Behind the community theatre curtain: the pandemic's unique challenges and opportunities for amateur performing arts

Abstract

This study evaluates the unique social and economic role amateur theatres play in their communities and examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their survival. By differentiating amateur theatres from their professional counterparts, this paper shows how some solutions employed by for-profit theatres are not successful in the non-profit sector. Instead, individual community theatre responses to the pandemic are resulting in predictions for their solvency and future community engagement. Four Indiana community theatres from townships of various sizes and demographics are used herein as indicative of trends in the global community theatre industry.