Public Theater Lays Off 19 Percent of Staff

The Public Theater has laid off 19 percent of its staff as of Thursday, July 13, The New York Times reports. This comes after several other historic theatre companies are cutting staff and programming, including Lookingglass Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Center Theatre Group- a trend that BroadwayWorld's Cara Joy David investigated earlier this week in Industry Trends Weekly.

This move is said to have cost around 50 people their jobs. The cuts are due to falling revenue and rising costs.

Oskar Eustis, the theater's artistic director, revealed that the company's audience is down by about 30 percent, and expenses are up 30-45 percent.

"Put that all together, and you get budget shortfalls — big budget shortfalls," he said.

However, he assures that the Public will not cancel any programming aside from the Under the Radar Festival, which was previously announced to be on indefinite hiatus. But next season, the theatre will feature just five shows, which is down from the 11 in their last full season prior to the pandemic. Shakespeare in the Park will also not take place next year due to renovations at the Delacorte Theater.

According to the theater’s executive director, Patrick Willingham, the Public’s annual budget during the next fiscal year will be around $50 million, down from about $60 million before the pandemic.

Read the original story on The New York Times.

About The Public Theater

Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public’s wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe’s Pub.

Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham by James Ijames. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 60 Tony Awards, 190 Obie Awards, 57 Drama Desk Awards, 61 Lortel Awards, 36 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 62 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes.