Springfield Contemporary Theatre announced the shows for their new season, and then they announced they were ceasing operations.
The Springfield Daily Citizen talks to some insiders about the decision (Springfield Contemporary Theatre board ran ‘smack dab into the wall of reality’), and it’s the usual “no money” kind of thing.
But allow me to talk a little about other reasons.
As you might recall, gentle reader, I saw one of the theatres’ production nine years ago (Black Comedy), and I really enjoyed it. However, I kinda didn’t remember the theatre or think about going there on date nights again (not that we had that many date nights during child-raising years), and when I saw an add for it in December 2021, they were still requiring proof of COVID vaccination for attendees. So I shelved it in my mind for a while.
And when I did think about it, and I checked the schedule two things stood out. First, they lacked a space, or if they had one, it was way north of Springfield (which is less than way north in St. Louis or Chicago, but it’s still a little daunting as I evolve into an old man).
Second, seasons were rife with titles like:
- POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
- Urinetown
- Considering Matthew Shepard
- Roe
And musicals.
So: Selections for the Enlightened, not selections for the general public.
Heaven knows I got roped into a message play the last time I saw “drama” on stage. I was not eager to gamble on what kind of play I would get after paying money, dressing up, and driving into town for the evening.
I mean, I know the Rep in St. Louis (which I have not attended for a long, long time even when I lived right around the corner with infants and toddlers, so much so that I had to do an Internet search to remember its name) ran into some trouble as well. I think, for a while, theatres really went all-in on speaking Truth-For-The-Power (the Rep’s upcoming season’s titles are not clearly message-oriented anyway), but that alienated a lot of theatre-goers who didn’t protest, who didn’t march, but who did just stop coming.
Which would be mysterious to those inside the bubble and due to outside factors, not their own “artistic” decisions.
A shame, really, as I like going to plays. Not especially musicals, and certainly not something that will clumsily and hatefully “challenge” my beliefs.
