Georgia Shakespeare is announcing a tightened 2013 season lineup Thursday, with two fewer shows and a move away from presenting them in repertory.
But don't take the four-play schedule as another SOS signal from the 27-year-old troupe that launched a "Save Georgia Shakespeare" campaign that surpassed its $500,000 goal earlier this year.
The moves, considered a one-year experiment, are further steps toward what company leaders consider a sustainable operating model.
The shift from presenting three summer shows in "rep" (as well as a simultaneous children's show) will save the troupe production and marketing costs. But co-founder and producing artistic director Richard Garner said audience convenience and attendance patterns were equal considerations.
Repertory offers "too many shows in a short period of time for an audience to keep coming back to," Garner said.
"If you're a loyal Alliance [Theatre] subscriber, you're only expected to come out every six weeks. For us, you have to come out four times in eight weeks," he said. "We're sort of our own competition right now, in a way."
The season, being announced Thursday exclusively in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will open May 1-5 with a Shakespeare in the Park staging in Piedmont Park, a remounting of 2012's "Much Ado About Nothing." Last May, Georgia Shakespeare moved from the park's Lake Clara Meer to its recently opened Legacy Fountain area. More than 1,000 attended a Saturday night staging of "The Tempest," the largest draw in the company's history.
Next summer, the troupe will mount two shows at Oglethorpe University's Conant Performing Arts Center: Mary Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses," first produced in 2006 and based on the myths of Ovid, opening June 21; and the world premiere of Garner's "Mighty Myths & Legends," a family show also inspired by Ovid. "Hamlet" closes the season in the fall.
Information: 404-504-1473, www.gashakespeare.org.
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