Like ‘Macbeth,' festival has toils, troubles

"Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

When they stir their pot on opening night Thursday in Elmwood Park, the witches from “Macbeth” will symbolically reflect the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival's own toil and troubles this year, after 17 rounds of budget cuts.

Shakespeare on the Green is so short of green that it has cut its 23rd season from two shows to one, its performances from three weekends to two and its budget by 37 percent.

The free festival's focus is on keeping quality high in a down year, but cost savings will be visible in ways big and small.

Even the pre-show juggler has been cut to save money. Jek Kelly, a favorite of picnicking crowds for years, might be seen as the unkindest cut of all.

Just two professional actors, both based in New York, will appear: Khris Lewin as Macbeth and Maryann Towne as Lady Macbeth. That's down from seven last year. The cast of 18 is fewer than the typical company of 24 to 35 and is younger than usual.

Last year's scenery — arches in a curved wall that cradles an oval stage — is being recycled. Truckloads of dead tree branches will cover the wall to suggest foreboding and a civilization falling apart, said designer Robbie Jones.

Many costumes may look familiar, too. The play is set in the 11th century, as Shakespeare set it, because costume designer Lindsay Pape found lots of clothes for that period in storage.

Budget cuts even affected the choice of the play, said Cindy Phaneuf, the festival's artistic director and one of its co-founders.

Each past season has paired a comedy with a tragedy or a history play.

“The season we intended was ‘Twelfth Night' and ‘Macbeth,' ” Phaneuf said late last month. Gradual budget cuts meant the decision to do just one show came late in the process, just before auditions. “Macbeth,” she said, fit a lean cast and lean staging.

“But ‘Macbeth' is also one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, one kids study in high school. It's a very exciting, very theatrical play with lots of lines people know.”

Melissa Marvin, chairwoman of the festival's board of trustees, said Phaneuf is an expert at delivering quality on a limited budget.

“She is just brilliant at that, and we will have an outstanding production this summer,” Marvin said.

Both Marvin and Phaneuf said the festival will need more individual donors to bring two plays back next year and to keep the festival at the level that people have grown to expect.

“We really need organic growth, getting more people into the park,” Marvin said. “If each person who came gave $15, that would put us over the top to get us where we're going for two shows. That's our goal for next year.”

About 30,000 people attend the festival's 12 performances each year. Attendance at this year's nine shows — Thursday through June 21 and June 24-28 — will probably be lower.

The festival is unique among local theater companies because it sells no tickets. More than 75 percent of its $670,000 budget last year came from private and corporate donors and arts grants. Marvin said 36 percent of that came from just 16 generous individuals.

By contrast, the Omaha Community Playhouse gets 75 percent of its revenue from ticket sales. Many area theaters say earned income accounts for at least half their budgets.

Collapsing stock and real estate prices last year, along with widespread layoffs, led to a sharp drop in donations to nearly all nonprofit groups. The Shakespeare budget this year is $420,000.

More than a third of that pays for the festival's year-round educational arm. A touring company of eight takes Shakespeare to high schools, middle schools and community events across Nebraska and western Iowa. Host communities pay part of the cost for the workshops and performances.

Just four people work for the festival year-round: Phaneuf, managing director Mary Ann Bamber, education director Thom Lowe and marketing director Nellie MacCallum.

Still, the bulk of the budget goes to salaries for directors; actors; designers for scenery, lights, costumes and props; a stage manager, a company manager; a manager of the performance site; and education and marketing heads.

Pay for many staffers fell between 33 percent and 75 percent this year, Phaneuf said. A small army of assistants — interns, students and volunteers — gets little or no pay. Others, such as fight director Terry Doughman, are taking less pay this year and are donating their time.

“Our three-person office staff fell to one, and I am it,” Bamber said. “We're at a bare minimum from an administrative standpoint. That was done mindfully, because we wanted to preserve the artistic value.”

Marvin said people who donate to the festival can feel confident that most of their money ends up onstage, since only 9 percent of the budget goes to administrative costs.

“You'd be hard-pressed to find other nonprofits that are as lean and mean as this one,” she said.

Phaneuf said the festival cut “everywhere we thought we could and then beyond that.” She said although the cuts are viewed as a one-year anomaly, she is concerned about the festival's future.

“We need to get closer to a $600,000 budget again to pay competitive salaries and return the quality to where it belongs,” she said. “It's difficult to become as fantastic as we want this to be if people don't have the experience levels we're used to.”

The festival has always used a blend of paid professionals, area community theater actors and college students, and Phaneuf said that core of experience is essential to quality.

And it's not cheap.

It's a tough year for everybody, said Kim Mickelson, who serves with Marvin on the trustees' executive committee.

“The biggest misconception is that you find somebody on the street and put on a show,” Mickelson said. “Costs associated with each little item are small, but there are thousands of them. People think this is very cool when they see it, but we need to expand our base to thrive.

“We've got to get smarter about how we find donors and raise money, so we can continue to not only do what we've done but even do more.” Contact the writer: 444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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