How Off-Off Broadway Is Trying to Save Itself (And Where Help Is Needed)

Yes, the struggle is real for NYC's small theatres. But there is hope

—

More Stable Spaces

“Beyond rehearsals and the actual theatre, space is about being in community with one another,” Berry says. “Our existence was already so unstable and tenuous before COVID with the openings and closings of theatres and constant financial insecurity. There’s a grounding that happens when we get in a space together that makes it possible to keep moving forward.”

Many interviewees mentioned the Commercial Rent Stabilization Act, which has been kicking around for years. If passed, it could help leased theatres hold on. “It’s on the ballot right now,” says Erez Ziv, the Managing Director of FRIGID New York, which presents and live-streams performances at two rented East Village spaces: the Kraine Theatre and Under St. Marks. “Because of all the funding that we as a community got during the shutdown, everybody’s leases are going to go up. My landlord at St. Mark’s told me the other day, ‘There’s the guy in the middle of the block and he pays me three times what you pay me.’ And I was like, ‘You want me to pay you what the weed shop is paying you? That’s not going to happen.'”

That’s why Berry is a big believer in theatres owning their own spaces. “The financial conversation and real estate conversation are one and the same, you can’t divorce them,” she says. “The big asterisk right now—when ticket sales are still not back to what they were before and all the federal support is gone—is how are venues going to pay their arrears? That’s what worries me.”

More Collaborations

Edward Einhorn, the artistic director of the itinerant Untitled Theater Company #61, wistfully recalls the time he mounted a play for one night at The Public Theater as part of Suzan-Lori Parks’ yearlong 365 Days/365 Plays project, which took place not only throughout New York City but at venues across the country. “Parks invited all of these downtown theatre companies to participate—it was this amazing outreach from establishment theatres to indie theatres,” Einhorn says. “I think we particularly need that now, whether it’s established performers or established spaces. That’s my utopian idea. It doesn’t have to be a full run—it was so amazing to have the resources of The Public for just one performance. If the theatre community doesn’t care about us and try to help us, nobody’s going to.”

Last summer, Ty Jones, the producing artistic director of The Classical Theatre of Harlem, had a hit with the award-winning production of Twelfth Night, which was staged for free in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. But getting to mount a two-week encore engagement at NYU Skirball in February raised the show’s profile. “Producers aren’t coming up to Harlem to see us,” Jones says. “At Skirball, they came.” Still, his long-term goal is to create a Harlem classical arts complex that would serve as a destination culture hub. “I actually like the idea of keeping it small—that’s a tough thing for people to grasp,” he says. “It isn’t always about perpetual growth.”

Of course, indie theatres are also supporting each other, sharing email lists, coproducing shows and doling out funding. The Tank recently unveiled its Producers Cohort for early career theatre-makers with annual awards of $15,000, and IndieSpace recently distributed Milk and Eggs (Cost of Living) micro grants to 81 NYC-based indie theatre artists.

“For our model in general, we have the ability to allow people to afford to fail, because we’re not relying on one show, we do a lot of programming,” says Meghan Finn, the artistic director of The Tank, which presents shows in person and online. “That gives flexibility to emerging artists so there’s not that pressure to succeed. When you do that, you get a lot of people who do succeed because they have that freedom to experiment.”

“The 3 p.m. culture calls during the shutdown did a lot to connect us across the industry,” says Ziv from FRIGID New York about the newfound communication between theatres. “Everybody is aware of everybody’s existence. Even the funding organizations are realizing that, instead of giving $100,000 to one place, better to spread it around. So, we’re heading in the right direction, but the push has to remain.”

Finn agrees. “One of the good things to come out of the pandemic is the way the community came together. Suddenly, I’m in conversation with large theatres that never would have even clocked us before, and we’re sharing information. We’re figuring out ways we can cross-pollinate because when push comes to shove, all we have is one another.”

More Press

“We’ve lost the support that comes in the way of reviews and press,” says Aimee Todoroff, the managing director of the League of Independent Theater. Since theatre is ephemeral, “we really need other people to form the record of what we’re doing.” Her organization recently took over the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, rechristened the New York Independent Theater Awards, which are in the process of being revamped. One goal is to “build out a platform online where people can see where all indie theatre is happening in one place,” but that takes funding.

More Audiences

Interviewees had different responses when asked whether they believed audiences for indie theatre were drying up. Einhorn from Untitled Theater Company #61 admitted he had trouble attracting theatregoers to his last production, which was mounted at A.R.T./New York Theatres. But Ziv of FRIGID New York says many offerings at the Kraine and Under St. Marks sell out while acknowledging fewer shows are being produced at the venues overall, in part because so many artists left the city or the industry.

Donations are also critical. “I think that anybody who cares about a vibrant, inspiring, diverse and interesting theatrical scene in New York City should find a company that you’re excited about,” Corren continues. “Even if you can’t make a large donation, putting your money into those endeavors is so important, because it really does come down to resources in order to keep feeding the ecosystem.”

TDF MEMBERS: Log in to your account to browse all our theatre and dance offers. Not a TDF member? Consider joining our Go Off-Off and Beyond program, which gives you access to discount tickets to indie theatre for a one-time fee of five bucks.