Ten(ish) Figures Everyone Should Know

After celebrating the remarkable successes of the theatres listed in the second chapter, perhaps it is wise to remind ourselves that theatres also can fail. An example from the earliest days of the regional theatre movement can be seen with Actor’s Workshop in San Francisco, the creation of two college professors, Herbert Blau and Jules Irving. The work of the “anti-establishment” theatre received high praise from local critics, but Irving and Blau refused to “make overtures to the various San Francisco communities” or corporations for financial backing. In his book Regional Theatre, Zeigler (who worked for Actor’s Workshop) explained that the duo “saw no value in diverting their energies into the social and political extracurricular activities that could have shored up their operation,” completely ignoring the tenet that regional theatres need to reflect their own communities To make matters worse, Blau frequently penned newspaper articles and program notes that criticized the citizenry of San Francisco, further alienating potential audiences from supporting their endeavors. The workshop closed in 1965 after thirteen years of administrative and financial struggles when Blau and Irving left to helm the new repertory theatre in the Lincoln Center.