the week of march 18-24, 2023

i regret to inform you that the victory gardens board is at it again

Lauren Halvorsen

Mar 24, 2023

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this week in lies & soulless crisis PR from the victory gardens board

On Wednesday morning, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Victory Gardens board had posted two open letters on its website: “one directly addressing recent controversies at the nonprofit theater involving the exit of former artistic director Ken-Matt Martin and other staffers, and the other addressed to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, a famously progressive nonprofit theater from Washington, D.C., that had implicitly accused the Victory Gardens board of poor stewardship.”

(I won’t subscribe to the Tribune because they’re owned by a hedge fund that likes to gut local newsrooms, so here’s a paywall-free link. I also think it’s irresponsible and inaccurate to describe “the exit of other staffers”, i.e. the mass firing of the entire staff, without contextualizing that it coincided with their unionization efforts.)

I’m not going to regurgitate the letters here because they’re infuriating and delusional in content and form. (Their crisis PR firm should be tried at The Hague for the “misconception/reality” structure alone.) But here’s a spectacular example of gaslighting from their open letter to Woolly Mammoth:

What happened at Victory Gardens could happen at any theater, and, as we continue to traverse the challenges from this situation, we certainly hope it does not happen to another theater. So, there does indeed lie a cautionary tale here. One that not only cautions theaters to continue to foster open and constructive dialogue between boards and artists and staff but to also be mindful that an individual’s actions can corrupt a theater’s direction and trajectory.

This is not how you embark on a meaningful reparative process to rebuild trust with artists and the community. This is a soulless narrative designed to downplay the board’s own power and absolve them of any responsibility — but it only reinforces their cruelty, negligence, and retaliatory instincts. The board waxes poetic about VG’s mission to “foster dialogue towards meaningful civic change and an inclusive theater experience that belongs to everyone”, yet fails to recognize how publicly trashing past employees contradicts those values — and ensures that any artist with a shred of integrity will not work at Victory Gardens in the future. No amount of spin can bridge the chasm between their words and actions, nor mask this kind of institutional rot.

in-person theatre

Talene Monahon’s The Good John Proctor is now running through April 1st at the Connelly Theatre. Caitlin Sullivan directs Bedlam’s production of the dark comedy “imagining the inner lives of the real girls at the center of the Salem Witch Trials as they hurtle toward the events dramatized in The Crucible.”
Julia Izumi’s Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea starts previews March 24th at DC’s Rorschach Theatre. Gregory Keng Strasser directs the “adaptation, reimagining, and critique of The Little Mermaid.”
Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play starts previews March 25th on Broadway. The satire about “a troupe of really, really well-meaning theater artists attempting to put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving school pageant” is directed by Rachel Chavkin.
The Native Voices Short Play Festival: Don't Mess with Auntie! will run March 25-26 at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles. The annual celebration of Native writers will feature plays by Lara Annette, Jennifer Bobiwash, Lee Cataluna, Claude Jackson Jr., Alan Kilpatrick, and Maddox Pennington.
Else Went’s An Oxford Man will have a reading on March 27th as part of MTC’s Ted Snowdon Reading Series. Emma Rosa Went directs the “buoyant and raucous mythologization of the life and times of the first ‘modern’ transgender man Laurence Michael Dillon.”
Jennifer Barclay’s Behave Yourself will have a reading on March 27th as part of SigWorks at Signature Theatre (VA). The “wild and whirlwind comedy of grief, friendship, and what it takes to break the rules and seize the day” is directed by Kimberly Senior.
Nia Vardalos’ Tiny Beautiful Things starts performances March 29th at Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit. Amber McGinnis directs the adaptation of author Cheryl Strayed’s time as the anonymous and unpaid advice columnist Dear Sugar.
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town starts previews March 29th at Syracuse Stage. The Pulitzer-winning classic America drama is directed by Robert Hupp.
Mona Mansour’s Unseen runs March 30 - April 23 at Mosaic Theatre Company in DC. Johanna Gruenhut directs the Istanbul-set drama about “a conflict zone photographer piecing together the details of her past and wrestling with the costs of her profession.”
Mary Elizabeth Hamilton’s Smart runs March 30 - April 23 at Ensemble Studio Theatre. The exploration of “how much our identity is shaped by habits, and what happens when our possessions start responding to the information of our daily lives” is directed by Matt Dickson.

in-person theatre dramaturged by me

The world premiere of Morgan Gould’s Jennifer Who Is Leaving runs March 30 - May 7 at Round House Theatre. Gould also directs the madcap rumination on the cultural and social expectations foisted upon women. Set in a roadside Dunkin’, the extremely Massachusetts comedy features the very stacked cast of Nancy Robinette, Kimberly Gilbert, Floyd King, and Annie Fang.

I’m obviously biased, but this play was designed in a lab to appeal to me: it’s under 90 minutes, it thoughtfully explores the high cost of invisible labor yet it’s very funny, there’s a climactic moment underscored by my favorite 80s pop anthem, and it’s letting me write-off my French vanilla decafs as a research expense. (It’s also been fun to say the title of this newsletter in its original context, i.e. during a production meeting.)

Jennifer Who Is Leaving is running in repertory with the world premiere of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s On the Far End as part of Round House’s National Capital New Play Festival. The one-woman show — which chronicles the life story of Muscogee leader and activist Ella Jean Hill — is directed by Margot Bordelon and dramaturged by Naysan Mojgani.

(A big thank you to Naysan, who has cheerfully tolerated emails from me like “I know the program is in design but I need to change these two adjectives in my dramaturg’s note but feel free to tell me no!!!” and let me fulfill my New England birthright by writing lobby display content on the cultural history of Dunkin’ Donuts.)

end of an era: sideshow theatre

Sideshow Theatre Company announced it was dissolving after 15 years. The Chicago storefront theatre cited “the cancellations of our 2022 Gala and planned production of Pro-Am, the necessary departure from the venue where we have performed for a decade, and the diverging lives and careers of the artists in the company” as reasons for the closure. (Sideshow was previously in residence at Victory Gardens and we all know what happened there!)

the regional theatre game of thrones

Jeremy B. Cohen is the new producing artistic director of Ojai Playwrights Conference. Cohen has led the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis for thirteen years. He succeeds Robert Egan, who stepped down in 2022 after 21 years.

2023-24 season announcements

Roundabout Theatre Company announced its 2023-24 season. Plays include a Broadway revival of Samm-Art Williams’ Home (directed by Kenny Leon) and four world premieres: Theresa Rebeck’s I Need That (directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel), York Walker’s Covenant (directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene), Nathan Alan Davis’ The Refuge Plays (directed by Patricia McGregor), and Rachel Bonds’ Jonah (directed by Danya Taymor).
The Alley Theatre announced its 2023-24 season. The Houston theatre will produce José Cruz González’s American Mariachi (directed by KJ Sanchez), Sharr White’s Pictures from Home (directed by Rob Melrose), Larry Shue’s The Nerd (directed by Brandon Weinbrenner), Elizabeth Williamson’s adaptation of Jane Eyre (directed by Eleanor Holdridge) and five world premieres: Mark Shanahan’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Richard Nelson’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Little Comedies, Don X. Nguyen’s The World is Not Silent (directed by Marya Mazor), Kirk Lynn’s completion of Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium (directed by Melrose), and Anna Deavere Smith’s new Ella Fitzgerald musical Ella (directed by Philip WM McKinley).
The Royal Court announced its 2023-24 programming. The London theatre’s line-up includes the UK premiere of Lucas Hnath’s Dana H. (with Deirdre O’Connell and directed by Les Waters), Tatenda Shamiso's No I.D. (directed by Sean Ting-Hsuan Wang), Tom Fowler's Hope Has a Happy Meal (directed by Lucy Morrison), Michael Wynne's Cuckoo (directed by Vicky Featherstone), and Rabiah Hussain's Word-Play (directed by Nimmo Ismail).
Classic Stage Company announced its 2023-24 season. Projects include the musical I Can Get It For You Wholesale (directed by Trip Cullman), Fiasco Theater’s Pericles (directed by Ben Steinfeld), and Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness (directed by LaChanze).
Geva Theatre announced its 2023-24 season. The Rochester company will produce The Wizard of Oz (directed by Zi Alikhan), Vanessa Severo’s Frida…A Self Portrait (directed by Joanie Schultz), Melinda Lopez & Maurice Emmanuel Parent’s Mr. Parent (conceived with & directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian), Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Dial M for Murder (directed by Rachel Alderman), Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City, the musical The Color Purple (directed by Kelli Foster Warder), and two world premieres: Dan O’Brien’s Newtown (directed by Elizabeth Williamson) and Harrison David Rivers’ new Nina Simone musical I Put A Spell On You (co-directed by Nikki James and Jonathan Butterall).

awards

Candrice Jones is the winner of the 2023 Kesselring Prize for Playwriting. She will receive $25,000 and a two-week residency at Tilden Mansion. Jones was nominated for her play Flex, which co-premiered at Arkansas’ TheatreSquared and Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit and will have its New York premiere at Lincoln Center in June.
Jesús I. Valles is the winner of the 2023 Yale Drama Prize. Valles’ play Bathhouse.pptx — described by the writer as “a group project for perverts, somewhere between lecture, reenactment, and cruising ground” — was selected by Jeremy O. Harris for the $10,000 award.

things i read this week

Amelia Merrill’s reporting on Cleveland Play House for American Theatre (published in February but I didn’t read it until now!), including an interview with actor Jordan Taylor — the survivor of the reported sexual assault — who detailed her history with CPH’s myriad HR failures:
Taylor, who has worked with CPH in multiple capacities over a three-year period, said in an interview that the theatre has exhibited a pattern of harassment and mistreatment of Black artists, particularly Black women and trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) artists…
While they were a student and employee at CPH, Taylor said they experienced “gender-based and power-based violence” involving CPH’s director of artistic inclusion, who used “their position of power to manipulate and impact me in harmful ways.” (Taylor did not name the individual in question, and CPH does not currently list a director of artistic inclusion on their website.) Shortly before graduating, Taylor said they filed a harassment report with the human resources department.
“They handled it very poorly,” Taylor said of the process. “They were not transparent.” She said that the incident and the mismanagement of her report reflects CPH’s “white supremacy culture of protecting image above all else, at the expense of transparency and community.”

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