VIRGINIA MUSEUM THEATRE: A CASE STUDY

The Virginia Museum Theatre of Richmond, Virginia, began in 1955 and during its early years was a community theatre. The quality of the facility attracted ambitious directors who sought to bring the facility to professional levels. The nature of those directors' relationship with a Board of Trustees constituted to govern an art museum is explored, and the difficulties in presenting professional quality theatre under those circumstances discussed. The primary methodology was research into the papers in the files of one of the theatre's Artistic Directors, Tom Markus, searches into the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts papers in the Virginia State Archives, and interviews with participants in the theatre's growth. Results showed that factors of importance in the lack of success in bringing full-fledged professional theatre to Richmond, Virginia, were: (1) The city has an historical resistance to such offerings; and (2) The Board, as constituted, presented insurmountable obstacles.