Interview: Kate Maguire, artistic director of Berkshire Theatre Festival

The artistic director of this company, founded in 1928, has been doing theatre for a long time, and she has played a lot of roles, not just on stage but in the trenches. In the midst of her crazy, busy summer season, she agreed to spend an hour thinking deeply about the future of theatre in general, and her Berkshire Theatre Festival in particular. “It’s not mine of course,” she reminds me, “I’m just the current caretaker charged with building on its past and making sure it has a future.”

She was particularly happy on the day that we met since the arduous process of getting Edward Albee’s approvals for the upcoming production of A Delicate Balance had been completed and rehearsals were about to begin. (Read that story here.)

She zoomed in first on the most important component of her future – the theatre-goers who buy the tickets and make the contributions. Especially the audiences of the future. “Young audiences are the most important of all and they can be as delightful as they are perplexing.”

Those of us who were at the opening night of Endgame know of what she speaks. A group from a Berkshire college that teaches arts adminstration took up a good portion of the house, and they were restless throughout the performance, almost as if they did not know what seeing a Beckett play entailed. “They were sitting behind you and from the get-go they were playing with their Blackberries, and it seemed to me they didn’t want to be there.”

They left their seats and came back like they were in a movie theatre, and were so distracting that their presence was noted in a couple of the reviews. Is this a bad omen? “Actually not, since I also noticed that most of the students stayed in their seats.” Kate noted, “and were transfixed by Endgame. They gave it a standing ovation at the end. So it is a matter of trial and error to find the new audiences.”

One of the unfortunate trends in college arts administration courses is that they have fallen into the “branding” game to promote theatre. But, I asked Kate, if your brand is a theatre, and it does a couple of unpopular productions in a row, doesn’t that undermine the brand?

About the Millennials

“You should be changing all the time,” responded Kate, “not be predictable. That’s what makes theatre so exciting. Never the same style, same product twice in a row. The Millennials/Generation Y are the key to the future, and are already bringing change. I found the Pew Foundataion’s survey of their attitudes on personal disclosure and information sharing to be real food for thought. That college group is a harbinger of the future.

“Many people think this generation is the least communicative, but actually no generation has ever been quite as in touch with each other. Thanks to my 16-year-old son, I am able to observe what is happening first hand. He is constantly chatting, emailing, thumbing messages to his friends. He is talking face to face, or texting, or calling, the communication is almost nonstop.

“What is amazing is that this communication isn’t just local, it’s global. He loves the challenge of digital games, and when he is playing, his adversary could be across the country, or in China, or Russia. With instant translations he is making friends not just in school, but around the world. I think this is phenomenal. As a theatre professional it behooves me to understand what this means for us, and to use it to help our long range planning.

“How do we become part of this expanded form of communication, where do live performances on stage fit into the new dynamic? What will the next generation’s writers produce?” wondered Maguire. “I certainly don’t think it means the death of theatre. Even as they are texting, they are taking things in visually, and they are constantly refining their thoughts and conclusions. There is something very important in the evolution of humankind going on here. Communication is not dying, it is evolving.

“This is an incredible time, especially for those of us who are in theatre, as we have to reinvent ourselves again and again in order to survive. I also think that, to go forward, you also have to go back to the roots,” she said. The past is prologue in that over time there has always been change, that it is actually what theatre thrives on. Sometimes theatre leads the change, sometimes it reflects it.

Wrestling with budgets while upgrading the plant

“This is the most difficult time since I have been in the theatre. Going into 2008 we had a $2.5 million dollar budget, but going into 2009 we cut $500,000 from it. With the recovery being uncertain we opted not to restore any of it for 2010 either. We’re on a diet, but we’re trim and healthy,” she reported.

Keeping a theatre on a starvation diet for too long risks the long term health of a company. The BTF is finally upgrading its parking areas and walkways, adding a patio to the cramped lobby space of the Unicorn Theatre, and even some new signage so people from out of town can more easily find the campus. It is a low level series of improvements that follows the new main theatre seating installed several seasons ago, which is among the most comfortable, and functional, in the Berkshires.

There has been a mounting chorus of concerns from both critics and audiences about the outdated main stage which is housed in an old casino built in 1888 and which was never designed for theatre. That it has served the venerable organization for so long is remarkable, but the sight lines and sound system both have serious problems. Four structurally necessary posts limit the stage area, and inhibit good scenic design. There are no flies for the scenery, and precious little wing space available either. The stairway to the dressing rooms has terrified more than one actor over the years.

Despite the rumors, this is not how plays are selected, but it is a game of chance even so. Larry Murray photo.

Meeting the expectations of a more demanding public

Despite all these handicaps, the BTF still manages to produce world class “theatre that matters,” as Maguire likes to put it. She grapples with that aging main stage while adhering to a tight budget that does not allow her to do anything about it. Tough choices have to be made on a daily basis. But some baby steps have been made.

“The Board and I sat down and decided we had better prepare for a completely different landscape. We didn’t anything to the budget this year, because we are still asking ourselves how we should proceed in the current climate. The answers are still unclear.

“One of the things that critics like you have done is point to the inadequacy of our main stage and its systems, and I am going to continue to share those comments with the Board as we discuss improvements for next year. We need a new theatre, or rather, a greatly improved existing one. You can’t even close the doors, the electrical HVAC and lighting systems are old, it’s physically impossible to do a musical in that space.” Her frustration is understandable, BTF often gets hammered for these deficiencies in print.

“That space simply needs to be renovated,” she says decisively, “though this is hardly the ideal time to undertake a massive rehab. The board has a real challenge to come to grips with the problem.”

I asked Maguire how much we were talking about.

“We’re submitting a planning grant to the state, to look at the interior to see what it will cost. I am not looking to build a 700 seat theatre, but to keep it in the 375-400 range, 420 is what we have now. I think we are talking about $5-6 million, not the $20-30 million it would take for a new facility.” And there may be a way to do it in increments.

It’s a daunting challenge. As I see it, there are three financial albatrosses around every theatre company’s neck these days . The first is a still troubled economy and its impact;, the second the restrictions and priorities that foundations, corporations and government put on their grants; and finally the fact that many in the traditional audiences who make up the majority are not as open to change as they like to think they are.

“It’s so interesting because people always ask me what I am going to do about a younger audience. the answer is to do programming that appeals to them, but I am sorry, my regulars often don’t get it.” As Kate warmed up to this subject, we talked about how Cirque du Soleil has produced shows that cater to the multi-tasking minds of people, young and old, by not being afraid to have several things happening on stage at the same time.

A change in stagecraft?

In the theatre, actors generally focus on whichever one of them is speaking so as not to upstage, or distract the audience from the dialogue. Some directors have begun to rethink that basic rule, to mixed reactions from the audience and critics who often are strong traditionalists. Multiple happenings on stage is a new concept for most playwrights, actors and directors. We see it evolving on the fringes, and the Cirque people have made a billion dollar operation out of it.

Then there is the use of electronic devices during performances. Experimentation is ongoing. In San Francisco, the Playhouse organization has something called the “Tweet Seats” where younger audience members can use their devices, quietly, without disturbing other members of the audience. The use of electronic media during a show, more than one thing happening on stage at a time, are these the things that will bring theatre into younger lives? That is the question.

Kate agreed that the need for greater interactivity is clear, the younger audience wants to do more than buy a ticket, watch a show, and then leave. “They want to make it part of their lives,” she said. Broadway has had tremendous success with some of the new shows that found their way to the ‘tween, ‘teen and twenties audiences. “I do wonder if part of it are the actors involved, like Ethan Hawke and Billy Crudup, or if the intensity of the story in a show like Coast of Utopia also has something to do with it. “

Playwright Tom Stoppard who wrote Coast of Utopia was upset when some intellectuals provided a list of books for playgoers to read before seeing the three part work. “My blood ran cold when I saw your informed and kindly meant roundup of sources for my trilogy, said Stoppard, .”What kind of madman would write a play that requires the audience to read a dozen books in advance? Come as you are; you’ll be fine.”

Theatre at its best is always intelligent, not necessarily intellectual.

Certainly such was the case with the musical version of Spring Awakening, where the cast recreated a repressive past for a liberated present generation just getting its feet wet in theatre. Literature blended with song and dance for an inspired evening of  entertainment.

“Suppose we did Long Day’s Journey in Night at the Unicorn with a younger cast, say someone like Ethan Hawke, how would that go over,” Maguire wondred aloud. I parried with an ever younger suggestion, how about Zac Efron or someone from the generation that follows Hawke and is just coming up. “I’d need more than three weeks of rehearsal time,” she mused.  Such casting would be educating both a new generation of actors and their audiences.

Why Macbeth, Why Now?

Eric Hill at a Mcbeth rehearsal.

We turned to the upcoming Macbeth, and why BTF has undertaken it, especially with Shakespeare & Company so near. Of course the Berkshires are fortunate to have not only the resident Shakespeare Company, but also feisty alternatives like the Williamstown Theatre Festival which did A Midsummer’s Night Dream in 2004 and Romeo and Juliet in 2006, and now the BTF take on Macbeth. S & Co has a unique approach to these works, in fact so does each company. It would be a mistake to limit Shakespeare & Company to only doing Shakespeare, just as ceding them Shakespeare as their exclusive turf would deny Berkshire audiences other approaches to those works.

” When I met Eric, (Maguire is married to him) all he did was direct Shakespeare, and the Greeks. I first saw him perform as Macbeth a long time ago and he was phenomenal in the role. He’s directed it before, and he spent a year at Brandeis studying it. It’s time all those elements came together in a production that speaks in his voice.

It’s always refreshing to see another company’s take on the Bard. “Every company needs to be able to do all the classic works. They are at the very core of our history,” said Maguire. It does seem pretty evident that each time an actor or director does Shakespeare, they grow in both depth and creativity. So too do those of us who watch it.

Randy Harrison as Hamlet?

“One of the differences with our Macbeth is that it is two hours, with intermission. We didn’t feel compelled to preserve every single word, so the play has been tightened for contemporary audiences,” she explained, which will be good news for those who love Shakespeare and shy away from his longer works.

Everything came together for this production, but that is not always the case.. ”A few years ago I wanted to do Hamlet, with Randy Harrison in the title role. “We got to work on it, and had gone so far as to begin lining up the support team when Scott Killian let me know that Tina Packer at S & Co was planning on her own Hamlet that year, with her son, Jason Asprey. So it is a dream deferred,” said Kate.

“I still would like to do Hamlet with Randy. I think he’s ready, and I think he would be phenomenal. Everyone who has directed him has said he is going to do Hamlet, he has to do it.”

“To bring it back to Macbeth it is a play that gets right to the heart of our current culture, one that is obsessed with violence and individual power. Add on to that a cast that I can see in front of me, all veteran members of BTF and it becomes irresistible. The times call for this play, the cast in perfect, and we have an expert on Macbeth, it’s a combination that the public deserves to see.”

Young playwrights write well, but are self absorbed

Shakespeare dealt with the contemporary issues of his time, but where are the plays that reflect today’s reality we wondered.

Maguire agrees that Shakespeare wrote plays full of the political intrigue and dark motivations that ring true in today’s newscasts. But plays that reflect today’s America? Why did the English recognize the dramatic possibilities of the Enron story, not some American company? Where are the voices grappling with the issues of media deceit and manipulation?

“They aren’t there. The plays coming from the graduates of NYU and Columbia are self absorbed, and from a generation that is lost. They are blaming their parents for the problems, and offer few insights or solutions. The voices are different but it’s all the same basic message. They’re lost and they’re blaming their parents.

“I read a lot of scripts, I keep hoping,” said Maguire. “Once in a while a gem shows up.”

And in America, lawsuits are often brought to prevent such works from appearing on stage. Take the play, Imagining Madoff at Stageworks/Hudson which recently got embroiled with the Eli Weisel lawyers over the use of his character in the work. The playwright Deborah Margolin has been shaken up by the experience, and it is bound to inhibit other playwrights from taking on current events. Or disguising them sufficiently so that they do not raise the ire of those whose stories are involved. In that way we have regressed and free speech is dampened in America. Shakespeare was not afraid of using the names of Kings and Queens in his fictionalized works.

A look at the future

As we were wrapping up our talk, I asked Kate what she worried about the most.  She thought for a few moments, and said: “The landscape here in the Berkshires. Not including Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow or Mass MoCA I have calculated that there are 350,000 seats to fill each season, and that is a lot. That’s the four resident companies plus the Colonial and Mahaiwe at their current levels. ” Using that partial number at an average ticket price of $29 it amounts to more than $10 million dollars in potential ticket sales, an impressive number considering that theatre-goers often spend an equal amount on ancillary activities like food, fuel and sometimes lodging. But in a county with an estimated population of 130,000 it’s a constant scramble to find the warm paying bodies to fill the theatres.

“That’s a lot of seats to fill, and I don’t think we’ve really addressed that challenge as a cultural community. It’s one reason that my hopes for renovating the main playhouse stage is a modest one. Architects always suggest that we go bigger, but I am not sure there is room for another 700 seat theatre. A well thought out 400 seat theatre can provide a far more compelling experience for the audience.”

When Kate Maguire first came to the Berkshire Theatre Festival, things were quite different. The Williamstown Theatre Festival was performing in its old Adams Theatre and the first tiny Nikos Stage where it was almost impossible for an outsider to get tickets. Shakespeare & Company had not yet built the Bernstein Theatre, and Barrington Stage was still a dream that Julianne Boyd had not yet made into a reality. And the theatre season in the Berkshires pretty much ended with the arrival of Labor Day.

The growth of theatre in the Berkshires has been phenomenal, and has helped to make it as much a destination for the offerings on its stages as for dance at the Pillow and music at Tanglewood. None of these venues sells out all the time. “I worry about there being enough audiences for all those seats, especially during the slower June, September and off season months when there are fewer visitors,” says Kate.

Of course the ‘shoulder’ season, which now runs well into the fall, winter and spring, has been growing at BTF, BSC and S & Co. These longer seasons are possible because they have been able to attract a growing core of Berkshire residents and weekenders as well as vacationing visitors. Indeed, it is clear that a growing number of people have chosen to live in the Berkshires specifically because of its almost year-round arts offerings. This is particularly evident in Pittsfield and Great Barrington where not only the Colonial and Mahaiwe offer year round entertainment, but a new small theatre complex has been created above Pittsfield’s Beacon Cinema, and community groups are increasingly active.

“One of the consequences of this growth is a parallel increase in the need for both visionary and contributory support since none of us can exist on ticket sales alone. The current economy has made that task all the more difficult, so I worry a great deal about all our futures. The arts are what make the Berkshires different from other rural settings, but competition has never been more intense.” Maguire admitted there was a healthy rivalry between the performing groups to do the best work possible, and also compete for the limited dollars available. But of more concern was the battle for eyeballs, to get people into theatre seats and away from their computers and televisions. She worries too about government and individual grants that support her company’s work in the schools which are always pitted against vital social service and other community needs.

And the once reliable subscription base? “Honestly, it’s going, going, gone. People are no longer buying tickets that way.” She’s right, the decline is well advanced, though the major institutions rarely talk publicly about it. Even the venerable Metropolitan Opera and Boston Symphony Orchestra have been dealing with this erosion for years, if not decades. One strategy is to not offer full subscriptions at all, just smaller blocks of tickets for a few performances at a time.

“Perhaps it is time for all of us to rethink how we operate, and start by acknowledging we are a part of the bigger community, and that we are  all in this together. I see it happening with our education program, and even the makeup of our Christmas show audiences. These are supported almost exclusively by Berkshire people, they come out, they support it, and we celebrate together.”

So in addition to bringing in tourists and out-of-towners the Berkshire Theatre Festival continues to attract rising numbers of Berkshire residents. “They got us started, they’ve always been part of our success, and they will keep growing in numbers and importance. They are vital to our mission and future, and we have to keep changing and improving so as to meet their expectations. The best actors, the best plays, the best directors and the best theatre in the Berkshires, that’s our goal.

“There’s so much we need to work on, starting with the outdated playhouse. But when. When. That is the question.”

Is the future bright for theatre in the Berksires? Or is what we enjoy today going to one day referred to as the golden age of Berkshire theatre?