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Not-For-Profit Theatre and Commercial Theatre

Content in this section focuses on the intersection between the not-for-profit and commercial theatre fields and writing about specific shows that have been developed and produced by companies in each sector. Start with Diane Ragsdale’s foundational 2012 essay “In the Intersection: Partnerships in the New Play Sector” or purchase the whole book.

The Latest

The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney
Podcast
The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley, Tarell Alvin McCraney
6 March 2024
Andy Field’s Encounterism
Video
Andy Field’s Encounterism
Andy Field Talks about Forest Fringe—an Independent, Not-for-Profit Space in the Edinburgh Festival
Monday 5 June 2023
New York City
The Closing of San Francisco’s “Anti-Theatre” Theater Venue
Essay
The Closing of San Francisco’s “Anti-Theatre” Theater Venue
by rose oser, Rob Ready, Duncan Wold
18 April 2023
A promotional graphic for the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast.
The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney
Podcast

The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney

6 March 2024

Hosts Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey interview Oscar winner and MacArthur genius Tarell Alvin McCraney about his work as a playwright, how Black people tell stories, and what it means to be an artistic leader.

Event poster for Andy Field’s Encounterism.
Andy Field’s Encounterism
Video

Andy Field’s Encounterism

Andy Field Talks about Forest Fringe—an Independent, Not-for-Profit Space in the Edinburgh Festival

Monday 5 June 2023
New York City

For over ten years as of this event, Forest Fringe has built a community of artists and playwrights. Each year they return to Edinburgh they experiment with different ways of doing things and new contexts to accommodate even the most unusual experiences. Meanwhile they’ve also started exploring beyond the festival, creating new projects across the UK and internationally, including a festival in an old cinema in the center of Bangkok, a series of performances on night buses across London, and a traveling library of audio experiences.

A performer standing under spotlights on a stage in front of an audience.
The Closing of San Francisco’s “Anti-Theatre” Theater Venue
Essay

The Closing of San Francisco’s “Anti-Theatre” Theater Venue

18 April 2023

Artist and producer Rose Oser interviews Rob Ready and Duncan Wold about the closing of PianoFight, the San Francisco company and venue they co-founded that shuttered in March 2023.

Five cast members of Ain't No Mo' stand on stage during a performance.
Dreaming Beyond Broadway
Essay

Dreaming Beyond Broadway

13 April 2023

Playwrights Star Finch, Psalmayene 24, and J. Nicole Brooks chat about Black playwrights on Broadway, and what being produced there represents to them.

Two people speaking on stage with one person standing behind them.
Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!
Essay

Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!

3 April 2023

The 2022 national tour of Oklahoma! brought Daniel Fish’s critically acclaimed revival to commercial theatre audiences nationwide. Those audiences met the production with overwhelming disapproval and animosity rooted in its departures from decades-old conventions. Actor Christopher Bannow, who played Jud in the touring production, details his experience of enduring audience rejection while remaining committed to engaging audiences in challenging conversations through risky theatrical choices.

Under the Radar Symposium banner.
A Symposium Focusing on the Future of Producing and Presenting Independent Theatre
Video

A Symposium Focusing on the Future of Producing and Presenting Independent Theatre

The Under the Radar Professional Symposium

Friday 13 January 2023
New York City

The UTR Professional Symposium—one of the core activities of the Under the Radar Festival—will focus on the future of producing and presenting independent theater as we transition fitfully to a post-Covid world. The many challenges facing performance programs now are amplified in the section of the field made of independent companies, often emerging artists, or those not fitting into a regular category.

Kit Ingui and Jacob Padron sit on a stage facing each other
From the Top Down: The Importance of HR in Theatre
Essay

From the Top Down: The Importance of HR in Theatre

25 October 2022

Iris McQuillan-Grace sits down with Kit Ingui, managing director of Long Wharf Theatre, to discuss Kit’s efforts to create a supportive and inclusive work environment by consciously building Long Wharf’s Human Resources (HR) practices.

Singin' a Black Girl's Song- Ntozake Shange and for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
Podcast

Singin' a Black Girl's Song- Ntozake Shange and for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf

22 June 2022

This episode explores the recent revival of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown. Hosts Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey contextualize the production, its ongoing relevance and legacy, and its resonance in Black feminist theatre, dance, and performance.

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Mara Isaacs.
Connecting Collaborative Passion to a National Network
Podcast

Connecting Collaborative Passion to a National Network

15 February 2022

Tony Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs discusses how she puts collaboratively creative work in front of national audiences through her producing organization, Octopus Theatricals. This final episode of season two holds hot takes on boards, theatricality, and the connective tissue around artist-centered producing.

A smiling woman and a woman speaking with a microphone.
Committing to a Community
Essay

Committing to a Community

Ronee Penoi and Shanta Thake in Conversation

4 January 2022

Ronee Penoi and Shanta Thake discuss their transitions into new leadership roles as Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson and Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center, respectively—including their work to shift narratives on stage, see institutions as community resources, and keep deep listening at the core of their leadership practices.

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Rachel Dickstein.
Process Performances and the Completion Commission
Podcast

Process Performances and the Completion Commission

15 December 2021

Rachel Dickstein, Artistic Director of Ripe Time, takes us through her experience with Center Theatre Group’s completion commission for their adaptation of SLEEP. She also spotlights some necessary and helpful relationships with tour presenting partners, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as well as champion and friend Diane Rodriguez.

Kamilah Forbes portrait.
Imagining a Way Forward
Essay

Imagining a Way Forward

Discussions on Theatre and Race

30 March 2021

Kamilah Forbes, artistic director of the Apollo Theater, speaks with Wes Jackson and P. Carl about the American theatre being a very slow-moving ship, genre-crossing for artists and organizations, systemic racism in the field, and more.

a vintage show poster
Trade Show Business
Essay

Trade Show Business

Rethinking the Commoditized Theatre and the Public Space

22 October 2019

Charles M Pepiton discusses professional theatre’s commercial roots, how mission statements of non-profits today focus on social engagement, community-based development, and more.

two audiences looking on a stage at two tables with food and pots on them
Sympathy for the Incel?
Essay

Sympathy for the Incel?

On Oklahoma! and Jud Fry in the #MeToo Era 

26 June 2019

Catherine M. Young discusses the recent Broadway production of Oklahoma!, which she believes, despite inclusive casting and adventurous aesthetics, asks audiences to pay more attention to white men than anyone else.

Teenage Girls on Stage
Essay

Teenage Girls on Stage

Young Women Who Do Things

13 October 2017

Following the success of The Wolves, Helen Schultz looks at why are there so few dramas about teenage girls on stage and compiles a short list of plays about teenage girls by women playwrights.

How Can You Turn Awareness into Action?
Essay

How Can You Turn Awareness into Action?

A Roadmap Toward Economic Justice for Theatre Folk

29 June 2017

Matthew Clinton Sekellick discusses moving beyond awareness with action, advocating for theatre artists and administrators to join forces with existing social justice movements.

A Collective Call Against Critical Bias
Essay

A Collective Call Against Critical Bias

26 June 2017

A collectively authored essay by leading artists, academics, and theatre advocates about Paula Vogel’s Indecent and Lynn Nottage’s Sweat on Broadway amid a conversation about critical bias toward women playwrights and playwrights of color.

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Conflict Over Billing
Essay

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Conflict Over Billing

7 December 2016

Matthew Clinton Sekellick unpacks the crediting dispute over the Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, and the implications for the relationship between non-profits and commercial producers.

Where is the Union for Arts Admin Workers?
Essay

Where is the Union for Arts Admin Workers?

25 November 2015

Thom Dunn makes a case for union protection for the marketers and fundraisers and other theatre administrators who all play important roles, working long hours for little pay or glory.

From The Public to Broadway
Essay

From The Public to Broadway

Fun Home’s Growing Pains

22 October 2015

Manuel Betancourt on the development journey of Tony-winning Broadway musical Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori.

Windy City Midwifery
Essay

Windy City Midwifery

Birthing the New Musical in Chicago

18 August 2015

Aaron Hunt on new musical development in Chicago, Illinois.

In Defense of Broadway. Plus 2015 Must-See (And Can-Afford) Shows
Essay

In Defense of Broadway. Plus 2015 Must-See (And Can-Afford) Shows

4 June 2015

Jonathan Mandell on  the intersection of not-for-profit and commercial  theatre, and how to  affordably see  Broadway's best  of 2015. 

Franchising Theater and its Implications for Marketing
Essay

Franchising Theater and its Implications for Marketing

27 April 2014

Rob Yoho offers an overview of the Neo-Futurists and their triumphs in theatre franchising.  

two signs that say "nonprofit" and "for profit"
The Private Theater, aka “Dynamic Pricing”
Essay

The Private Theater, aka “Dynamic Pricing”

27 March 2014

In the last couple of seasons I’ve become aware of a ticket scheme already practiced by some of our larger regional theaters, and currently under consideration at some where my plays are produced. And this practice goes by a very catchy and newfangled name. It’s being called “dynamic pricing.” But it’s not a new practice. It’s actually quite old, and has a more familiar name. It’s called "scalping".

Photo from The Jungle Book.
Monoculture, and Pleasures of The Jungle Book
Essay

Monoculture, and Pleasures of The Jungle Book

31 October 2013

Allison Vanouse writes about Disney Theatrical Enterprise's approach to theatermaking, and how high art and children's theater meet in their regional theater collaboration: The Jungle Book.