Hats off to Bruce Miller for what promises to be an interesting series of posts at the Barksdale Theatre Blog focused on the responsibility of local community theatre -- with an emphasis where it belongs, namely on the word "community".
It follows then that each nonprofit theatre has a responsibility to be accessible to the broadest possible audience—welcoming everyone, excluding no one. This is an easy tenet to write into a vision statement or embrace as a core value. But on a day-to-day basis, a commitment to accessibility is devilishly hard to put into action.
Miller says that Barksdale focuses its energy on creating movement in five areas -- leadership, programming, financial roadblocks, physical barriers and broad-based marketing. He promises to tackle each of those areas in the coming days on the blog.
It would be even more fascinating to see the broader cultural community wrestling with those same issues, and inciting some long-overdue conversation across the Richmond region about what it means to be part of the community.
It's a conversation that too many other segments -- business, educational, government -- view far too academically these days. The community deserves a better dialogue, and it would be fitting if it were launched from the one segment that thrives on engagement.
