THEATRE COMMUNITY GATHERS TO ADDRESS CRISIS OF SPACEThe stage lights shine on the glistening faces of experienced actors. Emotions escalate as the scene is close to it’s end and curtains are soon to fall. The crowd bursts into a roar of applause as the last line is spoken and everyone in the theatre comes to their feet. This is what artists live for: the adrenaline of performing on stage in front of an audience.
Yet, theater officials throughout the city of Austin are crunching numbers and coughing up sums of money that they don’t have in order to keep these performance spaces alive and in business. In a city that is known for it’s artistic culture, theatre spaces are closing at an alarming rate. The Off Center has been razed and the Salvage Vanguard Theater has been bought by Fairway Properties. The Pump Project and The Vortex struggle to stay afloat amid a drastic spike in rent prices. In attempt to seek a solution, theater artists from across the local community assembled in the Hyde Park Theater on September 25 to discuss a proposition made by Don Toner, founder of the Austin Playhouse. Toner’s pitch was this: three new facilities, built by the Austin Playhouse and its partners, to be populated by various performance groups in need of a home. “The question is,” Toner said, “If we build it, will you and your audience come?” |
Survey sheets were passed around to gauge interest, and Lara Haddock, artistic director for the Austin Playhouse, laid out the purpose of the gathering.
“I really like crunching numbers and I really like data analysis, and so that’s what I want to see other than, ‘We don’t have any venues, there’s a huge need,’” Haddock said. “What exactly is that need? Is it just barely not being met, or is there a gap that’s big?” Audience members chimed in eagerly, including David Weaver of Tilt Performance Group, a company whose work features blind and hearing-impaired performers, as well as others with special needs. “One of our big hang-ups is finding a rehearsal and performance space that will address the need to get on and off stage,” Weaver said. “Accessibility is a huge issue for us.” Other concerns included the need for equipment storage space, and the possibility of reserving daytime hours for youth performance groups. But local actor Craig Kanne was the first to raise a question that had made its way through the rows in hushed tones, but had yet to be spoken aloud. “Where is the initial monetary support going to come from,” Kanne asked. An expectant silence fell. “Craig, I was going to ask you that,” Toner replied. “I’ve got a twenty,” offered someone from across the room. After the laughter subsided, Toner continued. “I wouldn’t be talking about this with you if I didn’t think it was possible,” Toner said. “But is there any kind of a set deal? No.” The meeting closed addressing the hard work that is yet to come, but Don Toner’s opening question had been answered with a resounding yes. The city of Austin recognized this issue in February 2016 with Mayor Steve Adler’s announcement of the Austin Music & Creative Ecosystem Omnibus, a list of recommendations meant to address the many issues facing Austin’s non-profit art organizations as well as the live music scene including rising rents, zoning and permitting issues. It took until June 21, 2017 for a concrete program to emerge in the form of the Art Space Assistance Program (ASAP), created by the Cultural Arts Division. ASAP will provide loans from $35,000 to $50,000 to support organizations that have been displaced due to higher rent. According to the Austin Monitor, ASAP awarded 12 groups partial grants, to be disbursed on September 29, 2017. As of now, the program will not continue during the next fiscal year. The Rude Mechs, a theater collective that lost its original home, The Off Center, earlier this year, was awarded a partial grant from ASAP. But Lana Lesley, co-producing artistic director, said despite the Mayor’s recommendations and the creation of ASAP, relations with the city government have been less than favorable. According to Lesley, the Rude Mechs offered to purchase a warehouse to land-swap with the city of Austin for a downtown warehouse currently used to store toilet paper and paper products after The University of Texas bought The Off Center and priced them out of the space by raising their rent by 300-percent. "We were told the ‘toilet paper needs to be close to city hall,’” Lesley said. “They literally said that. So I guess toilet paper is more important than art." |
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ARTISTS FIND ALTERNATIVE SPACES FOR PERFORMANCE
Even when deprived of a traditional stage, theater finds a way. Below are shows that took root in places as diverse as garages, museums, and bathrooms.