Roundabout's Journey as a Not-for-Profit from the 1960s to Today

There is a lot of talk these days about “change.” It's become a buzzword whose meaning encompasses many things: youthful energy, fervent optimism, idealistic hope, and steadfast action. This one word is meant to symbolize a time when a new generation rises up, demands to be counted, and questions all that came before it...and after which nothing is the same. In short, “change” is meant to bring us back to the 1960s.

Of course, to say things “changed” in the 1960s is a wild understatement; it was a decade of tremendous upheaval and social unrest. After a decade of relative peace and prosperity (albeit one with the threat of nuclear war always hovering), the sitting President was assassinated, our country was caught up in an unpopular war overseas, the fight over civil rights raged at home, and America's youth rebelled against the establishment. There wasn't a generation gap in the '60s; there was a generation abyss.

In the theatre world, seismic shifts were happening. The 1960s were arguably the single most important decade in American theatre history, not only for what was seen but for how it was seen. Certainly new and avant-garde theatrical voices were making a big noise as Off-Broadway became a home for daring and experimental work that was a far cry from what was seen on Broadway stages. But the real revolution was playing quietly across the country with the birth of the not-for-profit theatre. It was right in the midst of this dramatic decade that Roundabout Theatre Company was born.

A DECADE OF CHANGE

In the 1960s, Broadway increasingly eschewed serious dramas for more lighthearted fare, as Arthur Miller gave way to Neil Simon. More and more young artists, fighting the complacent values of their parents, were heading Off-Broadway to produce more serious, edgier work. Roundabout's Artistic Director Todd Haimes is well aware of the impact this decade had: “Growing up in the '60s, I was always aware that it was an incredible time of self-expression. Looking back at the theatre of the time, all these young playwrights were writing about political and social issues, demanding to be heard. Artists really looked at theatre as a way to change the world.”

This need for self-expression coincided with the rise of not-for-profit theatres. Before the 1960s, professional theatre was only seen in New York City or in cities visited by national tours except for the very few cities-a dozen at the most across the country-that had a professional regional theatre company, and only half of those operated year-round. But all that changed in 1961 with the establishment of grants to encourage the growth of professional regional theatres by the Ford Foundation, and then in 1965 with the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts. Combined with the maverick work being done off-Broadway and the antiestablishment tenor of the times, theatre was suddenly being practiced in legitimate theatres across the country...as well as in lofts, garages and basements. For the first time in American theatre history, all the world truly was a stage.

Roundabout was established with a healthy dose of the idealism that marked the '60s. Created by Gene Feist and his wife Elizabeth Owens in 1965, they had two missions in mind: to give theatre artists a place to practice their craft, and to provide audiences top-quality theatre at reasonable prices. But it wasn't easy, even in those relatively less-expensive times when a gallon of gas cost 31 cents. As Founding Artistic Director Feist recalls, “Everything was an experiment. Everything was a struggle. It's easy to look back and think, 'We started a theatre company with only $11,000.' But to us at the time, it was a tremendous amount of money and a huge risk.”

With these twin missions in mind, they set out to create a company. First, a 152-seat theatre was built in the basement of a Chelsea supermarket. Next, a three-play subscription for $5 was announced to ensure an audience for the fledgling company's work, a price that seems absurdly inexpensive today but that some subscribers complained about at the time as being too expensive. A lot of what Roundabout became known for was initially born out of necessity. All plays were originally presented in the round because that meant less money needed for sets, so the theatre was named “Roundabout.” Classic plays became the company's focus because they were rarely seen on Broadway and the company didn't need to pay for royalties. Thus a new theatre was born.

THE EARLY YEARS

But “classic” at Roundabout has never meant staid. The fledgling company was always aware of what was going on outside its doors, and its programming often sought to make its audience tackle tough questions. For company members, the realities of the time were always very close to the surface and they found a creative outlet for their fears and frustrations in this small theatre in Chelsea. Indeed, many of the young actors that worked at Roundabout were eligible for the draft and found themselves summoned to report to the U.S. Army to participate in a war in which they wanted no part. The tensions of the day informed early productions such as Bertolt Brecht's Trumpets and Drums and R.C. Sheriff's Journey's End, anti-war plays that spoke eloquently to the Vietnam War.

“One of the great things about the classic plays that Roundabout tackled then and still tackles today,” says Haimes, “is how they can be reinterpreted by each new generation of artists, and how these plays can speak to each new generation of audiences. I think it's always been one of the fundamental roles of not-for-profits, to keep classic works alive and vibrant and seen by successive generations. So few of these plays would ever get produced if companies like Roundabout didn't exist.”

As the 1960s progressed, it became more and more an era of protest as people took to the streets to battle war, racism and sexism. Even a small company like Roundabout was caught up in the times. When they found themselves chained out of their home beneath the supermarket due to some underhanded dealings of a local movie theater who thought of Roundabout as competition, Feist cut through the chain, arranged a protest march down Eighth Avenue and was promptly arrested. But it worked and Roundabout was soon back in its home.

But for all the success the theatre encountered, the life of a not-for-profit was never easy. At one point, during yet another real estate crisis, the future looked particularly discouraging. Out of the blue, a Christmas card arrived from a politician who had heard about the terrific work Roundabout was doing and wanted to send his congratulations. The card was from Robert F. Kennedy, arriving just months before his assassination. “That was a turning point for the company,” remembers Feist. “If rfk was paying attention, we must be doing something right.”

A NEW ERA

It's been 43 years since Roundabout first opened its doors in 1965 and the once-small company has changed dramatically. The 152-seat theatre has transformed into a large institution with four theatres both on Broadway and off. But it's a transformation that Haimes feels was a natural progression for the company. “Quality has always been of utmost importance to Roundabout,” he relates. “The standard of quality that Broadway represents was always the ideal the company was aiming for in the early days. So in my view, Broadway is the logical home for Roundabout.”

When he joined the company 25 years ago, Haimes recognized that the role of not-for-profits in American theatre was rapidly expanding. “The role of the not-for-profit theatre has only become more important over the years,” asserts Haimes. “As the cost of producing on Broadway has skyrocketed, commercial producers take less and less risk in developing new or unproven material. That risk has been assumed by the not-for-profits. If you look at any major new theatrical works by American writers in the past decades, both musical and non-musical, they've all come from not-for-profit theatres across the country.” Indeed, of the past 36 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 34 have premiered at not-for-profit theatres.

Thus, once Haimes took over as Artistic Director in 1989, he began expanding Roundabout's mission. First, Roundabout began producing musical revivals, concentrating on works that normally wouldn't be produced commercially such as She Loves Me, 1776, Nine, Assassins, and 110 in the Shade, as well as on radical reinventions of well-known work such as the long-running Cabaret. Roundabout also began to produce original work by established writers, leading to such acclaimed plays as Moonlight by Harold Pinter, The Mineola Twins by Paula Vogel, and Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage.

Jason Fuchs, Sarah Steele, and Gideon Glick in Speech & Debate

Most recently, Haimes established a new initiative called Roundabout Underground that features new work by up-and-coming artists in the intimate, 62-seat Black Box Theatre, allowing young writers and directors to premiere more experimental work with the full support of one of the country's largest not-for-profit companies. Fittingly, the Black Box Theatre is housed in the basement of the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. “We've come full circle in a way,” muses Haimes. “Roundabout began in a basement and we've returned to a basement to do what I see as incredibly vital work. I truly think we have a responsibility to the next generation of artists, to give them a place to create work without the scrutiny that so often comes when you produce work on a larger scale. Roundabout Underground provides that place.”

The entire city has been the beneficiary of Haimes' long-term planning for Roundabout. By moving into formerly neglected neighborhoods, Roundabout has been a leader in the re-gentrification of neglected neighborhoods in the city, most notably Times Square. When Roundabout moved into the area in 1991, the area was rundown and squalid. Roundabout was a true pioneer, opening no less than seven theatres in the once derelict area, either by creating new spaces or by resurrecting long-abandoned theatres: Criterion Center's Stage 1 and Laura Pels Theatre, Henry Miller's Theatre, American Airlines Theatre (formerly the Selwyn), Studio 54, and Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre's Laura Pels Theatre (formerly American Place Theater) and Black Box Theatre. This has not only returned working theatres to Broadway, but also led commercial businesses into what is now a thriving and tourist-friendly area.

But even though so much about Roundabout is different, the company is still doing the work that it set out to do 43 years ago: providing top theatre artists with a place to do their best work, and providing audiences with the highest quality theatre at affordable prices. As Haimes notes, “While Roundabout is certainly bigger and stronger than it ever has been, at its most essential it is the same company. There's been a remarkable sense of consistency in pairing great theatrical works with the finest artists in the business. That's earned us a large and loyal audience over the years. It's something of which I'm the most proud.”

LOOKING FORWARD

They say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Although four decades have passed since the turbulent 1960s, that sentiment seems to be truer than ever. The country is caught up in yet another unpopular war overseas and change is once again in the air. Yet through it all, Roundabout has been continuously performing the work for which not-for-profit theatre companies were created: to entertain, educate, question and provoke through great works of theatre. In another four decades, Roundabout will still be here, bringing top artists and eager audiences together. It's one thing that won't change.

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