Hard Times in the Arts

The tolls of the economy are beginning to be felt in the Chicago theater community. There have been various stories floating around. The House Theatre has cut back its season, and About Face Theatre must raise significant amounts of cash to keep their doors open (here's their donation page). Although Chicago Dramatists doesn't appear to be in danger of imminent failure, they're cutting back and making a new plea for donations.

Unfortunately, we seem to still be only at the beginning of the economic crisis. Things will definitely get worse before they get better. I'm more aware of the theatrical arts, but I suspect that we'll be seeing a winnowing out of arts organizations all the way across the board. Corporate profits are evaporating, so it goes without saying that corporate grants for the arts are drying up along with them. The Chicago public radio show Eight Forty-Eight presented a segment on Monday morning about how Chicago theater is faring. Listen here. I suspect we'll be talking about new developments on this topic as they arise.