Research on Comparable Endeavors

Socially conscious theatre is a select niche for the performing arts; so it is imperative to know what are currently the trends and habits of the few theatre troupes that fall into this niche with the greater Denver area. The theatre troupe Apple Box is a new an exciting start up theatre troupe that falls into the category of performing socially conscious venues. Apple Box’s isn’t profit driven so in many ways their business model has to be very similar to a non-profit organization; so that is another theatre type to reference, the non-profits. The goal of the comparison and researching of theatre troupes similar to Apple Box is to discover how a socially conscious theatre and thrive in Denver, and do so without using profit as their drive.
Denver is actually a fairly large and nationally recognized city for the performing arts and theatre; unfortunately most are profit based and larger theatres that have more mainstream performances. So after weeding out a lot of the mainstream, there were many different small troupes and theatre groups that have a good following in the greater Denver area. There are four that were focused on for research purposes; two non-profits, and two theatres that primarily perform socially conscious material:

Germinal Stage- A non-profit theatre that focuses on more intimate “theatre in the round” performances. They cater a lot of shows to the community in their immediate vicinity.
http://www.germinalstage.com/

Curious Theatre- A non-profit
http://www.curioustheatre.org/

Paragon Theatre- socially conscious theatre, most performances and plays are focused on current day issues.
http://www.paragontheatre.com/

Su Teatro- culturally conscious theatre that focuses on the Chicano experience in the United States.
http://www.suteatro.org/

The oldest standing theatre is Su Teatro, it began in 1971 and has a consistent history of performances many of which socially conscious or at least culturally aware. This may be true because was the first major Chicano theatre and still remains so; perhaps comparing Apple Box to Su Teatro is a stretch. Germinal Stage is more relevant to Apple Box and has been arounf since 1973, but they admit that they have only been consistent in production since 1987. Being a non profit it may be good to understand their business model to see how they have stayed on the scene for such a long time. Unfortuantely, their site, and facilities seem dated and unkempt. Curious and Paragon theatre’s have been around since the turn of the century, both have a new and fresh presentation to their sites and have some acclaim. Deeper research will be needed to conducted to find out what has made them successful in Denver’s theatre climate as well as what type of show’s are more advantageous to perform.
After all the research that was conducted two things is certain, a niche needs to be found for Apple Box’s audience (similar to Su Tearto). Secondly, a solid business model needs to be decided upon that is tried and true. Once these two things are decided there can be steps taken to make Apple Box a success.