The budget below shows the cost of developing a new play, from scratch, right up to its premiere at a regional theater. This particular play is by the Civilians, a New York–based theater company that specializes in investigative theater. The budget represents the cost of their unique brand of research, as well as the cost any theater company would incur commissioning and workshopping a script. In other words, this is the expense of producing enough of a play to attract funders.

The play, Brooklyn at Eye Level, is about the massive new Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. A team of actors gathered over 250 hours of interviews with Brooklyn residents, developers, politicians, and other stakeholders, taping their voices and noting their facial and physical idiosyncrasies. They performed the material to test it out, then they handed it over to a playwright, who created a script from the material.

This budget is divided into three parts: Investigation, Theater, and Development. Investigation is the cost of interviews and research. Theater is the cost of two weeks of writing and producing a sample play at a Lyceum theater. Development is the cost of commissioning and supporting the playwright.

This is an installment of Creative Accounting, an ongoing series that will show where the money goes for all of the major creative industries. Future issues will cover book publishing, television, fine art, and public sculpture. Eventually the series will be collected into a single, indispensable volume, published by Believer Books.

—Christopher Benz

INVESTIGATION $36,528

The Civilians had one month to collect information and begin rehearsing a play. They collected and transcribed over 250 hours of interviews, worked with local children, conducted research, and consulted experts. The figures below are four weeks of their weekly salaries.

Artistic staff $7,081

Artistic Director $1,500

Literary Associate $2,000

The Literary Associate collected research, identified key people to interview, and organized the interview process. Lit associates are “half stage manager, half dramaturg,” said Civilians Managing Director Marion Friedman.

Literary Assistant $81

Project Coordinator $2,700

Taxes $800

Artist Fees $23,711

Actors $13,000

Six actors recorded interviews.

Composer $1,600

The composer, Michael Friedman, wrote five songs using direct quotes from the interviews. This figure represents the first month of his $2,500 fee.

Lab Dramaturg $3,072

The dramaturg is almost a co-writer. He helped organize the 250 hours of interviews and vast amounts of other information into one eighty-minute play. This dramaturg was particularly talented, so the Civilians flew him from Ireland, the only real travel expense they paid. Pay below is the first month of his $2,500 fee.

pay $1,600...