Alabama Shakespeare Festival Will Reduce Staff From 95 Members to 10

Layoffs are coming to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, due to the health crisis, according to WSFA 12 News.

"Because the nature of what we do requires audiences sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and actors being closer than shoulder-to-shoulder at times, it's impossible for us to predict when we'll get back," said The Festival's Executive Director, Todd Schmidt.

The theater is getting to a point that it can no longer afford to pay its artists. The festival began with a staff of 95 before the pandemic, and is now being reduced to just 10.

"We are going to have to layoff and furlough a number of employees just to maintain the integrity of the organization," said Schmidt.a??

The plan is for those laid off employees to return when the theatre is able to safely reopen.

ASF leaders are remaining optimistic about the future.a??

"Theater has survived pandemics and plagues for hundreds of thousands of years. And we'll survive this one too," Artistic Director Rick Dildine said. "In those times when there was some type of challenge, artists evolved. And that's what we're seeing now."a??

Read more on WSFA 12 News.

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