CMU School of Drama


Thursday, April 20, 2017

Philadelphia Theatre Company goes semi-dark for 2017-18 season

www.philly.com: The Philadelphia Theatre Company, one of the anchors of the Avenue of the Arts, is going on creative hiatus to reinvent itself.

On Wednesday afternoon, PTC announced it will offer no new self-produced plays for the 2017-18 season, concentrating instead on a series of special events and a thorough revamping, rebooting, and reorganization.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The decisions made by The Philadelphia Theatre Company in this article both thrill me and upset me. The choice to take a production hiatus in order to reinvent the theatre creatively is honorable. Art is a form that is ever changing, and if one attempts to create something without having a purpose or drive, they risk creating work that is not true to themselves. As a visual artist, I have experienced this multiple times. I become too rushed to meet a deadline or keep up quantity that I lose sight of the quality of what I am making and what it means that I am creating it. Therefore, I respect the Philadelphia Theatre Company's decision to take a break for these purposes. However, later on in the article it is said that the company will use this year to reinvent a company to please both audiences and donors. Yes, this is important. no one can deny that money makes theatre, but I worry if this company rebrands to fit other people’s ideas, than they will lose all grip they have artistically.

Marisa Rinchiuso said...

I think the Philadelphia Theatre Company is incredibly brave for doing such a drastic change. Not only that, but the fact that the hiatus and re-design is so public. Being able to admit weakness and take a hiatus really shows how much art matters to this theatre. I don't know any artist who hasn't gone through that moment of: what am I doing? so it seems right that a theatre can go through the same thing. Although I am happy that the theatre decided to take time for self-discovery, I really hope they return to continue producing local, original works. Philadelphia has become such a well-known name for original work. Being one of the larger theatres in Philadelphia, I hope they stick true to the city's wants, not just money. While they are on hiatus, I thought is was interesting that they are still going to do events, concerts and low maintenance art. I was curious whether that was for artistic reasons, or strictly to make some revenue.