ABSTRACT
Zelda continues to premiere new plays, including Arthur Kopit’s Indians, the musical Raisin (a production that later wins the Tony Award), and Michael Weller’s Moonchildren, but this time there are pre-production agreements in place that protect Arena’s interests when each of these shows moves to Broadway. She assembles a new company of actors, some of whom will stay many years at Arena while they create lives and raise families in Washington, DC; others work there briefly before going on to major careers in stage, film, and television. Zelda’s seminal 1970 essay Theatres or Institutions? in which she candidly identifies the dangers of a small arts organization maturing and becoming institutionalized, helps to establish her as an important and eloquent leader in the burgeoning field of non-profit theaters. Narrators include Stacy Keach, Jill Eikenberry, Michael Tucker, Michael Weller, and Dianne Wiest.
