The BPP produces only new and original plays, as well as working to build the careers of playwrights, offer a full schedule of theater classes, and run two youth programs, the Mini-Play Festival and a theater camp for Bloomington Parks and Rec. As a local theater producer, I was curious about how one of the most individual, ambitious, and indeed most stable production companies in Bloomington addressed the many issues of space, which could perhaps become more vexing with self-management.
Most local companies struggle with issues of space every time they mount a production.
And a million other details. Over the years, the Playwrights Project has sometimes questioned the necessity of maintaining a space. The opening of the Waldron, with its two performance spaces, at first seemed to render the BPP's black box redundant. But given the complexities of scheduling theater courses, late night shows, staged readings, and rehearsals, not to mention three performance weekends in a row, the BPP can only carry out its multidimensional mission by exercising complete control over its space. The cost of maintaining a space doesn't eat up as much of the Playwrights Project budget as you might think.