The challenges of the theater reflect many current dilemmas of the American theater.
It is a few difficult months for the repertoire of the southern coast.
Last summer saw its final production at the San Juan Capistrano mission. “Outside Scr”, a collaboration between the Costa Mesa Theater Company and the Historical Mission, brought pieces on an attractive outdoor scene in the mission court for four summers. In many ways, the arrangement seemed to work well for both partners, and the public loved the framework. But the mission decided to take the catch On the relationship without warning in an announcement last June. The move took SCR by surprise. “It broke my heart,” said the artistic director of the SCR, David Ivers, at the time.
On November 30, the co -founder Scr Martin Benson deceasedleaving a longest and most impressive heritage in the American regional theater. In addition to his work as an actor, director and administrator, Benson was practical with a hammer and literally helped to build the theater at its beginnings.
Then on January 26, the production installation of 18,000 square feet of SCR in Santa Ana has undergone major damage in a winter storm. Most of the 4,000 square feet section of the roof which collapsed was directly above the paint area. SCR rushed to find a temporary production space and a safe place to house 100,000 costumes stored in the damaged installation, an invaluable asset generator for the theater.
“The repairs estimate is currently $ 1.3 million,” said Suzanne Appel, CEO of SCR. “We have just received a confirmation from our insurance company that they will support the full restoration.” But there will be additional expenses because SCR wants to make improvements in the CVC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and must provide a more protective permanent house for its costume inventory, added. Costume rentals will only resume after this summer.
The many SCR supporters have intensified, but no more help is necessary, said Ivers. “Donations came online, but we need more support. It is a high price and will require continuous support until its completion. ” A financing page was created on the theater company's website.
Fortunately, the two upcoming productions planned for Pacific 2025 SCR dramatist festival In May, “you are cordially invited by Keiko Green at the end of the world!” And “The Staircase” by Noa Gardner, will be produced as planned, said Ivers. “While we expect setbacks due to an adjustment of the space impacting deadlines for landscapes, etc., our teams work hard and quickly to fill the gap and prepare our shows for the public.”
Ivers said that an appropriate temporary production installation had been found. “Our production director, Maisie Chan, has done Herculean work by obtaining a space that we rented. We also use our scenic space. The costumes are safe and storage (elsewhere). “
The Santa Ana production center, which was a storage and construction installation for SCR, underwent a collapsed roof on January 26. Photo 1: David Ivers and Suzanne call in investigation into the damage. Photo 2: The open roof leaves the shop open to the elements.
PHOTOS GRACOUNDITY OF SCR, ROBERT HUSKEY
Growth, then sudden warming
In many ways, the recent challenges of SCR reflect the changes that take place in American regional theaters.
The non -profit regional theatrical movement, which seriously started in the 1960s, has largely lost its founders, whose vision and ambition brought revolutionary pieces in the cities far from the American theatrical capital, New York. SCR is one of the few who still enjoys contributions from one of its founders – David Emmes, who created the theater company with Benson over six decades.
Many regional theaters have expanded their installations and capacities over the years of growth, but found themselves overwhelmed when challenges such as the cocovated pandemic and the changing audience and behaviors have been able to sell tickets and philanthropic models.
In Los Angeles, the Mark Taper forum canceled its 2023-24 season. The artists also listed in Portland, Oregon. The stages of the regional theater across the country were much less active than usual.
At the beginning of 2023, the Oregon Shakespeare festival, one of the country's largest regional theaters with $ 96 million assets, announced that it had to quickly raise $ 2.5 million to avoid canceling the 2023 season, which was to start a week later. In June 2023, the festival announced that it had to collect additional $ 7.3 million to end the season.
An article by Kelvin Dinkins Jr. in the February 2025 edition of American Theater Magazine entitled “Crisis or evolution?” summarizes the current dilemma. “The industry was forced to deal with multiple challenges in its business model and its culture, in particular an increased dependence on individual philanthropy, public recovery, retention of talents via remote incentives to work and continuous tension between the values focused on the mission and the financial realities of the operation.”
“Even after getting out of the pandemic, there is still pain in the field of theater,” said Richard Stein, president and chief executive officer of Arts Orange County. “Musical theater continues to do well, but non -musical theater is in difficulty, and I think it is a trend that we saw starting to happen a long time ago, even before the pandemic: changes in the way artistic consumers access their entertainment. Cable and streaming have become widely available, then the pandemic accustomed to the United States to stay at home.
“People are much more selective now. In general, they see less productions each year and are more picky on what they see. And it is true through the country. It was an awakening for us (about) of what people really want to see.”
Stein sees additional challenges in the exchange models of philanthropy. “There is a generational change where so many founding donors of the main institutions have passed where they have been getting there for years. The way the young generations approach their donation are different, and artistic organizations must learn to adapt to this. ”
Appeal said that she had learned to be more agile in her approach to such fundamental changes. At the Vineyard Theater, where she worked before coming to the South Coast Repertory last fall, she explored innovative projects such as a partnership with a commercial enterprise, Audible Theater, to create audio versions of shows of a person who could be made available online. “What I learned is that you have to take what the world brings you and understand:” What can I do with that? “”
Find a new level of comfort
Appeal stressed that one of the greatest changes in the theatrical landscape which is not often discussed is the increase in the cost of labor.
“The labor costs have changed for each manufacturing sector, and the theater fundamentally made (part of the) manufacturing sector. We always do something new.
“At Scr, part of the reason why we do not produce 13 pieces in a season (more) is that there is (a new limit) to what you can ask people to do and what is durable. We would need greater staff and a different level of resources to start producing this number of parts again. ” Call thinks that the current range of nine games per season is quite durable. “And PPF (the Pacific Playwrights Festival, which has presented new scripts in the current readings and productions since 1998) will always be part of our season.”
Dinkins' article ends with a positive note when it assesses the response of the American regional theater to its current unit of intimidating obstacles. He and others believe that certain theaters, at least, are running a corner.
“In times of crisis, the worst error that we can make is not to recognize that a crisis occurs,” he wrote. “The non -profit theater industry has been faced with significant challenges in recent years, but it has also demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability to sail on a path to recovery. Whether in crisis or evolution, the non -profit theater sector will continue to prosper as long as it will remain attached to the values of artistic expression, community engagement and sustainable social impact. ”
Call thinks that although adaptation and change are important, it is also time to double on what the theater is unique.
“(Nothing) can replace the deeply human experience in live theater. Part of what we learned during the pandemic (must have done) by what people have done with their time. They cooked bread. They sewn. I actually believe that the experiences made by hand and in real time that tell us are what we want. And the theater cannot do this like any other form of art. ”
Richard Stein, quoted in this story, is a member of the OC Culture Advisory Council.
