​A movable feast: Theatre B searches for a new space

By Alex Huntsberger

ahuntsberger@gmail.com

After 10 years of presenting edgy, contemporary theatre at 716 Main Avenue, Theatre B is moving out. Their 2016-2017 season will be presented at a series of temporary venues around town. Meanwhile, the company is searching for a new permanent space to call their “forever home.”

“We’ve been having some really interesting conversations,” said Artistic Director Carrie Wintersteen, regarding the search. “Part of it is helping people understand our needs, and part of it is that sense of inviting people to think a little differently about space and what kind of activities can really activate a neighborhood and a group of businesses.”

While Theatre B has many happy memories—and many successful shows—at 716 Main, the time had come to move on. With their original landlord, local businessman Dave Scheer, the rent had been affordable. According to Wintersteen, Scheer understood that the theatre could help drive foot traffic to other businesses he owned nearby.

“It’s not that we aren’t of value for a landlord, it’s that our value comes in other ways. Our value isn’t so much in straight bottom-line rent. Our value in traffic can be huge.” Wintersteen said.

When Scheer retired in 2013, Theatre B was given the option to purchase the building. However, after looking further into the realities of how much work the building would require, they decided against it. (The space was charming, but far from ideal—funky in every sense of the word) Besides, the company had been wanting a better, more flexible space for quite some time. When new landlords led to higher rent, according to Wintersteen, the company decided that it was time to go.

“If this were a storyline, if this were a narrative, there’s always sort of that crisis or inciting incident.” Said Wintersteen. “And so we had our inciting incident is that our angel [Scheer] left, and our crisis is that our rent was now unaffordable. And so now we are off on whatever the next part of our journey is: to find out what is sustainable for the company long-term.”

Last summer, Theatre B worked with Artspace, a Minneapolis-based company that works to create affordable, sustainable spaces for artists to live and work. After mapping out Theatre B’s criteria, they together toured 16 locations across the area. When all was said and done, their current home had scored lower than almost all the others they had viewed.

So what exactly are they looking for? Well, according to Theatre B’s website, “The ideal space would be 2500-5000 square feet, have no posts or have widely spaced posts, a minimum ceiling height of 14 feet, and have wheelchair accessibility.” (Oh, and being right next to the train tracks—sans soundproofing—is probably a no-go as well.)

One question for the company is which side of the river they will end up on. Theatre B’s offerings are fairly unique within the Fargo-Moorhead area, and they draw audience members from both sides of town.

Each side has its drawbacks and its benefits. A move to Moorhead might mean better access to funding from the state of Minnesota, especially when it comes to touring. However, a move to Minnesota would also mean the loss of what makes the company so unique.

“I think that’s one of the things that’s really tricky about the question of “which side of the river,” said Wintersteen. “If theatre is local, then it doesn’t matter what side of the river we’re in. But if theatre is statewide, then we mean a lot more to the state of North Dakota than we do to Minnesota. There’s nothing else like us in the state of North Dakota.”

The first play in the company’s upcoming season, “How The World Began” by Catherine Trieschmann, will be mounted at 409 Broadway, former home of the Schumacher Goodyear Tire Store. The play dramatizes the debate over creationism in public schools—as well the debate between religion and science in general—through the story of a young, liberal Manhattan teacher who goes to teach science in a small Kansas town. The show will open in mid-September.

Theatre B’s Holiday show will be the 1991 satirical comedy “Inspecting Carol” by Daniel J. Sullivan. The play tells of a struggling regional theatre’s attempts to put on a production of “A Christmas Carol” while also on the look-out for a National Endowment for the Arts inspector who could grant them some much-need funding. It is inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s classic play, “The Inspector General”.

The final play in the season is a fun one: “Hand to God” by Robert Askins. It follows the story of a quiet teenage boy who joins a church puppet show being organized by his mother…only for his puppet to unleash his wild inner id. (It might even be possessed by Satan.) The show, was a big hit on Broadway, is known for leaving its audiences either shocked, delighted, or both.

Theatre B is still at 716 Main through the end of July, but they have already started the long and arduous process of clearing out. Recently, a company member uncovered a concrete square in the basement that had been poured right before their first show. It bore the handprints and signatures of all the original ensemble members. Sadly, it’s one memento they will not be able to take with them.

“What I will miss is not the building or the space,” said Wintersteen. “It’s the fact that we created it.”