This is sad and miserable and all that, but renaissance only grows out of ashes: If theaters must burn, I hope it will be a purifying fire, scorching away antique habits and chronic mistakes. Slavish devotion to the nonprofit model is one such piece of institutional creakiness. Each theater has unique bad luck/bad management woes, but they are united in their jones for that old 501(c)(3).
"It's a default choice in Seattle right now--if you want to be an artist, people think you have to be a nonprofit," said Matthew Kwatinetz, artistic director and CEO of the Capitol Hill Arts Center. A for-profit business, CHAC is a two-year-old, but so far successful, node for Seattle arts, producing theater seasons, multidisciplinary art parties, poetry slams, music events, and tons of other stuff. CHAC is moving forward with an ambitious plan to go national and is looking into opening a second location, perhaps in the Bay Area.
"We live in a capitalist society that rewards value with dollars," Kwatinetz said. "Is arts a business that can't make money? I don't believe that." The for-profit life isn't any easier than the nonprofit, but it poses a more attractive set of problems. Yes, there are investors to pitch and be accountable to, but compare that to the bureaucracy of IRS restrictions, legal stipulations, and board politics that plague the grant-dependent. "A nonprofit is just as much a partnership as a for-profit," Kwatinetz said. "The question is: Do you trust your partner?"
Kwatinetz idealistically predicts a quiet revolution of "socially responsible" capitalism; he sees a future in which businesses like CHAC juggle profit, value, and community involvement as social services and the nonprofit model continue to decay.
There are pitfalls--pleasing the people usually means sacrifices in the culture-forwardness department. CHAC's theater has been competent but a little dull and safe: Brecht, Mamet, Stoppard, Miller. Its one original play (the flawed but interesting Two Birds and a Stone) was not a big seller. Does that scare the profit-sensitive CHAC away from exploring new artistic territory?
"I expect and desire to do original work in the future," Kwatinetz said. "But the laws of business apply to us, too." That sounds like a yes, but time will tell. At least they're not broke and begging for donations.
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As much as you might want to believe it, getting a few smacks from local theater critics is not why grizzled beta-star Tom Skerritt is leaving the Intiman's production of Our Town. He's not even really leaving--Disney has allegedly hired him for something and will fly Señor Picket Fences in and out for select performances. In the intervals, Ashland hotshot Philip Davidson will fill Skerritt's floppy-soled shoes.
