24. The Dream of Financial Success
Lessons of the 'Troupe 1931' Theater Ensemble
The original author of these essays was Ingeborg Franke von Wangenheim.
I would like to say a few more words about our economic situation and the tension between the actors’ need to earn money, and our desire to work as a revolutionary community theater troupe.
After two weeks of performing “The Mousetrap”, we were surprised to realize that the play was actually making money. At this point, we began to believe that it might be possible for us to earn good income doing high-integrity and uncompromising theater. Perhaps we could even succeed better with revolutionary theater than with a traditional “period” drama!
This dream changed by mid-January 1932, however, when the Depression-era economy had fully taken over.