Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: touchy situation

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   This is a touchy situation and I am just curious how others would handle it.  I was very involved in our local community theater, lets call it "Theater A".  Like most die-hard theater junkies, my whole life revolved around it.  During my time there the theater was really growing and getting more established.  I really felt I had an important part in building this place.  As the theater grew a lot of little problems started reavealing themselves to be big problems.  I am not going to go into a lot of details, its not neccessary.  There was a split.  It got very ugly.  Many withdrew their support and involvement, including me.  
I have my degree in theater arts and even in school I dreamed of having my own theater.  Here is where it get sticky.  It's a small town.  There are limited resources.  Trying to start up another theater would be a huge undertaking.  It would be like inviting a lot of strife because I know Theater A would make things personal and would see it as declaring WAR.   
On the other hand, there is are a lot of us that have no venue to express ourselves creatively since we choose not to be involved with Theater A.  For me it's about the work, and the art. I have always considered theater to be my life's work. It is my true passion. To not perform is like letting a part of myself die. I do think there would be support for another project. Infact, I have already been approached by others about this prospect.  
Is there any way to handle this tactfully and to eleminate as conflict as possible?  I really don't want to this to turn into a school yard brawl.  What do you all think? 
Lalunabella  

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lalunabella Player Joined: 10/03/05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 21	Topic: touchy situation Posted: 10/05/05 at 5:23am
	This is a touchy situation and I am just curious how others would handle it. I was very involved in our local community theater, lets call it "Theater A". Like most die-hard theater junkies, my whole life revolved around it. During my time there the theater was really growing and getting more established. I really felt I had an important part in building this place. As the theater grew a lot of little problems started reavealing themselves to be big problems. I am not going to go into a lot of details, its not neccessary. There was a split. It got very ugly. Many withdrew their support and involvement, including me. I have my degree in theater arts and even in school I dreamed of having my own theater. Here is where it get sticky. It's a small town. There are limited resources. Trying to start up another theater would be a huge undertaking. It would be like inviting a lot of strife because I know Theater A would make things personal and would see it as declaring WAR. On the other hand, there is are a lot of us that have no venue to express ourselves creatively since we choose not to be involved with Theater A. For me it's about the work, and the art. I have always considered theater to be my life's work. It is my true passion. To not perform is like letting a part of myself die. I do think there would be support for another project. Infact, I have already been approached by others about this prospect. Is there any way to handle this tactfully and to eleminate as conflict as possible? I really don't want to this to turn into a school yard brawl. What do you all think? Lalunabella

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Shatcher Celebrity Joined: 2/21/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 251	Posted: 10/05/05 at 10:01am
	If you want to start your own company then by all means do it!! take any help offered. if theatre A can't take it to bad, as long as you are not stealing the cast of their current show there should be no problem. theatre artist are free to chose what shows they work on, as l;ong as you don't activly bad mouth the other guy or do someting nasty you should be ok. Remember that all theatre people have an ego and we tend to wear it close to the surface. Live your dream and good luck!!
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tristanrobin Celebrity Joined: 4/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 704	Posted: 10/05/05 at 11:37am
	I would heartily encourage you to go for it. And - if the other theatre 'declares war,' make sure you and your troupe never say one single negative thing about them. EVER. Always take the high road ... the payoff will be there when the public realizes what a class act your troupe is. There is no reason whatsoever that a small town can't handle more than one theatre troupe. I know a small town of two thousand people in upstate new york that has FIVE theatre groups - varying degrees of skill, successful business plans, education, audiences, etc. But they're all producing and all involved in making the art they love. Just do it. And GOOD LUCK!
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Poppie Player Joined: 3/18/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 25	Posted: 10/05/05 at 3:11pm
	One good way of not butting heads with the other theatre group would be to differentiate yourself in some way. If they do big name musicals, then you do dramas or "experimental" theatre. I am a part of a theatre (and other arts) group that just started in our town. We know that the university theatre could make life hell for us. Our goal is to work collaboratively with other arts organizations in the area, and to stay out of the university's way. That is, not scheduling shows at the same time, not scheduling the same shows, etc. We will have a community theatre and an experimental theatre to showcase works that the area never gets exposed to. And I definitely agree with the other posts, take the high road on this!
	If we could read minds, we wouldn't need headsets.
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lalunabella Player Joined: 10/03/05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 21	Posted: 10/06/05 at 1:41am
	Thanks so much for the encouragement. I think I just needed some affirmation. lalunabella
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looking2bcast Player Joined: 10/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 21	Posted: 10/11/05 at 1:43pm
	I say go for it too. We live in a small town that has 6 community theaters in it for about 15,000 people. Some of which were born of exactly what you are talking about. We all still have the actor pool to pull from and there is never a shortage for audience members provided there isnt some big event going on at one of the other theatres but even then the audiences filter over to your show eventually. We are far from a culteral meca too they are all fisherman and loggers so if we can do it so can you :).
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Dustmac Lead Joined: 5/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 42	Posted: 10/15/05 at 10:12pm
	What I would do is talk to their board or whatever telling them the reason why and work up some sort of agreement such as not having plays on the same dates etc.
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