Janek Liebetruth Be moved, be bold, be theatre - Starting A Professional Theatre Company in Rural America

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 2,0, University of Potsdam (Anglistik und Amerikanistik), 48 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In general, American theatre is often equated with theatre produced and staged on Broadway in New York City. Yet, the American theatre scene is much more diverse and widespread than commonly believed. While the following work is focusing primarily on founding a professional theatre company in South Dakota, it follows and analyzes the voyage of an evolving theatre endeavor called Bühnenkunst Theatre Company and also gives an inside glimpse into the fascinating and mysterious world behind the curtain of contemporary performing arts, especially in the United States. In this paper, descriptive, theoretical facts and explanations are being intertwined with concrete, practical implementations on the process of founding a professional theatre company in rural America. Along the way, this paper does not only emphasize the artistic and creative segment of theatre, but also the technical as well as the business, legal and of course human element. Furthermore, the significance of choosing Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as a market for the new company will be explained and its history, demographics and location investigated. In order to analyze the professional theatre market in the South Dakota, two online surveys were conducted among theatre artists as well as the general public. The r...