Five Things to Learn about Theatrical Ensembles

1

Being in a theatrical ensemble—even one as famous as the Steppenwolf Theatre Company—does not mean a steady paycheck. Although many theater companies are synonymous with a collective of artists, very few American theaters hire permanent companies of actors. Instead, actors are hired on a show-by-show basis. Just like Broadway.

The long-running practice of highly paid administrators sitting in new, multimillion-dollar facilities while actors are treated "like migrant farmworkers" has attracted some withering recent criticism from the monologuist Mike Daisey and others, who argue that status-obsessed regional theaters have failed their moral obligation to reflect their communities and provide their core artists with a living wage and a long-term commitment. Those who run theaters have responded that such an approach would limit artistic choices and does not reflect financial realities.

2

Nonetheless, ensembles still drive artistic agendas, wield considerable power and serve as marketable brands. Next season's Lookingglass Theatre Company production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," for example, was specifically created to reunite the Lookingglass ensemble. In the program for the current "Lookingglass Alice," the Lookingglass ensemble has penned an emotional, collective letter to its audience, wherein it speaks as one of "the reverie of our youth."

Ensemble-driven theaters take it as gospel that the audience is interested in the life trajectory of the ensemble.

3

Ensembles repel most newcomers. Most ensembles—such as the House Theatre of Chicago—are dominated by people who have been with a theater since its foundation. Deanna Dunagan just won a Tony Award for an extraordinary lead performance atop the most successful show in the history of the Steppenwolf Theatre. Yet, incredibly, she has not been made a member of the ensemble.

4

Ensemble members rarely leave. Even those who haven't worked with their company in years. On the very rare occasions when a member of a theater ensemble quits (usually unannounced), it likely indicates a serious rift. If an absent ensemble member becomes a famous movie star, both parties are served by the name staying on the list. The theater gets a useful connection and a face to trot out at fundraisers; the star gets to keep the artistic legitimacy and a symbolic creative home in a mercurial showbiz world.

5

Ensembles often result in the very best kind of theater. Sure, whims of powerful ensemble members can result in terrible shows. And non-ensemble staffers often roll their eyes at the dysfunction of collective decision-making. Nonetheless, theater thrives when created by people who know one another intimately and know where all the bodies are buried. For an audience, there is both comfort and excitement in seeing familiar artists dissecting their inestimably complex relationships in the spotlight's glare.

Copyright © 2008 Chicago Tribune