Penumbra eyes economy, slashes budget 24%

Penumbra Theatre announced a series of cost-cutting steps Wednesday, including the postponement of an August Wilson play from this spring to next fall and the slashing of its $3.8 million operating budget by 24 percent.

Wilson's "Radio Golf," originally slated to open in May, will now be staged Oct. 1-25 at the St. Paul playhouse.

The preemptive measures are meant to safeguard the theater's future in a deepening recession, officials said.

But the company will proceed with a $520,000 refurbishment, which is to start in March and will add offices and patron restrooms. The current staff of 21 will not be affected, nor the theater's educational and new-play development programs.

"These programs underline the mission of the theater and extend it outward into the community," said founder and artistic director Lou Bellamy. "We've cut back very carefully so that the integrity of our art and the heart of our mission remains untouched."

Penumbra last year completed a campaign that raised $3 million and helped retire a long-term debt. That fundraising stabilized the company's finances, which had been shaky as recently as five years ago.

"We have come from a lean-and-mean ethos that was all about survival to this new phase," said Phyllis Goff, board chair. "This is about sustaining and safeguarding this important resource for our community and country."

Penumbra has committed to doing all 10 plays in Wilson's 20th-century epic cycle. It had initially planned to do two per year, and has so far staged "Fences," "Gem of the Ocean" and "The Piano Lesson." Plans are now to do a single Wilson work a year.

"These plays are cast-intensive and talent-intensive," said Bellamy. "You can't just throw any warm body up there; we have to do them right. Our audiences expect our art to be top-form, and we do, too."

The company plans to cut its operating budget more, to $2.5 million, in 2010, and produce plays with smaller casts.

Penumbra will also explore other ways to save money, including doing more national and local collaborations. Its production of "A Raisin in the Sun," which opens March 13 at the Guthrie Theater, was done with the Arizona Theatre Company and the Cleveland Play House.

Managing director Chris Widdess said that while things are going well now, the arts rely on corporate, foundation and individual support.

"We've got to move with the best information we have," she said. "We all read the papers and watch the news. We know what's going on in the world. We don't want to be caught unprepared."

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390