Repertory is the Answer

There has been a lot of writing lately about the artist versus the institution, most notably by Todd London, and Diane Ragsdale. The fact is that producing on a show-by-show basis also leads to an enormous amount of wasted energy and resources at the institutional level. Similarly the working conditions for the artists in the regional theater system might be good business practice but they are not conducive to making good art.

Rehearsal periods of three-five weeks, groups of artists constantly on the road and working with new colleagues without a common vocabulary, the lack of connection to the community for whom the art is being created; all of these factors lead to an assembly-line production approach, literalism instead of theatricality in the work, and towards safe choices instead of risk-taking.

It’s not for a lack of talent or ideas that the theatre is suffering, but rather from a business model that does not serve the interests of the artists, the institutions, or the audience.