Barclay Goldsmith, the founder and producing director of Borderlands Theater, has spent the last 29 years buried in the administrative work that comes with running a nonprofit, along with fighting for space to stage plays, and the money to pay actors and to keep the theater going.
He has also produced and directed plays that have illuminated border issues, mentored playwrights from around the country, and brought actors from Mexico City to perform on Tucson stages, and vice versa.
It is the artistic side that Goldsmith, 77, loves the most, and the reason he has decided to step down and let someone else run the day-to-day operations of the theater.
As of Nov. 15, Marc David Pinate takes over the producing director duties at Borderlands. While Pinate says he intends to continue to focus on the mission of the theater, and work with new and emerging playwrights, he also plans projects that will explore and stage the stories of Tucsonans. The first of those — a play about the demise of the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies program and based on interviews with those involved — is expected to open the 2015-16 season.
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Goldsmith talked to the Star about what’s next for him.
Will you have a role with the theater after you step down?
“I’d like to, from time to time, do some artistic work, but there’s no promise that will happen. I would like to keep directing. It may be at Borderlands or some other place.”
Why step down now?
“There’s a need for new energy, new ideas. When I approached the board about a year and a half ago, I shared my ideas about what I wanted to do, and they wanted to continue the theater. There will be good leadership with Marc, and I can leave the company knowing it will continue. A lot of founding members of theater companies can’t say that. I need to recharge my batteries artistically, not administratively — those are two very different jobs.
Keeping a small theater going isn’t easy, especially a theater with a focus on plays that have a political agenda or address issues important to those who live along the border. What’s fed you all these years?
“Two things: One, there were so many people who said you can’t do this kind of theater in Tucson, that there were not enough funding sources. I wanted to thumb my nose at them. Two, sometimes the issues here need artists to keep them on the table. That’s not the only kind of theater I like to do, but it’s important.”
Looking back over your time at Borderlands, what are your proudest moments?
“I think where I’ve worked with playwrights in long development processes on new works. I worked with Luis Alfaro on “Electricidad,” which kicked off his trio of plays (based on Greek tragedies). We were in development for over a year (Alfaro’s plays based on those Greek tragedies have since played around the country). … I like working on and nurturing new plays.”
Any disappointments?
“There have been a couple, but I don’t really want to share them.”
Should we expect to see you in the audience now?
“Absolutely. Absolutely.”