Questions I Have

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TheatreFace.Com

Theatre festivals are beasts. As an arts administrator and technician, I've worked on both small and large scale festivals. I recently had an extremely bad experience, that may have jaded me and my impression of festival work.
After working behind the scenes on said festival, I became extremely aware of it's short comings in the "management" end. I realized a few things, and have begun to ask questions about the impact and implications of theatre festivals on the industry.
My first question is who really "wins" from the experience of a theatre festival? How much collaboration really happens? Other questions that I've found myself asking: What is the intention of a festival? Does the work ever trump the bottom line? What type of "administration" is needed for a successful festival? Is there succession planning in festivals, why or why not? Is incorporating festivals worth while? Is a one person curation a viable assessment of works chosen to be showcased?
I know it's completely unreasonable to have a cookie cutter lay-out of festival management, should [large] fiscal or umbrella sponsors have a responsibility / accountability for the work produced [should they act as a "board member" of sorts, and what are their 'obligations']?

What are your feelings about festivals? Good, bad, indifferent? Let me know, I'm very open to all opinions.

>>Hey, hijofrizbe -- sounds like the beginning of a great discussion, but perhaps a clarification of terms might be in order. What, exactly, do you mean by "Festival"? A Fringe? A summer-season Festival, in a perhaps temporary or nomadic location, like many Shakespeare Festivals started out? Or a playwrights festival, where playwrights, directors and actors are dropped in to workshop a bunch of plays in a couple weeks?

>>>>Good clarification points. In this instance mean a showcase or work-shopping of theatre works, ranging from full-scale multiple run productions to first readings and one-offs (with no specific genre) taking place over a couple of weeks. But, I am also thinking on the small "off-off-off(?) scale. What can make an festival successful and long lasting. I also guess the question could be, what is considered an "independent festival", can that be defined?