Ryan McCurdy, Executive Director of Savannah Rep, spoke to the Skidaway Hamiltons and Abigails on January 16. He provided history, context, and a view to the future.
Ryan said that many countries have their own theater traditions, but there is no theater unique to the U.S. An important date in U.S. theater history was 1935 when the WPA financed theaters around the country. They very soon became regimented as judges were required to determine what was acceptable. The second important date was 1961 when the Ford Foundation made a huge investment in the Regional Theater Movement. Each state would have its own theater using playwrights from the state and putting on shows of interest to its state citizens. It never really happened. Today, regional theaters are becoming rarer and, like our country, are becoming polarized, often struggling to keep up with the biases of their communities.
Savannah Rep was started in 2017 by people from New York and Los Angeles. The first show drew four patrons. Things started to change with the facility on the west side. Anything could be done with that space, but it was a little too far away from the town center. Savannah Rep left that space during COVID when it was impossible to cover the rent. After reopening, Savannah Rep had to reconfirm its own identity. It could not succeed by trying to please everyone.
The guiding principle of Savannah Rep today is that everyone deserves access to theater. Minds can be changed through thoughtful conversation. Savannah Rep seeks to put on shows that are not always comfortable, that may “sneak in” an alternative point of view. They want to put on one story at a time. “You may not like this one, although you acknowledge that it was well done. But you will like the next one.”
Second, Savannah Rep will program a lot of young playwrights, people in the beginning or middle of their careers. They will give money and productions to people writing the stories of today so that theater can continue to be sustained. Third, Savannah Rep is committed to exposing young people to theater, particularly kids in their teen years. Theater is different from music and other arts. It is important for personal development, and many kids might never see theater without Savannah Rep.
2024 is going to be an exciting season for Savannah Rep. Its first production is The Revolutionists by a Georgia-born playwright named Lauren Gunderson. In May, there will be a world-premiere production of Lee Osorio’s Prisontown, a story about a Georgia town in which most residents are either employed by the prison or incarcerated in it. The final production is Every Christmas Story Ever Told, a wonderful farce scheduled for December.
Today, Savannah Rep has a budget of $350,000. Over 5,000 people attended performances in the past year. The big question is where they will perform moving forward. The lease on the current space cannot be renewed. To date, neither the city nor SCAD have been helpful. Savannah Rep is still small as regional theaters go. The union makes concessions to help smaller theater companies be viable. As budgets approach $500,000 or seating capacities approach 400, the union exercises more financial and facilities oversite. To meet these challenges, Savannah Rep is working hard to expand its revenue base. All help is greatly appreciated.
