Talk:Repertory theatre

message: * Created repertory (disambiguation), moved homeopathy stuff to homeopathic repertory, added link on rep page to this one. 
*Started with your suggested beginning, but reworded a lot. Lost the comment about professionals playing like amateurs: there may be some highly technical meaning to thespians here but from the outside it looks criticism. ("What an amateur!" sort of thing.) Didn't know what you meant by UK/US difference, so stuck lots of UK mentions in along with (what I hope is) some context. Someone else can add US commentary. Removed some of the "see also"s. I saw the comment about discussing relationship between rep and fringe (etc) but I don't think that there is a single simple relationship. 
* References for the actors I claimed started in rep: Patrick Stewart cite  here; Jeremy Brett here; Imelda Staunton here (check for "I started in rep" remark); Ian Mckellan here. I am rather taken aback to find that only one of these has a mention of rep in Wikipedia articles about them: it seems that Wikipedia article writers consider "started in theatre" or "early years on the stage" all that need be said and reserve detailed writing for film careers.
* Outstanding: an authoritative discussion of the heyday of the rep system, its benefits and drawbacks, its origins and its decline would really help. Was it only ever a UK system? Did it happen elsewhere in Europe, in English-speaking countries, where? There are tons of actors' biographies which mention early years in rep. Alas, although I have read many of them, I have none to hand to quote.
This has all taken rather longer than I expected, so I am saving whilst I still know the difference between save and quit :) Telsa 22:29, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Some progress

message: I have gotten into this mess of a subject. I have tried to add some British and US and Canadian data (I have worked at reps in all three) and I do believe that the reader should have a wealth of "see also"'s to look at and check out. I've added "actor" to lead them to yet another list of subjects to do with acting.  I am a professional actor/director/teacher now somewhat retired, and with more time on my hands. I try to put myself in the position of someone coming into the profession, and wanting to look at the array of subjects confronting them, the ideal Wikipedia target, it seems to me. And more useful than any one book you can name.   JohnClarknew 02:22, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Subject is a mess, but more is better

message: A long time has gone by, and more articles get creeped in. I think that this page should be merged with Repertoire and Stock company (acting), because the idea of resident companies as opposed to one-off static or touring commercial productions in large theatres can be expressed in one article. Festival theatre should remain separate. I think that these articles should be merged under this heading (Repertory) only because this concept and usage grandfathered the development into the kinds that have followed.  JohnClarknew 07:07, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge

message: A belated thanks to User:JohnClarknew for this excellent section, which he added six months ago. I worked in weekly rep in the Isle of Wight in the 1962 season as a leading man — 16 weeks, 16 plays, under exactly the working conditions John describes.
I'd like to add, for entertainment rather than for scholarly enterprise, that the pay was ridiculous (but I'm sure everyone guessed that — the management ran off with nearly all the money). IN ADDITION, male actors were expected to own a dinner jacket, a business suit, and a reasonable selection of dress shirts and ties; the women were expected to own one formal evening dress and at least two respectable day outfits. The point being, of course, that, thus equipped, virtually the entire oeuvre of Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan, Agatha Christie and William Douglas-Home could be presented without spending a sou for costumes. Period pieces were never performed, for that very reason. Ronnie Barker's autobiography  — although perhaps a trifle over-concerned with his sexual conquests in this milieu — is a very, very funny take on weekly rep. El Ingles 00:49, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Weekly rehearsal schedule

message: I have made an attempt to clean up this page, particularly the reheasal schedule. It's still not up to standards as far as I'm concerned, but at least it is a better representation of what Wikipedia should be. --The ruggedly handsome pig-tamer's princess (talk) 20:04, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: An unusually clear example of how wikipedia has a tendency to get blander over time. --El Ingles (talk) 23:04, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  More Improvements 

message: I added a history section that I believe should be included and would be a helpful addition in making this page less like a "personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay." I would be in favor of completely removing or reworking the "Pros and Cons" section. It feels very argumentative. I was thinking it could be replaced by a section detailing the future of repertory theatre. Obviously, a lot of work needs to be done here. Otter.gracie (talk) 03:13, 14 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Maybe we should gut it?