Sunday, November 02, 2008
Milwaukee Shakespeare Closes Its Doors
Stage-directions: "Milwaukee Shakespeare has announced that it is closing its doors due to lack of available funding. According to a press statement on the theatre’s Web site, Milwaukee Shakespeare will not continue its season because the Argosy Foundation, the company’s primary source of funding, has eliminated its support due to the current economic situation."
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7 comments:
It is to be expected that we will be seeing more and more established places close following the current economic trend, but I find it really sad for such established places to have to close up. I'm sure this will effect regional work, and I'm so sorry for all of those where were a part of the company.
With the economy in its current state, the arts are one of the likeliest places that are going to be hit with funding issues. This is a sad situation for the fine arts education of the country. It is sad when companies like Milwaukee Shakespeare can no longer continue their seasons because the economy has hit their supporters so hard. I believe that a country's economy should strive to be stable enough to have a flourishing art culture, and the fact that this seems to be dwindling proves the distress of our economy.
The response of patrons will likely be the same all over the country. All we can hope for is that in a few years when the economy recovers people remember the old theaters and start them up again, or start new ones.
I am from Milwaukee. I am furious. This company has a long, respected history which has value and longevity. Economic crisis or not, people still need to see and be educated by/about Shakespeare. This company should have been stable enough to weather this storm and I hope that in time is will have the chance to re-open.
It is always a sad thing when the arts suffer. However, since this was a result of the current poor economic state, we can be optimistic and hope that after things improve, theaters will begin to open up again.
it is sad to see that the festival has to close up because of this. I am guessing that this is the beginning of a series of similar festivals closing their doors because of the state of the economy. With the economy in a recession artists and producers are going to have to find more efficient means of producing festivals. it's not the end, but the beginning of a change in structure of these kinds of venues and the productions they host.
This is a common trend we are seeing happening more and more over the country. Funding in this profession is hard to come by. Festivals are being shut down, or are closing. There was an opera festival in Chapel Hill, NC that just had its last season for a few years due to lack of funds. It's a sad thing, and it might be something that continues to decline until the economy picks back up.
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