Theatre Companies Copying Each Other

[Harold Bernum]

This just popped into my head and I thought I would put it
out there. Is it common for theatre companies to copycat
each other? I ask because one company I frequent had a
stage production of Lizzie Borden, which was unveiled
around the same time as a film came out on the same
subject. Now, with their new season, they are doing a
performance of "The Elephant Man", which, by
coincidence, is also being produced at another local
theatre. One is in April, and the other is in
November.

I recall a coworker who had a conspiracy theory that
all CEOs work off the same event schedule for self-
promotion. That is, whenever one company wanted to pull
off some self-promotion act, another company would do
the same thing a few months later (this was especially
popular with YouTube trends like spontaneous dancing
and whatnot). I put it down to a general lack of
imagination on the part of company executives, but now
I'm wondering if that theory can be applied to theatre
companies. Perhaps, on the other hand, what I am seeing
is all just a big coincidence.