The SSC festival glenn; a place of magic and creativity for 32 years.
Photo uploaded by Santa Cruz Sentinel
About a week ago, I received an email from UC Santa Cruz’s Dean of the Arts David Yager, notifying me of the final season of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. After 32 long years of bringing joy and cultural enrichment to the Santa Cruz community, this monumental theatre company was to be shut down for “budgetary concerns.” While public protest fights to preserve the company’s existence, Yager continuously insists that “the company is not built on a financially sustainable model.” Contributors of the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper are appalled by the university’s decision to pull the plug. “Shutting down Shakespeare SC borders on criminal,” says Sentinel contributor Michael Burns. “In a university system that absorbs so many taxpayer dollars, it seems to me an investment in a cultural icon such as Shakespeare Santa Cruz is worth the expense.” According to the University News Center, a dependence on campus funding has not declined, but grown (the exact numbers in debt and revenue can be found through the above link). Yager hopes to bring about a new, more economic theatre company to the campus, thereby retaining some form of SSC’s 32-year legacy. But as support and funding for the performing arts diminishes, it is important to ask ourselves what the future entails for college and professional theatre alike.
The convenience of modern entertainment.
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It is no question that we live in a world where entertainment comes cheap and convenient, but there are still levels of quality to entertainment, and live theatre is one of the higher brands. Craig Lambert from Harvard Magazine reports the average theatregoer’s age is at 48 during the 2009-10 Broadway season. Unlike baby boomers, most millenials would rather stream a video at home or drive five miles for a movie and pay twelve dollars than go the distance to experience live theatre. “Entertainment delivered cheaply to a laptop or handheld device beats theatre on price and convenience,” Lambert says, and he is right. It seems that during every economic struggle throughout history, the theatre industry has suffered grievously. During the Great Depression, playwrights, actors, directors, and producers commuted from Broadway to Hollywood, where cheap movie prices bought out most of the theatre audiences. Of course nowadays Hollywood suffers its own financial burdens brought on by online piracy, whereas a live theatrical performance can never be experienced online. But for the millenial generation, enhanced exposure to modern digital media could create a cultural rift that isolates the theater from its future audience.
Box office sales are a key component of commerce in live theatre.
Photo uploaded by David Sebben
So what is the future of live theatre? Freelance journalist and theatre director Chris Wilkinson explores this fundamental question in depth in his online article “Noises off: Theatreland in 2034.” Wilkinson describes the theatre’s future as torn between artistic integrity, economic survival, and a reconnection with with “local roots.” American actor and director Tom Laughlin sees the future from an economic standpoint. “I predict the fight will be over economic survival, not over artistic integrity,” says Laughlin. “Theatre over the next 25 years will become smaller, less consequential, and highly undervalued by society at large.” Wilkinson then turns to Dr. Scott Walters from the University of North Carolina for his viewpoint on the local roots. “Once smallness is embraced and magic reclaimed…the theatre will rediscover the fact that its lifeblood is not drawn from the mass culture, but from the local culture.” Walters hopes for the theatre to one day turn away from commerce as its primary source of blood money, and instead look to the local community.
The closure of Shakespeare Santa Cruz is a key example in the decline of live theatre nowadays. As interest and appreciation in the performing arts gradually weakens, a stronger dependence on commerce is certain. The average ticket price for on and off-Broadway shows will rise exponentially, drawing larger numbers away from the stage and towards the screenplay. Live theatre must be subsidized by its local government and community. During the Great Depression, the Federal Theatre Project was specifically enacted to sponsor the performing arts at a time when they needed our support the most. That time has come again, and in an age when entertainment is at its cheapest and most convenient, the decision may very well rest with the local communities as to how much they truly value the theatrical experience.