Beyond the Opening Act: Theatre Squared Writes its Own Script

Theatre Squared isn’t a community theatre. Far from it. Professional to its core, the company has an artistic director and a managing director, and actors from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles compete for lead roles.

Though it’s considered a small regional theatre, Theatre Squared sees itself as much bigger. And if the past is any indication of what lies ahead, thinking big is the right thing to do.

Feathers in the cap include a comprehensive base of local support, plaudits from Broadway and recognition by the National Endowment for the Arts. Riding a wave of increasing revenue, attendance and season ticket holders, Theatre Squared moves through its eighth season at the top of its game.

Though many people played a role in the theatre’s rise, none loom larger than co-founder, playwright, instructor and artistic director Bob Ford.

“Nothing had prepared me to open a small business,” Ford said. “It was learn-as-you-go.”

It looks like Ford learned a lot. Since its founding in 2004, Theatre Squared has consistently done what it’s had to do to thrive — establish a reputation for artistic excellence and solidify its financials.

On the artistic side, Theatre Squared seemed to have come into its own by 2011, when the American Theatre Wing, founder of the prestigious Tony Awards, recognized the company as one of the top 10 most promising emerging theatres in the country.

“That felt really good,” Ford said of being honored in Manhattan. “That drove the stake deep into the ground to anchor our message here.”

That same year, the theatre’s coffers were infused with a $275,000, three-year grant by the powerful Walton Family Foundation, with disbursements coming in fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Based on the needs of Theatre Squared and its performance through the current three-year cycle, it could be invited to apply for another grant. Figures provided by the theatre show it’s made good on its promise to mind the budget while providing a quality product. From fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2013, the theatre’s revenue grew by 386 percent, from $169,000 to $823,000. Attendance has exploded, too.

Five seasons ago, 3,125 people went to productions. Last season, performances were attended by 20,561, a 558 percent increase that includes the Arkansas New Play Festival and the Arkansas Schools Tour. If revenue and attendance projections for the current season are met, Theatre Squared would have produced its finest year yet.

“This has been the land of opportunity,” Ford said. “This area was ripe for a professional theatre.”

The seeds of success were sown early.

Instead of founding Theatre Squared as a community theatre that would perhaps grow into a professional company, it was established from the beginning as a professional outfit. From the time of its first production, Theatre Squared has contracted with the New York-based Actors’ Equity Association, which gives it access to a national pool of experienced talent from the stage, television and film.

In terms of performance space, founders looked for a place to call their own but realized a venue was already there — the intimate Nadine Baum Studios Theatre at the Walton Arts Center. An agreement was hashed out and Theatre Squared had a home.

“We thought we wanted to be completely independent, but we realized we needed partners,” Ford said.

With actors from across the country and from the University of Arkansas on one side, and with a deep network of supporters on the other, Theatre Squared is now in its heyday. But for those who make it all happen, they’ll say the best is yet to come.

“When you trace the growth over the years, it’s exciting to think about what another five years will look like,” said Martin Miller, the theatre’s managing director. “We want to be a cultural pillar. When you think of culture in Northwest Arkansas, we want to be on that list.”

Miller’s hire in 2009 is considered one of the pivotal moments in the theatre’s history. An Arkansas native, Miller was working as an associate producer at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre when Ford made the offer. When he arrived in Fayetteville, he brought with him a taste for the big city as well as a love for this region.

“I was always looking back here to see what was going on because there was nothing like this when I was coming up,” Miller said.

With a graduate degree in arts leadership from DePaul University, Miller is trained in the fields of fundraising, marketing, partnerships, production and logistics. When an actor comes into town for a run of 22 performances, Miller’s job is to make sure the nagging details are his headache, not the actor’s. He’s in charge of making sure the bills are paid, the lights are on and that people are in the audience. When all those things are in place, great art can happen.

“My job is to create an environment in which it’s safe to take risks,” Miller said. “My personal goal is to be here when we become the theatre we want to become.”