Theater Resources Unlimited to Present Town Hall: 'What Producing Companies Need To Start Producing Again (Part 2)'

A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited has announced an initiative to create programs to specifically serve not-for-profit theater companies emerging from shutdown. With the goal to help restore the theater community in New York and beyond, TRU will host a follow-up to last month's Town Hall Open Discussion: What Producing Companies Need to Start Producing Again (Part 2) on Thursday September 23rd, meet-and-greet at 5:30pm and the discussion starting at 6:00pm eastern time. All not-for-profit and fiscally sponsored companies in New York and beyond will be welcome and encouraged to participate for free, but please register at https://truonline.org/events/town-hall-2/ in order to be sent the Zoom link.

As part of a multi-tiered initiative to help restore the theater community in New York and beyond, TRU is inviting small-to-medium sized producing companies to join us in a conversation about the struggle to reopen. August's initial meeting generated some specific needs from the community. Chief among these is the need to find out what audiences require to return to theater, and we are creating a uniform questionnaire for companies to send out, which we will share at this meeting.

Other questions we will continue exploring: How can we plan productions with the COVID situation see-sawing? How many performance spaces closed due to the shutdown, and are new spaces being created? Are the pre-pandemic contracts and agreements going to be in effect going forward? Will safety precautions be required, and will they increase costs?

Companies are encouraged to talk about their experiences with shutdown and their plans for reopening, with a particular focus on finding solutions to any obstacles holding them back. This initiative will be an opportunity for companies to learn from each other while TRU explores programs that might better serve the community. Though we will focus on not-for-profit and fiscally sponsored companies, all companies struggling to return to live performance are welcome to participate in this crucial conversation.

"This is going back to our roots - we started 28 years ago serving mostly small theater companies," states TRU executive director Bob Ost. "Over the years we have grown and expanded our community to include commercial producers and self-Producing Artists. I think this is the time to bring back a focus on emerging theater companies, and even established companies that might benefit from support during this period of possible reopening."

TRU will continue to host their Community Gatherings every Friday at 4:30pm ET via Zoom, to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19. These crucial conversations will continue going forward as theater reopens. Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU's YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.

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