French Farming and Theater

[602 words.]

I recently came across an article in David Byrne's nonprofit online magazine Reasons to Be Cheerful that I thought had interesting possibilities for theater. Reasons to Be Cheerful publishes articles that are "stories of hope, rooted in evidence" that are designed to "inspire us all to be curious about how the world can be better, and to ask ourselves how we can be part of that change," and I encourage anyone to subscribe (free) .

The article, entitled "Cultivating the Next Generation of Farmers in France," described "an initiative in the southwest of France that is helping young people become the country’s next generation of farmers via low-risk, small-scale and closely-supported projects — and thereby helping create ultra-local networks of organic, seasonal and low-carbon produce for city-dwellers. The so-called “Green Belt” project, which began in the French municipality of Pau, rents out modest, two-hectare plots of farmland near the city that are already prepared and equipped at an affordable rate for fledgling farmers."

The problem that is being addressed is twofold: an estimated 70% of current farmers are expected to retire in the not-to-distant future, usually without family members ready to step in and take over the farm; on the other hand, there was a generation of young people who were interested in being small, usually organic, farmers, but who were being prevented from doing so by the high cost of farmland and the prohibitive entry costs of equipment and materials. The Green Belt project is addressing the problem by buying farm land from retiring farmers and breaking it into 2-1/2 acre plots. "Each farm," author Peter Yeung writes, costs €200,000 ($220,000 US) to set up—half subsidized through Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy and the other half through a loan, which the farmers pay back over time through rent, making the project in theory self-sustaining." The new farmers sign "an annual renewable contract, with the right to remain on the site for at least 18 years." Meanwhile, the project provides education for the young farmers, and also endeavors to make sure that there is a ready market for the produce that is grown. Because they recognize that it will take a couple years to get the farm fully functional, the new farmers "pay a monthly contribution of a few hundred euros that progressively increases until the third year, at which point the rent is fixed for the rest of the period."

So what does this have to do with theater?

What if there was a program that did the same thing for young theater artists who want to start a company? A foundation would be created to provide with a small, fully equipped theater space that is paid for half through a grant and half through an interest-free loan. Company members would be required to go through training in building and running a theater--maybe my book Building a Sustainable Theater could be part of the curriculum! Their monthly rent would start out low and gradually increase over the three years it would take to find an audience and a functional business model. After three years, they would provide a report of their progress toward sustainability.

I was reminded of Muhammad Yunus's book Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs. 

I don't think we need a new generation of theater artists taking over the existing massive regional theaters with their legacy audiences and traditions; I think we need to give young artists a chance to start over and develop their own visions of what theater ought to be in the 21st century. They need seed money.