The Development of the Postwar American Theatre Production System

Regional Theatres' Growing Affinity with Broadway's

Abstract

Since the 1960s, regional theatre has become one of the major sectors of contemporary American theatre culture. Little attention, however, has been given to the organizational aspects of this unique American phenomenon. This study examines the development of regional theatre, focusing on changes in its repertories from the mid-1960s through the 1980s, and demonstrates how regional theatre, whose initial movement was to create a new basis of theatre independent of Broadway, has become part of the play production and distribution system centered on Broadway.