Barter Theatre

During the Great Depression, a Virginia man looked at the food-rich Southwest and the culture-starved Southwest and made the connection: let audiences pay for theatre tickets with produce. That idea became Barter Theatre, founded in 1933 in Abingdon. The concept stuck. It's now the nation's longest-running equity theatre, designated the State Theatre of Virginia, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The alumni who came up through these boards went on to serious careers. The theatre is still running. That's the whole argument.