Stage Matters: A short video on why / how / if theatre matters in America

Stage Matters from Theatre Communications Group on Vimeo.

Dear Friends,

From ancient Egyptian theatre dating back to 2000 BC to Yoruba, Noh and even the ancient Greeks, theatre has not only been used as a means to entertain audiences, but also to communicate ideas, create social and political change and galvanize communities throughout the world.

Given this historical perspective, theatre as we know it in the United States is rather new.  For almost 50 years, TCG has been at the pulse of the national theatre movement, working to strengthen, nurture and promote professional not-for profit theatre in the US.  The profession has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres in the '50s and '60s, to more than 1,800 not-for-profit resident theatres. In 2009 alone, 80,000 professional artists in those companies impacted more than 30 million audience members.

But does theatre matter?  Of course!  The STAGE MATTERS video captures artists, theatre leaders, patrons, educators, corporate executives and politicians around the country as they emphatically speak about the value of theatre and challenges we face in an ever-changing environment.

I urge you to share STAGEMATTERS with your colleagues, funders, city officials, and members in your community as a tool to gather support for theatre and ensure a vibrant theatre community in this country for centuries to come.

Teresa Eyring
Executive Director of TCG

P.S. The video is made up of two sections; Part 1:Impact and Part 2: Challenges. To watch these sections independently, click here.

STAGE MATTERS is a collaboration between Theatre Communications Group and Firefly: Theater & Films and was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For complete credits, click here.