** | Tourist landmark | Eco-tourism landmark | **13-year trusted cultural community** |
| **Financial return to DAO** | None | None | **~$24,500** |

The sculpture and the reef serve a different purpose as they build presence. This show builds understanding. An audience member watches Nouns save a theatre, laughs, feels something, and goes home with a story to tell. That creates advocates.

And because the script is CC0, any theatre anywhere can perform it. The message keeps spreading after the funding stops.

---

## The ask, team, and timeline

**$40,000**, with 5% of ticket sales (~$24,500) returned to the DAO. Net investment to Nouns: ~$15,500.

![founders_studio](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJWWAu5Zze.jpg)
*The 5 founders — and the 30 people who keep the lights on: actors, technicians, kitchen crew and course leaders.*


| Period | What's happening |
|---|---|
| **2026** | Script development with community input, media activation, premiere |
| **2026–2027** | Performances at our venue (150 seats) |
| **2027–2028** | National tour and continued media engagement |

We will track and share ticket sales, QR code scans, social engagement, and press coverage, reporting KPIs openly to the community throughout the run.

---

## The press didn't stop at the news story

![Culture editor column](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1f8jsATZl.png)
*Culture editors opinion column about our Nouns application*

To quote the culture editor of Göteborgs-Posten in his opinion column:

*"If things continue at this pace, the physical spaces where we can still look each other in the eye may soon be gone. And then not even crypto will be an alternative."*

**He's right that the stakes are high. Let's prove that crypto can be the answer.**

Reality already resembles satire. A theatre with no funding turns to crypto and becomes national news, without the funding.

Imagine what happens when it actually works.

![shakespeare_fur_closeup_v2](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJFsH95bGl.jpg)

**Vote yes. Let's nounify Sweden together.**

Outcome: DEFEATED