National trends show some theatre companies across the country are still struggling to recover from COVID-19 closures, with revenue reductions and staffing losses resulting in fewer programs.1 But that hasn’t deterred audience appetite for the work: paid attendance for programs put on by arts and cultural organizations has increased by 13% and free attendance by 22% nationwide.
It’s a trend that’s definitely visible in Tulsa, where theatre-makers are busier than ever, despite financial limitations. This past summer, the Potate Awards celebrated a whopping 45 total shows put on in the 2025-2026 season by 11 local companies and several artists who produced their own projects.
As my calendar filled with theatre engagements earlier this year, something unusual caught my eye. A healthy theatre ecosystem includes both large, long-established organizations and indie operations. But this past season, more than a third of the total theatre shows produced in Tulsa were self-produced, and four of those self-produced shows were by individuals outside of a company name or structure entirely.
In a traditional nonprofit model, a theatre company typically is made up of two groups: a board and a managing company, led by an artistic director. The AD oversees any staff and day-to-day operations: grant writing, marketing, hiring directors, designers, and actors for shows, and making sure all technical and logistical elements are in place for a show to occur. The board provides strategic and legal direction, and usually approves the lineup of shows that the artistic director proposes.
In an ideal world, financially strong nonprofit theatre companies have three arms of funding: grants, donations, and revenue, each comprising approximately a third of the operating budget. Grants often need to be tailored to a specific project, so season line-ups are often determined well in advance to allow for enough time to adequately prepare.
The trend in Tulsa suggests that many theatre artists are impatient with that way of doing things. Whether producing under their own name or by forming an official company, these self-producing individuals wear many hats to get the project on its feet and butts in seats, oftentimes opting to fundraise or collaborate to supplement their personal investment, taking on the risk themselves.
What’s motivating all this creative entrepreneurship in local theatre? For this story, I interviewed nine local producers, some who have recently mounted a project for the first time and some who make self-producing a more regular practice. How are they doing it, and why?