ROBERT BRUSTEIN
343
Obviously, HAL is working here with the complicity of the
astronaut who still remains functional; and it would be extreme
to say that some vital blips will not be appearing again on the
monitor. In the case of cultural institutions, HAL's intervention
can sometimes be more fatal. Take the case of the non-profit
resident theater movement. These organizations were first devel–
oped with the purpose of providing an alternative to, not a
replacement for, the commercial theater as practiced on Broad–
way. Behind their rise lay a genuinely important idea-namely,
that if theatrical production were to be decentralized, away from
commercial pressures and glares, an organic, indigenous theater
art might flourish , which might survive the hasty, often ignor–
ant judgments of first night New York reviewers. Instead of a
pickup cast of itinerant stars, collected to create a commercial hit
for a group of investors, a group of collaborative artists could be
assembled, devoted to developing a collective identity from one
project to another, thus making an artistic statement through an
entire se::lson , or series of seasons, of theatrical works.
This idea-economically noncommercial, socially commu–
nal , politically socialist-was virtually doomed to failure in a
capitalist economy devoted to manufacturing commodities for
the marketplace. And it was not long before the decline of the
resident theater movement was signalled by its very success. The
projects so carefully nurtured in the bosom of an ensemble
company first caught the eye of the media and then of commer–
cial producers, and soon after, most of these theaters were
moving their ·projects, lock, stock, and barrel, companies intact,
from their home base to Broadway theaters.
It had become obvious to the heuristically programmed
algorithic computers-the HALs of the culture-that, whatever
their professed ideals, the resident theater constituted perfect
replacements for the declining Shubert chain as inexpensive out–
of-town tryout houses. And why not? This could bring needed
funds to the undersubsidized theaters, it could give the company
actors desired commercial exposure, it could attract new plays
from established playwrights grown wary of a premature con–
frontation with New York critics, and it could flatter the
regional subscription audiences with the knowledge that they
