The theatre of the

The theatre of the-wolf-at-the-door Essay Outline1 Theatre managers discuss the recession and prospects for the year ahead  2 Victoria Nolan, managing director, Indiana Repertory Theatre  3 Ron Himes, producing director, St. Louis Black Repertory Company  4 John Sullivan, managing director, American Conservatory Theater Theatre managers discuss the recession and prospects for the year ahead   Drowning isnt a sport. A drowning man isnt concerned with his form; his only thought is staying alive. He flails and gasps and kicks like mad. This may keep him afloat, but very few would mistake his plight for swimming. There are a lot of former swimmers in danger of drowning todaymajor corporations, once the stalwarts of industry, have foundered and local, state and federal governments seem ready to go down for the third time, threatening to take Joe and Joan Q. Taxpayer with them. Its not at all surprising, then, to hear that theatres across the country find themselves in an analogous situation. Its the nature of a vital art form that it will endure, even prevail; but the art of hardship is different (and only to hopeless romantics necessarily better) than that produced in times of relative bounty by artists at liberty to confront issues and ideas of their choosing. The theatre of the-wolf-at-the-door may be exciting and passionate, but it is still limited. One of the earliest effects of the emaciation that characterizes this theatre of lack is the phrase a one-man/woman show following a plays title in the season brochure, or a conversation/evening with preceding a famous name in the title of a play in the same brochure. Such ventures represent an often reluctant compromise struck by allies: the artistic director of the theatre and its managing director. It falls to the managing director, by some combination of discipline and alchemy or as Victoria Nolan, managing director of the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis put it, by magic and thumbscrews to convince the wolf to try another door. Early in January, Barbara Janowitz, Theatre Communication Groups director of management and government programs, looked back over 1992 and offered a preview of the recently completed survey that will be the basis of the special Theatre Facts report in the upcoming April issue of American Theatre. According to Janowitz, this years findings are the bleakest in the 20-year history of the TCG survey, as expenses outpaced income and contributions failed to compensate for inflation. Sadly, the kind of control over expenses theatres were forced to exercise included serious losses in artistic and human resources theatres produced fewer plays throughout the season and suffered staff cut-backs. The survey reveals the first erosion in what was always a consistently growing subscription base. Cutbacks in programming designed to minimize deficits seriously affected such key areas as developmental workshops, readings and touring. Staff downsizing and salary freezes resulted in a below-inflation increase in total salaries. And, increased contributions from individuals and foundations were offset by a decline in corporate support and plummeting government grants, Janowitz said. As the grim year drew to a close, managers of five very different theatres spoke frankly about their institutions financial situations and conjectured about the year to come, as a new U.S. President was about to take the helm and the economic outlook showed signs of change. Not all of them were experiencing the disastrous effects of the recession. But, despite considerable differences in mission, geographical location and budget size of their respective institutions, their messages had definite points of intersection. Plotting these on a prescriptive graph may help shape the art and the policies that affect it in the year ahead. Margot Harley, executive producer, The Acting Company, New York We are the last professional touring repertory company in the country, and a unique problem of our kind of theatre is that we have no individual constituency, which is normally a huge portion of the fund-raising pie. Consequently, we are more at the mercy of the National Endowment for the Arts, and weve been hit worse than most by the recession. We made a decision to stop touring for the year and take a hard look at whether or not touring is possible. Weve received an Arts Forward Fund grant for long-range planning, which will enable us to decide whether or not we should change what we were doingdo it better, more efficiently or change the thrust. I would hope that funders would see the importance of underwriting general support for the arts. Having funding only for specific projects forces people to do things they may not be as interested in doing. I dont see how we can continue without general operating support. In our company we have extremely low overhead; most of our budget goes into the touring. Were not supporting a building, were supporting our programs, but without that support for general operating expenses, there are no programs. All in the timing: six one-act comedies. EssayOur support went up from all the public funding agencies, mainly because they knew we were making the move to the new space with increased expenses and wanted to show their support for our growth. With the higher visibility the move has given us, we have acquired more corporate underwriting for productions, and if we continue the path were on, there will be a lot more sponsors jumping on the corporate bandwagon. Were going through a transition after having done a lot of big shows now were dealing with budget constraints, so were doing small shows. But theres still a balance. The March show, Black Eagles, has a cast of 13; Jar the Floor has 5, and the last show will have a cast of 20. Im optimistic about an upswing in the economy in the coming year. Now the task becomes finding out what will interest the corporate sponsor. In the current climate, that has become much more important for us than just going in and asking for a gift. When weve found projects that have interested them and will give them visibility, theyve come up big. Im hoping that we will finally, truly, have a kinder, gentler Administration. I expect that there will be a lot of stimulation of business, of the private sector, and that rejuvenation should begin to spill over. I hope to see the Endowment begin to assert itself as a leader in advocacy and support for the arts establishing an environment that will encourage and stimulate growth. John Sullivan, managing director, American Conservatory Theater Its been a tough market to sell tickets in, but weve also got a fairly complex situation here in that were in the midst of an artistic transition. So Im not sure how much of a factor the economys been. I dont think the economy can be blamed for all of the current difficulties; something more fundamental is at work that I dont pretend to understand: I think it has something to do with the hyperactivity of life these days and how people think of culture in the midst of that hyperactivity or dont think of it. Thats a fairly subtle and complex circumstance we have to address; it comes down to more than the economy or just the price of tickets. Weve had the highest renewal rate that weve ever had coming into this year, almost 84 percent; our subscribers have really stuck with us, but new subscribers were difficult to get, and single tickets are quite soft. Were looking at restructuring, but wed be doing that regardless of the economic situation. Carey Perloffs now on board as artistic director, and weve had a chance to see how she and the institution mesh. Were a theatre doing a lot of new work: We did the new Dario Fo piece, were in the midst of the new adaptation of Duchess of Malfi, and were working on a project with ATT and the New York Shakespeare Festival, a production of Elizabeth Egloffs The Devils. But when projected income is off, the difficult part is to try to structure some sort of vaguely authentic dialogue between the board and the artistic staff. In times of difficult ticket sales, the normal board prescription not specific to our board, but any board comes out something like, We need some happy plays, plays that will make us feel good, plays that will sell. Of course, we hope every play we do will sell and make people feel good. But the work has to grow out of our singular artistic expression. Thats why Ive felt its important to try to create a dialogue that engages people, its important to focus on the fact that something far greater and more general than just an economic recession is happening. Were just one small se gment of a world in enormous change. I dont care if you sell cars or commodities or theatre tickets; no matter what business youre in, the market is changing in ways we just dont understand. Thats what makes the dialogue interesting, that equal footing. While its much more difficult to get corporate sponsorship, I think until the arts community redefines why were important, why what we do is important, we cant expect the private sector to offer general support. Ronald Reagan really redefined things, in effect, he completely marginalized the arts. The collectivity of our minds and souls was essential to his ideal of building a consumer culture and the arts are about creating an environment where individuals can flourish. In that marginalizing process, we lost the language that enabled us to characterize what we are doing and its worth to our society. So all I really ask of the new Administration is the opportunity to find the words and the meaning to express why what we do is important.