Conversations in the Field

In February and March 2006, Theatre Communications Group set out to listen to what working professionals are saying about the current state of the American not-for-profit theatre. More than 100 theatre company leaders and independent artists gathered in four cities at a series of meetings made possible with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Organizations represented included large, small and mid-sized theatres from every region of the country. Non-institutionally based freelance artists were also represented. This was the third in a series of pulse-taking moments that began nearly two decades ago, when TCG published a report called “The Artistic Home” by Todd London, based on a series of gatherings of artistic directors. In 1999, a previous Duke Foundation grant enabled TCG to conduct a set of meetings with a broader group that also included managers, individual artists and theatre trustees. A white paper based on those conversations appeared in the January 2000 issue of American Theatre.

Seven years have passed, and the context in which theatrical organizations operate has changed in ways no one could have predicted. How has the post-9/11 political and economic environment altered the landscape for theatres, artists and audiences? What about the war in Iraq and the emergence of new technologies? What trends noted in 1999 have intensified or abated, and what new ones have arisen? With those questions in mind, discussion facilitator Gwen Cochran Hadden prompted participants to catalogue challenges and opportunities facing our community with an eye toward articulating and shaping our common destiny through open dialogue.

For a detailed account of the Conversations in the Field meetings please refer to Ben Pesner’s special report “Where Are We Now” in the July/August 2006 issue of American Theatre.

"Where Are We Now" by Ben Pesner (PDF Version)