Donate to Insurgent Theatre.

Insurgent Theatre functions under two seemingly paradoxical principles.

First: we believe that theatre and the arts should be affordable and accessible to all.

Second: we believe that artists ought to be paid handsomely for the amazing work that they do.

These principles are in constant conflict and resolving that conflict is a real challenge. If we give theatre away for cheap or free in order to guarantee that anyone can have it, how are all the the artists who work on our shows going to get paid?

At Insurgent Theatre, we attack this challenge with great creative energy and have made strides in reconciling it. We're excited about our novel approaches to this problem because we believe that, if this problem can be solved today, by us and by others, it will make for not only a reinvigoration of theatre as an art form, but also form the foundation of an improved world economic system. Artists and producers cannot solve the problem alone, we need a community, including audiences who will play their part in a thriving alternative creative economy.

Here's what we've done.

First, we are an artist-run company. All the money that comes into the company is spent according to consensus decisions by the active members. Half the profits from any show go directly into each individual worker's pockets as cash. The other half are invested in future productions, which each active member of the company has a say in. An "active member" of the company is anyone who has worked on one of our shows, hopes to work on another, and is willing to attend meetings and discussions about what those shows will be. Our "membership" is fluid, voluntary and empowered. We're a constantly evolving ensemble with only two members who've been around since the beginning.

Second, we live on nothing. There is no overhead, no administrative branch or managing director, indeed no roles-based hierarchy at all. We are only artists volunteering to do whatever needs to be done, those who work the hardest shape the company most. Promotion, fund-raising, financial and technical work are all done by the involved artists or by volunteers. We spend as little money as possible on non-human inputs. Costumes, props, building materials and promotion are all acquired at the lowest cost possible. They're often handmade, or even found in the trash. We perform in free spaces whenever possible, and never in venues that don't share our values by keeping their prices low and their priorities on art over profit.

Third, you've never needed more than $10 to see one of our shows, and you never will. Seats at our shows are often given away for suggested donations. Ideally payment will be completely voluntary and optional. Over the years we've encountered many occasions where audience members hand us extra money after a show, they pay more than was ever asked. They understand and value the work we do and want not only to see it, but also to enable more of it.

We consider this a radical new set of values that go beyond the "civil society" of capitalism to become the foundation of a whole new economic system. A world where customers pay for products or services not in order to gain access to the object or experience, but in order to enable the artists to create more, and share with more audiences. There's a level of mutual appreciation and trust in this arrangement that goes against so much of how the capitalist world works, but that we think will create a saner and more enriching life for all.

Here's how you can help.

We've tied our future success to growth of this new set of values, which means we're depending on small voluntary contributions from people who want nothing other than more chances to see the work we do performed. We're avoiding the things that accompany the large failing theatre institutions: chasing grants, holding fancy fund-raisers or becoming dependent on big donations from rich patrons. We prefer instead to focus on doing our work and thriving on a small but steady flow of support from many individual donors.

We expect most of this support will come in the form of donations at our shows. But, sometimes generosity doesn't come spontaneously. Sometimes you haven't got the extra cash. Sometimes the effect of a show takes time to sink in, you don't realize the value of what you've seen until you find yourself thinking about it or having an epiphany days or even weeks later.

With these situations in mind, we've decided to make it easier for our supporters to contribute. We've arranged the easiest indirect donation method we could find, an online service called Chip In. It's totally secure and free. So, please, if you want to see a theatre insurgency, and haven't been able to give a little extra at our shows, Chip In now.