http://www.off-stage-right.com/2009/04/why-i-hate-regional-theatre.html If we can’t make theatre relevant, why do it? If we can’t make it affordable, we won’t be doing it. Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:59:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://www.off-stage-right.com/2009/04/why-i-hate-regional-theatre.html/comment-page-1#comment-168 HENRY STROZIER Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:32:04 +0000 http://www.off-stage-right.com/2009/04/why-i-hate-regional-theatre.html#comment-168 The saddest thing about the word "Regional" is that it separates the rest of the country from New York, where, I suppose, "Real" theatre takes place. By doing this, all of the other great theatres in America are automatically relegated to being somehow second class because : 1. they are outside of Manhattan, and 2. they are not commercial ventures; they are supported by the community, and, usually, don't rely on "stars" ( and I use that word with a pillar of salt--just go watch some of the vanity junk on broadway done by tv and movie stars, who are there solely to make money for the backers and producers)--so that the people who go to the shows are there to see the play and support the theatre. Anyone who has been in the theatre for awhile and has worked at some of the "regional" theatres, knows that some of the best work in the country is done at these "lesser" places. I spent 16 years in the Arena Stage company, and our batting average was pretty great. Also, we could do things that broadway wouldn't touch, which enlivened the whole art. The first time I was on broadway, I realized that no matter how much I kept telling myself that I was on broadway, it was just like being at Arena or Milwaukee or the Guthrie. Theatre is theatre. And, yes, there is some great theatre in New York, but just like everyplace else in the country, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Hard stuff. But worth the effort. The saddest thing about the word “Regional” is that it separates the rest of the country from New York, where, I suppose, “Real” theatre takes place. By doing this, all of the other great theatres in America are automatically relegated to being somehow second class because : 1. they are outside of Manhattan, and 2. they are not commercial ventures; they are supported by the community, and, usually, don’t rely on “stars” ( and I use that word with a pillar of salt–just go watch some of the vanity junk on broadway done by tv and movie stars, who are there solely to make money for the backers and producers)–so that the people who go to the shows are there to see the play and support the theatre. Anyone who has been in the theatre for awhile and has worked at some of the “regional” theatres, knows that some of the best work in the country is done at these “lesser” places. I spent 16 years in the Arena Stage company, and our batting average was pretty great. Also, we could do things that broadway wouldn’t touch, which enlivened the whole art. The first time I was on broadway, I realized that no matter how much I kept telling myself that I was on broadway, it was just like being at Arena or Milwaukee or the Guthrie. Theatre is theatre. And, yes, there is some great theatre in New York, but just like everyplace else in the country, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Hard stuff. But worth the effort.

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