Instead of creating just one flier, ask theater community members to help make several different fliers, giving you a choice when it comes time to print them. Several weeks before you plan to print and distribute the fliers, put up a notice asking all theater members to design fliers for the production. Select the ones you feel are best and put them up on a community board and ask theater members to vote on them. Reward the creator of the winning flier with a prize, print copies of the winning hand-out and distribute it.
Use the flier to show people glimpse of what they will see if they come to your production. Have a professional photographer -- or skilled amateur -- come to one your theater practices. Ask the cast to dress in costume for the photos. Select your favorite photos, and turn them into a collage. Place this collage on a flier and distribute it, creating a buzz about your show.
Add some artistry to your flier by using an illustration. Select a pivotal scene from the production and hire a local artist to illustrate it, using the actors as models. Place this illustration in the center of your flier, putting necessary information around it. Create copies and distribute your flier.
Let the well-written dialog that fills your play speak for itself on the fliers. Select pieces of dialog that are particularly pithy or emotionally charged. Features these important quotes prominently on your fliers, sizing the letters to fill the entire space and placing the play name, theater name and dates and times of performances in a smaller font as to not detract from these quotations. Create only one flier of this type, or, if the play is filled with too many good quotes to select just one, make a series of quote-filled fliers.