the week of november 1 - 5, 2021

when you play the game of thrones, you win or you "resign"

Nov 05, 2021

You’re reading Nothing for the Group, a newsletter where one dramaturg rounds up one week in theatre news, reviews, and takes. If you like this sort of thing:

The Friday weekly round-up is always free — no gods, no masters, no paywalls — but if you’d like to sustain this project (and get access to occasional bonus content), you can upgrade to a paid tier.

If you want to say hi (or send me a press release), you can email me, tweet @halvorsen, or just reply to this email.

Identity Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton || Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim

how to spin a hasty resignation: williamstown edition

Williamstown Theatre Festival announced on Monday that artistic director Mandy Greenfield resigned in late October. Former artistic director and producer Jenny Gersten will take over on an interim basis for the 2022 season.

The theatre gave no official reason for Greenfield’s departure, but the transition comes weeks after the Los Angeles Times reported on the festival’s long history of exploitative labor practices, and after the unsafe working conditions that led to a crew walkout in July.

There’s nothing I love more than parsing through the carefully chosen language of a leadership shuffle announcement after a big public mess. I’ve written about the art of exit narratives before — how departing ADs will spin their resignations as the result of self-reflection and moral fortitude, rather than the consequence of board investigations and staff-wide organizing — and Greenfield’s statement to the NYT follows that familiar script:

“In 2019, I declined to renew a multiyear contract offered to me by the Festival; while flattered to be asked to continue, I agreed instead to stay on for two years, on a year-to-year basis,” she said. “I also publicly committed to leadership transition as I deeply believe, influenced by the British tradition, that theatrical institutions must empower new, diverse leaders in regular, shorter intervals than is the custom in the United States.”

However, this compressed timeline contradicts WTF’s own anti-racism commitments, which state: “WTF’s artistic director commits to leadership transition in or by September of 2024.” Sure, a hurried resignation in October 2021 technically adheres to that schedule, but the idea that this was part of a grand master plan — and not an expedited result of the LA Times reporting on WTF’s toxic practices and leadership failures — is laughable. It’s a narrative designed to protect Greenfield’s reputation, not a testament to the organization’s EDI commitments.

Every time I read one of these paint-by-numbers, heavily spun resignation statements, I always wonder: Who is the desired audience for this creative writing exercise? What’s the point of crafting a statement with the structural integrity of a wet paper bag, especially when investigative journalism and your own publicly available institutional documents contradict your explanation? Are donors and subscribers comforted by the glaring opacity and obvious spin? If real transparency is hampered by legal agreements and settlement conditions, why not say nothing? Powerful people will never pass up the opportunity to salvage the remaining tatters of their legacies — even when they’re halfway out the door.

good news

Adrienne Kennedy will finally make her Broadway debut at age 90 with Ohio State Murders. The production (dates, theatre, and basically everything else TBA) will be directed by Kenny Leon and star Audra McDonald.
The repertory of Is This A Room and Dana H. will extend its Broadway run through November 28th. The productions announced an early closure last week, but will add two weeks of performances due to demand.

digital theatre

Adam Rapp’s The Cube will be released November 11th on Audible. The audio play is directed by the very busy Whitney White and stars Carla Gugino and Juliana Canfield (who also plays Jess, the only moral character on Succession, my favorite weekly cringe-fest. Am I a member of a group text titled Slime Puppies to discuss all things Succession, i.e. mostly Kieran Culkin thirst? You already know the answer.)
Jared Mezzocchi’s On the Beauty of Loss will live stream November 11 - 21 at the Vineyard. The introspective multimedia performance “explores how the emergence of social technology has shifted the ways humans collect memories and comprehend grief.”
New Baltimore theatre company Sisters Freehold presents the online, immersive event The Sleepover starting November 11th. Co-directed by Makeima Freeland and Ann Turiano, the devised work is “an exploration of female gathering traditions” and limited to eight audience members per performance.

in-person theatre

Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s is now in previews on Broadway. The truck stop-set play previously premiered at the Guthrie under the title Floyd’s, where it was also directed by Kate Whoriskey.
Al Smith’s Rare Earth Mettle premieres at the Royal Court on November 10th. The “a brutally comic exploration of risk, delusion and power” is directed by Hamish Pirie.
The American premiere of Enda Walsh’s Medicine starts performances at St. Ann’s Warehouse on November 11th. The “devastatingly funny and absurdist work” will also be live broadcast on November 21st, 28th, and December 5th.
J. Nicole Brooks’ Her Honor Jane Byrne reopens at Lookingglass Theatre on November 11th. The 2020 Steinberg/ATCA Best New Play Award winner shut down after five days of performances in March 2020.

the regional theatre game of thrones

Julianne Boyd is retiring as artistic director of Barrington Stage after 27 years. She co-founded the company in 1995 and will step down at the end of 2022 season.

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. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

Executive Assistant, Second Stage: $44,000
Living Wage for NYC: $51,323
Development Operations Assistant, Manhattan Theatre Club: $40K range
Living Wage for NYC: $51,323

Both of the following positions are technically within the living wage, but I’m so sick of dramaturgs making the bare minimum considering the scope of responsibilities and the required expertise, experience, interpersonal wizardry, time commitment, and general expectation to be an institutional utility player. (I’ve also worked those insane O’Neill summer conference hours twice so I find that salary particularly egregious. The LMDA dramaturgy listserv is tearing the Geva posting to shreds, pointing out that the theatre is currently hiring a new artistic director with a minimum salary of $160,000.)

Literary Manager, The O’Neill: $45,000
Living Wage for New London, CT area: $41,770
Associate Literary Director/Dramaturg, Geva Theatre Center: $17/hour, full-time ($35,360)
Living Wage for Rochester, NY: $35,627

Nothing for the Group