Some Communities Just Don’t Support Theatre, and That’s Not Always the Theatre’s Fault

by Chris Peterson

There is a conversation community theatres are sometimes too afraid have out loud.

What happens when the community simply doesn’t support theatre?

Not because the theatre is lazy or bad at marketing. Not because the productions are bad. Sometimes a community theatre can do nearly everything right and still find itself fighting the same exhausting battle every season: empty seats and a local population that treats live theatre as something nice in theory but optional in practice.

This can be hard to admit. We want to believe that better marketing, stronger production values, smarter show selection, or one more social media push will finally unlock the audience that has supposedly been waiting there all along.

Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it does not.

Some towns simply are not theatre towns. They may support sports. They may support school events. They may show up for festivals, restaurants, youth activities, or fundraisers. But when it comes to buying a ticket to a play or musical, they hesitate. Or they forget. Or they only appear when their child, neighbor, coworker, or relative is onstage.

That can be painful for community theatre leaders to accept, but it can also be freeing.

I currently live in a community like this. The local theatre here seems to have figured out what many groups are still resisting. They do a lot of children’s programming, because that is where the families are. That is where the built-in audience exists. Parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, and friends will come when young people are involved.

Then, once a year, the theatre mounts one large adult musical that has a fighting chance of drawing a broader crowd. Last year it was Hairspray. This year, it’s Grease.

Is that the dream artistic model for every theatre? Maybe not. But it is realistic. And realism keeps doors open.

There is no shame in programming for the community you actually have rather than the community you wish you had.

The mistake I see some theatres make is treating every season like a referendum on their worth. If the serious drama underperforms, they blame themselves. If the small-cast comedy struggles, they panic. If the ambitious musical does not sell the way they hoped, they start wondering whether the whole organization is failing.

But audience behavior is not always a clean reflection of artistic quality. A production can be well-directed, well-acted, and lovingly produced and still not be something the town is willing to leave the house for.

That does not mean community theatres should stop challenging audiences. It does not mean they should only program the most obvious titles forever. It does mean they need to be honest about patterns. If a theatre has years of evidence that certain kinds of shows do not sell, then continuing to build seasons around them is not bravery. It may just be denial with a lighting plot.

Survival requires listening.

If children’s programming fills the building, invest in it. If one big recognizable musical brings people in, build around it. If audiences respond to nostalgia, take that seriously.

Community theatre is not only about serving the art. It is about serving a place. And some places need to be met where they are, even when where they are is frustrating.

There will always be communities where theatre is central to civic life. There will also be communities where theatre has to fight for attention every single season. The groups in those towns deserve more compassion than criticism. Many of them are not failing. They are adapting.

And sometimes, adaptation is the most creative thing a theatre can do.