Ten Landmark Regional Theatres

To attempt to whittle down the list of the hundreds of regional theatres across the country and throughout the twentieth century to a list of ten “landmark” institutions is a task that is destined to be criticized and second-guessed. Perhaps the most obvious chapter of this book is a list of ten theatres that should be heralded as “landmark” theatres due to their artistic, administrative, and economic leadership and their influence in the regional theatre movement. This chapter will detail the contributions of the founding regional theatres as well as other institutions that have built upon the foundations and contributed to American theatre through new endeavors, including a new-play festival, a model for providing opportunities for minority performers and audiences, and the visionary decentralization away from New York City. Furthermore, companies whose artistic products have influenced other theatres to produce populist works (including Broadway transfers) will also be featured as a nod to current trends of contemporary regional theatres.