The History of the Darling Theater CompanyThis theater company began in 1979 when a famous old theater in London went bankrupt and the owners of the building tried to sell it to real estate developers. George Darling, a well-known stage actor, launched a campaign to save the theater and, with the help of many famous friends from the theater world, generated strong public support for retaining the building as a theater. However, no existing theater company was in a position to take over the building and the owners suggested that George Darling use his connections to start his own company. After a vigorous fundraising campaign, enough money was raised to save the theater and establish the Darling Theater Company. Actors and actresses who had contributed to the campaign agreed to appear in Darling productions for a fraction of their normal fees - but were only interested in appearing in theater classics rather than commercial productions, the policy of the company from the beginning was to stage classics for short runs of three to six weeks so that there would be around ten new productions each year. To keep costs down, the company did as little as possible, hiring directors, set designers, technical crews and actors for each production only, and, subsidizing less popular plays with successful tours, often of Chekhov (“He’s the Monet of theater,” George said, “everyone loves him”). ) managed to break even for the first few years. However, in the mid-1980s the business hit a rough patch and George was forced to find additional funds to survive. When his application for an Arts Council grant was rejected, he turned to sponsorship and discovered he was good at persuading wealthy businesses to back his productions. The key to this, he realized early on, was to provide the company's executives with access to famous actors and actresses and, although there were protests against these "extra portrayals", George generally succeeded to argue that society could not survive otherwise. -Five years, the company's administrative procedures were primitive and chaotic. George was only interested in the artistic side of the business and cared little or nothing for the practical aspects, but his personal charm was so great that the staff were prepared to deal with the constant problems caused by procedures poorly defined and non-existent communication. Then, in the new century, George's health began to deteriorate and he was often not there to resolve confusions and disputes. Additionally, regulations governing theaters and public performances as well as the hiring of part-time workers