off-stage right

As many nonprofit theaters end or are near the end of their fiscal year, we are getting a better picture of the industry.  Arena Stage, Guthrie, and many others scraped by despite all of the economic challenges of the year.  Others like Hartford Theater Works and Shakespeare Theatre Company are using staff furloughs and other cuts to try and end the year in a reasonable place.  The news over the last few months had been full of theaters who are reassessing budgets and programming for the upcoming year – Manhattan Theatre Club, Long Wharf Theatre, etc.  Of course we all know about the theatres that have closed or been threatened with near closure.

On the news we have started to hear experts say the end is near – for the recession that is.  That recovery is on the way (Suzy Ormond said it on the TODAY show – what more can you want).  Whether it is or not, July is a traditional time for reflection of what the last year has brought to the industry.  Over the last week or so, I haven’t posted because I was talking to peers in the industry to see – well – what’s up.  So, what have we learned?

1.  There is a call for greater focus on mission and programming.  It isn’t exactly a revelation that we must focus on the art of what we do and the education programs that are key to our future.   But there is a growing realization that the field has spent a lot of time building our real estate portfolios and “corporate infrastructure” rather than building community.

2.  The recession is just now hitting our theatres full force.  Not surprisingly considering seasonal planning and grant cycles, we seem to be about 6 months behind other industries. Every major gathering last year centered on the idea that 2009 would be tough but 2010 would be a bitch – this seems to have been a pretty solid prediction.

3.  The theatres that are surviving are those in the larger and smaller budget categories.  The larger companies have significant subscriber bases and have budgets that although not fat – can withstand some cuts.  The smaller companies prove again that they are the most nimble and adaptable.  It is the much discussed mid-size theaters that are in the most danger.  Each budget cut is equivalent to cutting a limb off of a body.  However several of these companies are taking huge artistic risks and are getting some rewards.  For example, Hartford Stage is undertaking a tremendously ambitious coproduction with Signature Theatre Company of Horton Foote’s The Orphan’s Cycle.  Hartford Stage is receiving unprecedented support from the Mellon Foundation for the project and Signature continues their affordable ticket initiative with major support from Time Warner.  Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, IL has produced acclaimed show after acclaimed show this year and just announced the FOURTH extension of A Minster’s Wife.  What these and other theaters that are surviving and growing have in common is that they were as prepared as you could be for an economy like this.  They were and are in the middle of long-term projects and initiatives that are the result of lots of planning and innovative thinking.  They were challenging the traditional assumptions and models before it became a necessity to do so.

4.  There are a lot of theatres that were not run as well as they could have been.  Sorry, someone had to say it.  Whether is was poor management, bad artistic decisions, lack of clarity in mission or focus, or an interfering/apathetic board, we are seeing case after case of organizations out of control.  Milwaukee Skylight Theatre has become the poster child for bad decision-making (and bad public relations), but they aren’t the only ones.  I don’t know the details (nor will any of us I imagine) that put the Magic in such debt that it was in danger of closing, but it certainly seems that before Loretta Greco and the board righted the ship, that “something was rotten in the state of the Magic.”   And surely I am not the only one who has noticed that a handful of leaders have been let go not to be replaced – therefore saving money on budgets.  The interesting question will be – do we as a field find a remedy to these leadership issues or is this a necessary correction that results in many theatres closing or down-sizing.  Goodness knows we have been working on it for years, so can we do more?   Is it simply a fact of an industry?  Ironically, as we become “more like business” (boy, do I hate that phrase and idea) we have in many ways become less effective, we have buildings we can’t afford to operate and staff salary structures that are completely dysfunctional and frankly abhorrent.   We have more “corporate” boards, many of whom are filled with board members who have no respect for the leadership’s understanding of their own industry or who want to impose corporate structure/personnel that makes no sense to the field.   Certainly there are healthy examples of boards and institutional leadership – most of them are running the types of theatres discussed in number 3, but it is no secret and it is time to stop denying that the other exists as well.

5.  Social media and web 2.0 are really cool and are great ways to communicate with audiences, donors, artists, etc. But in the end, if you don’t have anything to say, it doesn’t matter how you communicate it.  There are so many theatres who are doing amazing things with social media – MCC Theater, Steppenwolf, Berkeley Rep, and so many more.  RELEVANCE is demanded in everything we do.  There are too many other choices out there.  If you aren’t relevant and meaningful in our art and communications, you will cease to matter.  On the flip side, cheers to those who have taken a huge leap into exploring how to uses social media and web 2.0 in creation of the art, I do believe they will have a tremendous effect on the art form and frankly am more interested in that in the long run.

Last fall there was a lot of talk about was the recession a setback or were we entering a new reality.  I want to suggest this:

As we exited the information age and entered into the realm of user-generated content, as professional and amateur definitions have been challenged, as we have seen several corporate giant who were held up as models to emulate fall into ruin, the reality is that there are no new realities, there are no set-backs, we have entered into a period of constant evolution and change.  We will not be on “firm” ground again during the next cycle of time.  We will need to adapt constantly and be able to maintain a long-term visionary outlook as well as accomplish the day to day.  This isn’t new.  It began several years ago.  We are just becoming cognizant of the constantly shifting ground because the bottom finally fell out.  The beautiful thing about this is that this is a huge opportunity for theater and the arts in general.  This is a moment in time where we should stake our claim, speak out for and with our communities, and create great work.

For the last week I have been letting the things we have learned get me down, so much so that I stopped writing for a while.  I wasn’t and haven’t seen the kind of improvements that I would like to see.  I have written a lot about crisis and the opportunity that I believe comes from it – both on a very personal level and for the industry of theater.  I thought there would be more folks in search of the opportunity versus clinging to the past.  However, I realized today that this isn’t what was really bothering me.  The real issue that we are all struggling with and dealing with in our own way is the lack of stability.   On a personal level I have had a horribly difficult time accepting this idea of a constantly shifting ground, especially one completely out of my control and not a result of any of my actions.  In my own way I have down what several organizations have done – clung to the past, thrown everything out the window, and circled back to the core essence of what I believe in.

I can’t deny – I am scared shit-less.  Some days I can’t bear to get up and go out into the world, but each day I do, and I have to believe that there is a reason for it all.  I seek ways to interact with others, a platform to express my viewpoint, and an exploration of the issues that face my community.  Well, if that doesn’t sound like the process of creating theater, I don’t know what does.

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