Opinion: Theatre is good business

George Kelly is a member of Granite Playwrights.

It was probably inevitable, and so it has come. The Hatbox, after 1,107 performances since it made its debut in 2016, has been given notice by the new owners of the defunct Steeplegate Mall to vacate the premises by the end of January.

Hatbox is part of Concord’s culture and while it is fair to say that the theater benefits from our community, it certainly can be said that our community benefits from it as well.

A few weeks ago, producers, directors, playwrights, and patrons were summoned to Hatbox, to explore what we might do to rescue our beloved little gem from a figurative wrecking ball. As it stands, the Hatbox’s 9th season is being cut in half, preventing already planned productions from seeing the light.

Everyone who gathered to hear Hatbox’s founder Andrew Pinard give a status report was unwilling to see this valuable contribution to the arts in Concord go without a fierce fight, and a concerted effort to find some new digs. Pinard is the chief creative force behind the theatre. He modeled Hatbox after The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth, and like the “Ring,” it has flourished.

Since its opening night in 2016, the Hatbox has played host to 36,000 patrons who have come to see 18-20 productions per year including musicals, plays, “original” work, educational programming, and Discovering Magic, which features Pinard in a full tux, and a sleight of hand delivery that has become a frequent favorite.

36,000 paying customers is indicative of the theater’s growing and continued popularity. After these many years, if you are distributing posters downtown, for a show you are producing, you don’t have to explain where, or what the Hatbox is. In a word, and for lack of a better one, it is a successful business on the other side of the river. Added to that, are the many businesses that profit from the Hatbox’s existence. Restaurants, hardware stores, printers, to name a very few, have all benefited from the Hatbox’s existence. Theatre in a community is good for business.

I remember many years ago, when a small venue like Hatbox, opened on a depressed street in Portsmouth. Theatre-By-The-Sea began in a 50-seat abandoned foundry. As it “caught on,” a restaurant opened nearby — The Blue Strawberry. The theater launched a revival of this neglected section of the waterfront. Soon, Theatre-By-The-Sea moved up the street, took on a new name, and became Seacoast Repertory. As this happened, niche shops and still more restaurants further developed this neglected part of town. It’s now a destination for anyone visiting Portsmouth. Still another reason that theatre is good business for everyone.

Concord has its own arts venues: The Concord Community Players, The Concord Music School, The Capitol Center for the Arts, are just a few. There is room for more, and we should make room for a small theater that is already viable, needed and by many, loved. There is no such thing as too many artists in a community: the more, the better. One artist, or artistic community, promotes another. Hatbox has its own special place as part of our city.

I am a member of Granite Playwrights. We are writers in search of a theater and we are not alone. Organizations like ours are all over New Hampshire. Because our work is unknown, because it is “original,” we need a small venue to show off our stuff. Steadily, our audiences at Hatbox have increased. We have made a profit that we share with everyone on stage and backstage. We along with so many other theater groups, have been made welcome and together, we have attracted thousands of paying patrons who come to Hatbox and see our shows, some of them coming from eating out before the show and others planning to have a sociable drink after the show.

There should be room somewhere for Hatbox to continue to provide its unique perspective on theatre. If you’ve ever attended a Hatbox show, you have experienced the intimacy that comes when audience and actor are within a few feet of each other. It’s a heady experience for both, and an experience that Concord and the surrounding community have come to enjoy, and deserve.

Everyone who is a member of the Hatbox community has fanned out in search of a new space for the second half of this season and beyond. We all hope that there is somewhere and someone who may know of a space that would be suitable. If that someone is you, please contact any member of Hatbox’s staff. Help us continue to provide this one-of-a-kind experience for even more audiences.