Conclusion: Ten Lingering Concerns About the Future (and the One Question That Matters)

When this book project was first conceived in 2017, I created a massive Excel spreadsheet with possible chapter headings, lists of topics within each chapter (sometimes listing twenty-five items per chapter that had to be prioritized and whittled down into a list of ten), and an additional column suggesting how each chosen figure, institution, or event represented a larger issue to detail the history of the regional theatre movement. The final contribution to this book was intended to be similarly formatted as the previous chapters, offering ten questions related to the future of regional theatre in America based upon the material previously presented, including the following queries: Can the Humana Festival survive? Are co-productions hurting the mission of regional theatre? What is the future of new play development? Are professionally produced shows (funded by an outside entity) a savior or burden for the regional theatre? How can theatres balance the need to be more inclusive and equitable with expectations of older and more homogenous subscribers? I had only formulated eight possible questions, believing that my research would prompt me to discover new questions as I proceeded with my research and writing.