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
Essay
Accounting for Change
by Elizabeth McQueen, Sara Porkalob
24 November 2025
Essay
Where is US Theatre Thriving? Small, Grassroots Organizations
by Roman Sanchez
22 May 2025
Essay
Strategizing Against Fracture and Dissolution at the 2025 Under the Radar Symposium
What levels of change and accountability are we responsible for? Professor Elizabeth McQueen sits down with artist-activist Sara Porkalob to consider this question in light of both her recent work on Dragon Baby, which completes the Dragon Cycle, and her experiences with virality and accountability at multiple scales.
In the wake of shutdowns at the start of the COVID pandemic, some small theatres emerged that are experimenting with nontraditional business models of theatremaking. Roman Sanchez highlights these theatres and explains why they are so important to the future of our industry.
In January, hundreds of global arts leaders convened to strategize for a stronger performing arts field. Ashley Malafronte reports on this event, the 2025 Under the Radar Symposium, where participants spoke of funding challenges, politically-fueled decay, and—a bright spot—the centrality and partnership and legacy.
Using Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company as a case study, Michael DeWhatley discussed leadership transition as an opportunity for boards to become more involved and connected to theatre organizations. Through collaborative and relational governance strategies, these organizations can evolve and sustain themselves.
Ashley Malafronte reflects on the 2024 Under the Radar Symposium, which convened global theatre artists, producers, and presenters in New York City for a day of keynotes and discussions that surfaced the issues plaguing the international performing arts sector, as well as the emergent paths that could strengthen it.
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.
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.
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.
Playwrights Star Finch, Psalmayene 24, and J. Nicole Brooks chat about Black playwrights on Broadway, and what being produced there represents to them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
