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80 Playwrights Sign Open Letter to The New York Times Over Designer Credits Issue

By: Oct. 27, 2015
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As previously reported, United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 recently started a campaign to nudge its members and constituents to speak out against The New York Times' recent decision to leave out the names of shows' designers when listing credits for theatre productions at the end of reviews.

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Now, 80 playwrights -- among them acclaimed writers Annie Baker, John Guare, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Lucas Hnath, David Henry Hwang, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rajiv Joseph, Tony Kushner, Taylor Mac, Terrence McNally, Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl, Anna Ziegler and more -- have signed an open letter to the Times over the issue. (Scroll down to read it in full!)

"Many of our colleagues are up in arms about the decision by the New York Times to stop listing designer credits in both the web and print edition of their theatrical reviews," wrote the Local USA 829 before the letter went out. Names currently listed in the Times' stories include the director, writers, and the whole cast.

Read the Union's latest letter, taken from the Union's website with the full list of signees, below:

"Dear Scott Heller and The New York Times,

"We are reaching out because we'd like to talk to you about the recent elimination of the full credit box in your theater listings and reviews.

"We playwrights are always mentioned in the listings and reviews. This is not about us. We think the stage managers and sound and lighting and set and costume designers we work with are just as important as we are when it comes to making theater.

"These people are so often overlooked, even though our medium is, literally, coordinating moving bodies, in clothing, with accompanying sound, through light and architectural space. The credits at the end of the reviews and listings are often the only way designers and stage managers are recognized at all. And these people are real artists. They're not helpers. They're our collaborators. They're the show itself.

"It's also important for your readers to be able to find out days, months, years later, who created the shows they saw and read about. There are so many theater artists who aren't writers and directors and actors whose careers should be followed and documented, regardless of the writers and directors and actors they're working with, simply because they make extraordinary work.

"We need talented artists in New York City to continue to want to pursue these fields. And if they're unnamed and uncredited in the Times it's bad for all of us. Their names are as important to the future of American theater as the names below.

"Please restore the original credit box to your reviews and listings, online and in print.

"Sincerely,

David Adjmi
Annie Baker
Stephen Belber
Eliza Bent
Hannah Bos
Adam Bock
Sheila Callaghan
Mia Chung
Erin Courtney
Lisa D'Amour
Eisa Davis
Kristoffer Diaz
Steven Dietz
Bathsheba Doran
Jackie Sibblies Drury
Erik Ehn
Will Eno
Halley Feiffer
Melissa James Gibson
Daniel Goldfarb
John Guare
Rinne Groff
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Jordan Harrison
Amy Herzog
Lucas Hnath
Tina Howe
Quiara Hudes
Sam Hunter
David Henry Hwang
Naomi Iizuka
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Len Jenkin
Jeffrey Jones
Rajiv Joseph
Stephen Karam
Sibyl Kempson
Arthur Kopit
Kristen Kosmas
Tony Kushner
Deborah Laufer
Young Jean Lee
Dan LeFranc
Tracy Letts
Kenneth Lonergan
Matthew Lopez
Kirk Lynn
Taylor Mac
Duncan MacMillan
Laura Marks
Tarell McCraney
Terrence McNally
Charles Mee
Carly Mensch
Itamar Moses
Gregory Moss
Carlos Murillo
Janine Nabers
Qui Nguyen
Bruce Norris
Lynn Nottage
Sylvan Oswald
Jiehae Park
Adam Rapp
JT Rogers
Max Posner
Kristina Satter
Heidi Schreck
Wallace Shawn
Sarah Ruhl
Cori Thomas
Paul Thureen
Kathleen Tolan
Sarah Treem
Francine Volpe
Anne Washburn
Gary Winter
Doug Wright
Stefanie Zadravec
Anna Ziegler"

United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, is a labor union and professional association of Designers, Artists and Craftspeople, many who are world famous, organized to protect craft standards, working conditions and wages for the entertainment and decorative arts industries. The members of Local USA 829 are Artists and Designers working in film, theatre, opera, ballet, television, industrial shows, commercials and exhibitions. The current active membership totals just over 4,300.




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