May 2007 Field Letter
Written on April 15, 2007
Dear Colleagues:
In this letter, I will provide you with updates from TCG and the field, report on responses to my April "Question of the Month," remind you to register for the National Conference if you haven't done so already and pose a question for May.
Updates from TCG and the Field
As I mentioned in April's letter, I spent the majority of my first month at TCG principally in New York getting to know staff and structures at TCG as we prepare to embark on a planning process. It's been enlightening and enjoyable. Preparations for the National Conference continue to go extremely well, with a broad cross section of artistic directors, managing directors, general managers, trustees, individual artists, funders, business partners and others registered. We look forward to seeing you in June!
Thanks to Michael Gennaro of Trinity Repertory Company, David Hawkanson of Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Jonathan Moscone of California Shakespeare Theater for taking time to visit with me personally in the last month. And special thanks to everyone at the Intiman for sending me a salmon. Yes. It caused quite a stir here at the office.
During the month, I've also had numerous opportunities to attend shows and theatre gatherings here and I've been witnessing impressive levels of energy and engagement among theatre practitioners and supporters.
Congo Square Theatre artistic director Derrick Sanders and interim executive director Erin Gilbert were in New York recently with a delegation of Congo Square supporters from Chicago, attending a performance of August Wilson's King Hedley II at the Signature Theatre Company. I joined them for the show, powerfully directed by Derrick Sanders and featuring an ensemble with Lou Myers, Russell Hornsby, Lynda Gravátt, Cherise Boothe, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Curtis McClarin. At a gathering afterward at Jezebel, Congo Square friends spent several hours discussing the work with Derrick and the cast. It was inspiring to see this group of travelers, deepening their relationship with the artists and the art. Derrick is assistant directing Radio Golf, which opens on Broadway in late April.
Melanie Joseph and the Foundry Theatre held a gathering to report on the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Foundry, along with Ma-Yi Theater Company and the Hip Hop Theater Festival, brought together 25 American artists to attend and be a part of the WSF, joining 70,000 progressives, grass roots organizers, activists and artists from 65 countries. The World Social Forum is billed as the largest global citizenship-building process in the world. It has been held each January since 2001 in locations such as Brazil, India and Kenya. From June 27 to July 1 2007, Atlanta will play host to the first U.S. Social Forum. A pamphlet for artists distributed at the event states, "there's another world being contemplated, innovated and implemented. And we actually have a place to make our own place in its design. How will artists be a part of its configuration?" The amazing Madhusree Dutta, a film maker and executive director of Majlis, a center for multi-disciplinary art initiatives in Mumbai, India, spoke on her successful efforts to organize artists for past World Social Forum events. She opened by stating her belief that "artists are essentially activists."
Olympia Dukakis, Dean Mary Campbell of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Jaan Whitehead, Eduardo Machado and others hosted a two-day gathering to discuss a number of topics, including how actors and other artists participate in the process of decision-making within organizations and production processes. Many of the attendees were also educators, which led to some fruitful discussion about theatre training and how it impacts the experience of young artists entering the field. The conversation was lively, and will continue. Among the national attendees, there was great interest in having similar conversations in other communities in the future.
April's Question: The Response
In April's Field Letter, I posed this question: "Is there a local, national or global trend that represents a significant opportunity and/or obstacle for your organization or your work…what, how and why?" I received an excellent and wide range of responses and I want to thank you for taking the time to call or write. Following is a sampling of those comments and observations:
Michael Fields, producing artistic director, Dell'Arte International:
For us, the recent trend on the part of some countries to support international collaborations has opened up new avenues of possibilities for both the creation and exchange of work. This is especially true of Denmark and the Netherlands, who are actively pursuing a policy of funding collaborations over just the presentation of their countries' work in the U.S. I think that this trend also extends to the exchange of individual artists via TCG's international fellowship program and the reemergence of U.S. government funding (albeit limited) for cultural exchange. The work that a company like Bond Street is doing in Afghanistan, or the ad hoc formation of touring artists under the auspices of Clowns Without Borders in Africa, I hope will be a trend that will gain momentum in the coming years. In these times, cultural collaboration that transcends just [the] presentation [of international productions], results in a profound benefit for how we work, what we make work about and the communities who participate in it.
Lester Salomon, Johns Hopkins University/The Listening Post Project:
I'm seeing the emergence of new forms of capital available to the non-profit world and available in forms other than straight grants. The theatre field needs to prepare itself to access these new forms of capital.
Luiz Valdez, Teatro Campesino:
Two trends I've noticed. One is the increase in schools approaching us, as a Chicano theatre, to introduce their students directly to the arts. This stretches the mission, but I've also seen the incredible positive result on the students, some of whom have gone on to do successful internships and projects in the theatre. I'm also sensing the influence on American work coming from all four directions, not just east and west but north and south as well. It's not just a question of immigration and the border. It's deeper and will cause a more fundamental evolution in the cultural language. Styles and techniques are going to draw from the spirit of all these cultures.
Jack Kraushaar, board member, Geva Theatre Center:
It is my belief that we have two major issues. One, we continue to be in competition with movies; and two, we are much more expensive than movies. I think we need to find a way to make theatre accessible to more people. That means cutting prices or finding new ways to creatively package our tickets. One way to do this is for theatres to offer seasonal passes. For example, if a theatre normally charges an average of $35 a performance for six shows during the season, offer a season pass for $100 (that works out to about $16 a performance, or half the cost of a normal season subscription). If the theatre is sold out on that day, you can't use it. However, it would be good on any other day that is not sold out.
Rick Stein, executive director, Laguna Playhouse:
I am hearing from many, many theatres that single ticket sales are plummeting. A few years back, the challenge was ameliorating what appeared to be a dwindling subscriber base overall and a precipitous drop as a result of 9/11. The trend then was to focus on single ticket selling and many opined that the health of the field actually depended more upon developing a diverse single ticket-buying audience. Today, we and many other theatres have found that subscriptions have rebounded to pre-9/11 levels, albeit gradually, but now we are finding that historic levels of single ticket buying have evaporated—with only the rare show drawing even moderate single ticket buying.
Erin Gilbert, interim executive director, Congo Square Theatre:
Board structure and board diversity. I am seeing all kinds of organizations working to diversify their boards along racial and socio-economic lines. For example, African American organizations, with primarily African American boards, looking to add non-African American board members and vice versa. Our boards drive some of our engagement with audiences and help us attract new audiences. I think we are realizing that diversifying at the board level is a strategy to better engage and serve a diverse range of audiences and donors.
Question of the Month
Is there an artistic, business or organizational innovation you have accomplished yourself or seen accomplished elsewhere that has been transforming for you, your institution or community? Is there a specific idea or innovation you would like to try, but can't because you don't have funds to experiment?
Please send you response to teyring@tcg.org. Include the word innovation in the message line. Also, please indicate if you do NOT want your response published.
Have you registered for the National Conference?
Conference registrations are flowing in, and the program continues to shape up in exciting ways. If you haven't done so already, go to the Events section of the website and sign up.
I so look forward to seeing you all there,
Until then, my best to you,
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director