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Sunday, March 13, 2005
Great leap forward
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The state of theater in America is bleak to many veteran observers. Broadway feels predictable and boring, and the regional theater hubs where the most daring new works take root suffer from financial uncertainty and creative insecurity. Funding is down. Audiences are fickle. With a theater's financial success tied directly to ticket sales, America's widening cultural gulf discourages directors from challenging audiences with political fare or divisive subjects. Instead they have to go with popular sentiment and shows that sell. Given all that, why is Portland Stage Company defying trends, enjoying artistic and financial success? The professional theater company on Forest Avenue is in a remarkable gallop. In the past two seasons, Portland Stage has launched three new shows, including Quiara Alegria Hudes' current run of "Yemaya's Belly." People are responding. Attendance is up, both individual ticket sales and season subscriptions. Last week, the company passed the $400,000 mark in subscription sales, a new record. That figure is up 12 percent over last year. The production of "Almost, Maine" earlier this season, written by Mainer John Cariani, set a record for individual ticket sales, at nearly $99,000. By comparison, the top-grossing show three seasons ago netted $31,000 in individual sales. We're witnessing a lovely dance between artist and audience. The artist leads, the audience follows, not quite knowing where the next step will be but anxious to take the leap of faith. "We're in a wonderful place," said Portland Stage artistic director Anita Stewart. "The stars have aligned with us." That's an unlikely and increasingly rare occurrence in American theater. I've just returned from a two-week journalism fellowship in Los Angeles, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, that focused on newspaper coverage of theater. We received input from all corners, including producers, directors, actors and other journalists. Ben Cameron, executive director of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for nonprofit theaters, described the troubling theatrical landscape in America. Nationally, corporate support has dropped by nearly half in the past five years. Foundation giving is off, government funding is down, and local arts agencies have reduced theater spending by 17.5 percent. Subscription sales, which had been in decline, arrested their downward trend, although sales are still off compared to previous years. Individual ticket sales are down, as well, meaning aggregate ticket sales are way off. "People are scared," Cameron said. If theater companies treat those trends as feedback, America's message to the theater community is clear, Cameron said: "You're not my priority." That reality has forced theater to re-evaluate its place in society and re-imagine itself as an industry. Theaters are trying to reach new audiences and tell stories that resonate. Perhaps they can learn from Portland Stage. Two of the three plays Portland Stage originated are about Maine: "Women and the Sea" and "Almost, Maine." The other, "Yemaya's Belly," tells a universal tale about a young boy coming of age. Originating new work is all about shared sensibilities and common ground, and it is not without risk, noted Robert Brustein, theater critic at The New Republic and founding director of Yale Repertory and American Repertory Theaters. "New plays and new playwrights have a very hard time in America today," said Brustein, who lives in Cambridge, Mass. "They're afraid (their work) won't make money or they're afraid it will run into a hostile press." Regardless, theaters are obliged to take those risks. It's part of their pedigree. "That's what theater is all about," Brustein said. "Once an audience trusts you, it will take a chance on a play they have never heard of." That's what we are seeing now in Portland, aptly illustrated by "Yemaya's Belly." Hudes, 27, is a rising star on the national scene. She came to Stewart's attention as a graduate student at Brown University in Rhode Island, when she entered an early draft of "Yemaya's Belly" in the Clauder Competition, a regional contest administered by Portland Stage. "Yemaya's Belly" won the competition, and Hudes came to Portland to work on the script during a festival dedicated to new work. She's originally from Philadelphia, though her family's roots are in Puerto Rico. Set in the Caribbean, the play is about a young boy from a backwater island village, who dreams of living in America. Using storytelling techniques she learned from her own family, Hudes weaves magical realism and realistic events together to tell the story of the boy's journey. "It was my first experience having a piece of mine done in a place without a large Latino population," said Hudes, who now lives in New York. "I was intrigued. I thought it was really neat. Usually places want me to come because there is a large Latino population, but Portland wanted me because they liked the play. I thought it would be really interesting." Two years later, "Yemaya's Belly" is getting its premiere in Portland. It's a major risk for Portland Stage. With the exception of ticket sales, on which the theater has grown dangerously dependent, the national financial trends match what's going on in Portland. It would be easier, safer and far less expensive to program plays that everybody already knows and loves - and certainly Portland Stage does its share of safe shows. But Stewart feels obliged to challenge her audience, even during uncertain times. "We are blessed with an audience that is willing to go the extra mile, that is willing to try something new, to see what it is and go there. They are intelligent, and they are coming to the show to see something and not simply coming to be seen," she said. Portland Stage operates on a budget of roughly $1.5 million. For the first time in years, Portland Stage made its budget last year, and managing director Tami Ramaker expects to do the same in the current fiscal year. To balance the budget, Ramaker eliminated staff positions and cut other costs. Without the unforeseen popularity of "Almost, Maine" and other shows, the financial picture would be considerably different. The finances please Ramaker, but she knows they can't last. "This year, I am projecting we will be 5.5 percent in the black. Last year was 4.5 percent in the black. But that is after years of deficits that were much deeper than that. It's going to take a long time to pull us around, and I am not sure we have that much time. The costs of producing what we do are going up faster than we can tread water," she said. "The fact that we were at 9 to 12 percent deficits for years, before our financial turnaround last year and this, is probably truer to the real picture than our experience now." Portland Stage's current success bodes well for other theater companies in town, at least in the short term. Cameron said companies that lead tend to inspire followers. "The more densely populated a town with theaters, the better the chance at success and the stronger the theater at the top will be," he said. That's good for all of Portland. Not long ago, the theater scene here was dim. It has turned around. In addition to Portland Stage, several other professional or quasi-professional companies are offering work: Good Theater, Mad Horse, Acorn Productions, Winter Harbor Theater Company, Cauldron and Labrys, Deviant/goods and many others. Community theater is thriving, and Maine's summer theater remains strong. It's a vibrant time. The only question is, how long will it last? Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
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