the week of august 9-15, 2024
don't quit your day job (unless it's in regional theatre)
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
General PSA: I didn’t look at any of my inboxes last week while I was out of town (I read three books and watched the Olympics; please talk to me about my new favorite sport kayak cross) so I’m still catching up on emails and press releases. I promise I’m not ignoring you! (Unless I am.)
icymi: bills, bills, bills
This month’s money diary is from a Ren Faire attendee/aerial hoop enthusiast/digital marketing staffer one week after they quit their chaotic regional theatre gig. Every time I start romanticizing a full-time return to theatre, a Bills, Bills, Bills diary comes along to articulate the relentless meat grinder of turnover, burnout, and apprentice exploitation. The rundown of this diarist’s pandemic-era department shifts made my head spin:
world premieres
Kate Hamill’s The Light and The Dark (the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi) starts previews August 10th at Chautauqua Theater Company. The new drama “delving into the profound impact of art in assuaging trauma and exploring the transformative power of female rage in reshaping societal paradigms” is directed by Jade King Carroll and dramaturged by Kristin Leahey.
productions
Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size runs August 14 - September 8 at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in a co-pro with The Shed. Bijan Sheibani directs the “modern-day fable about two brothers in the Deep South wrestling with loyalty, freedom, and duty.”
Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties is now running through August 18th at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. The “queer fantasia of riotous self-discovery, smeared with sex, rage and solidarity” is directed by Becca Wolff.
Jon Tai and Alex Gruhin’s Road Signs is now playing through August 31st at A Red Orchid in Chicago. Gruhin also directs the interactive blend of “magic, storytelling and performance art [taking] a journey through the great American wilderness, where audience members’ dreams are brought to life around a campfire.”
Mister & Mischief’s Escape from Godot runs August 9 - 25 at Moving Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. “Escape room antics meet iconic existentialism in this playful, interactive performance puzzle” for an audience of eight.
Undiscovered Works’ production of Chisa Hutchinson’s The Bleeding Class starts performances August 10th at NYC’s 59E59 as part of the AMPLIFY Festival. Cezar Williams directs the “funny and fast-paced mix of science fiction, thrills, and camp asking, ‘What would you do, and who would you be, if everything was on the line?’”
summer festivals
Native Voices at the Autry’s 30th Festival of New Plays runs August 11th at The Handlery Hotel in San Diego. This year’s event features two readings: Jennifer Bobiwash (Mississauga First Nation)’s Never Say Die and Madeline Easley (Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma)’s Feast for the Dead.
2024-25 season updates
The Atlantic announced its 2024-25 season. The Off Broadway theatre announced five world premieres: NSangou Njikam's A Freeky Introduction (directed by Dennis A. Allen II), Eliya Smith's Grief Camp (directed by Les Waters), Mona Pirnot's I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan (directed by Ken Rus Schmoll), Ethan Coen's Let's Love! (directed by Neil Pepe), and Abby Rosebrock's Lowcountry (directed by Jo Bonney).
Ma-Yi Theatre Company announced its 2024-25 season. The NYC theatre’s line-up includes the world premiere of Michi Barall’s Drawing Lessons (directed by Jack Tamburri, staged at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis); Lisa Sanaye Dring’s SUMO (directed by Ralph B. Peña, co-pro with The Public and La Jolla Playhouse); and Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s RHEOLOGY (co-pro with HERE and The Bushwick Starr).
Under the Radar announced part of its 2025 programming. The citywide festival will run January 4-19, 2025 at various NYC venues; Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal are joining as co-creative directors for a two-year cycle alongside founding artistic director Mark Russell. The full program will be announced in October, but this year’s offerings will include Khawla Ibraheem’s A Knock on the Roof (directed and developed by Oliver Butler); Faustin Linyekula’s My Body, My Archive; The Onassis ONX-curated TECHNE; Shuji Terayama’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (directed by Kim Sujin); and Aakash Odedra Company’s Little Murmur.
The Vineyard Theatre announced the remainder of its 2024-25 season. The Off-Broadway theatre will produce Haley McGee’s Age is a Feeling (directed by Mitchell Cushman, originally directed and dramaturged by late Adam Brace) and Sarah Gancher’s site-specific The Wind and the Rain: A Story About Sunny's Bar (directed by Jared Mezzocchi).
Theatre for a New Audience announced its 2024-25 season. The line-up includes Dakin Matthews' adaptation of Henry IV (directed by Eric Tucker), Wole Soyinka's The Swamp Dwellers (directed by Awoye Timpo), and two world premieres: Ethan Lipton’s musical We Are Your Robots (directed by Leigh Silverman, co-pro with Rattlestick) and Taylor Mac's Prosperous Fools.
space jam: a new legacy
Soho Rep is partnering with Playwrights Horizons on a new space-sharing initiative. After 30 years at Walkerspace, the downtown Off Broadway company will spend the next two to three years producing independently out of Playwrights Horizon’s midtown complex.
edinburgh fringe coverage
Per usual, my Fringe envy is off the charts. (I haven’t been since 2018 when I saw 22 plays in four and a half days, then decompressed in the West Highlands by eating my body weight in fresh mussels and hiking around islands with more sheep than people. Take me back!)
Here are my favorite dispatches from the front:
The Crush Bar: Edinburgh-based critic and journalist Fergus Morgan writes a five-show recommendation post every few days. (He’s already published eight round-ups, which include links to other recent reviews and commentary.) His comprehensive festival explainer in The Stage contextualizes the Fringe’s history, controversies, and current state.
Café Europa: Natasha Tripney is reviewing Fringe productions for The Stage, but I enjoyed her newsletter’s festival preview of 15 shows to see.
Lyn Gardner’s Top 20 Festival Picks: Lyn is also reviewing for The Stage and I love her micro-observations on Twitter.
F-Bomb Theatre’s annual FemiFringe Guide which tracks shows “led by women and people of marginalised genders.”
Robert Ormerod’s photo essay of the festival’s first weekend in The New York Times (gift link)
A Great Voyage: My former Studio Theatre colleagues Chris Sanderson and McKenzie Millican are working remotely in Edinburgh for the next month and chronicling their theatre-going.
If you want to deep-dive into reviews, I recommend The Guardian, The Stage, and The Scotsman.
that’s not a living wage
Here are this week’s featured underpaid job listings, paired with the living wage for a 40-hour work week for one adult with no children in that area and the most recently available 990 data. (You can read more about the methodology here.)
This week’s listings were reader-submitted:
Development Operations Assistant at Manhattan Theatre Club: $42,000 - $46,000 (Exempt Status Unknown)
Living Wage for New York, NY: $69,852
Revenue (2023): $26.88 million / Net Income: -$1.66 million
Executive Compensation: $505,758 (Artistic Director) / $598,515 (Executive Producer)1
Literary Manager at Boston Court Pasadena: $27/hour/$42,120 annually (Full-Time, Non-Exempt — 30 hours/week)2
Living Wage for Los Angeles County, CA: $55,770
Revenue (2022): $1.22 million / Net Income: -$253,894
Executive Compensation: $79,808 (Artistic Director) / $95,807 (Managing Director)
MTC’s 990 also lists “Other Compensation” for its executives: $30,819 for Artistic Director and $51,291 for Executive Director. (The filing lists six other senior managers’ other compensation as well; three of whom receive amounts greater than the salary for this advertised position.) Non-profit organizations are required to report base salaries, bonus/incentive pay, and other earnings for its officers, directors, trustees, and key employees. “Other compensation” means deferred and/or non-taxable benefits — this can include assistance payments (dependent care, adoption, tuition etc.), medical/retirement contributions, etc.
Speaking from experience, the “essential functions” listed in this Literary Manager job description require way more than 30 hours of labor a week.