 The Guthrie Theater , opened in 1963 , was the brainchild of Sir Tyrone Guthrie , who wanted to found a regional theater without the commercial constraints of Broadway . The high cost of staging Broadway productions meant that shows had to be immediately successful and return a high amount of revenue . This discouraged innovation and experimentation , and made it difficult to stage important works of literature . These ideas were first disseminated in a 1959 article in the drama section of the New York Times , and citizens in the Minneapolis @-@ Saint Paul area were eager to support the idea . The theater served as a prototype for other resident non @-@ profit theaters . 
