Do We Save Them?

Shakespeare Santa Cruz: To be or not to be?

After 27 years it has come to this: Either the SSC board raises $300,000 by Monday, Dec. 22, or the 2009 summer season will be shelved. And if that happens, the company will likely face “the most unkindest cut of all,” to quote Marc Antony in “Julius Caesar”: extinction. [Read More...]

Many theatre companies face closure, and it’s not just this year’s recession (depression) to blame. Performance groups face this crisis every year, and Shakespeare troupes more and more. I’m a believer in natural selection, and the economic equivalent: market forces. So on one hand, I say, “Let them die if they can’t figure out how to live,” but on the other hand, I have to ask myself, “Is the theatre’s job to make money or is it worth saving because they’re important to culture and education and enlightenment?” What’s your stance?