Theater Company Looks to Community-Supported Farms for Business Inspiration

Few people would see similarities between a Manhattan theater and a farm in upstate New York.

But Jon Stancato, co-artistic director of the Stolen Chair Theatre Company, made just such a link.

Mr. Stancato recently traveled to interview local farmers about how they earn a living in the hopes of adapting the business model for his small arts group.

The farmers participate in a community-supported agriculture effort in which they get money upfront from a group of supporters. In exchange, those people receive produce from the farm throughout the year, as well as other benefits such as recipes and invitations to pick their own food on the farms.

Mr. Stancato is now promoting “community-supported theater,” offering supporters a chance to buy a stake in what he calls Stolen Chair’s “creative harvest.” He will be recruiting 75 people to pay at least $110 to support the development of the theater’s annual production, which this year will explore the intersection between art and physics.

In turn, they will be invited to monthly meetings that include live rehearsals, a discussion between scientists and artists, and a science fair where, Mr. Stancato says, “members can experiment with the exploding volcanoes their parents never let them create.”

“What really struck us were all the ways in which the farms try to let consumers gain insight into their process,” says Mr. Stancato. “It was easy for us to make the leap to say, This is what we want for our theater. We want an educated group that’s become so familiar with our process that they’re willing to become champions.”

Mr. Stancato expects his idea to reap about $11,000 in new revenue for the theater, which has an annual budget of $70,000. The group plans to use the money to shape its productions before soliciting aid from grant makers.

To help develop its new business approach, Stolen Chair won two grants totaling $25,000 from the Field, a nonprofit group in New York that assists artists.

The money was part of the Field’s “economic revitalization” program, supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.