To Co-Produce or Not To Produce

Leonard Jacobs (with whom Bobo spent a couple of weeks writing theater reviews at the O'Neill in Connecticut in the summer of ought-four; a great guy) has a *Backstage* article about theaters doing co-productions and even merging. Both the Seattle Rep and Intiman (shared costume shop) and Idaho & Great Lakes Shakespeare Festivals (shared everything) are mentioned.
Here in Spokane, we have the one-off example of Interplayers and Lake City Playhouse having shared a production of *The Rainmaker* in September of ought-seven.

Could co-productions be a way here of theaters surviving the recession? Could co-productions break down petty turf protection and reinvigorate actors, directors and techies by cross-fertilizing people who have, after all, similar interests?

[ photo: Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise; from pnwer.org ]