Echo Theater Company Responds to GHOST LIGHT Playwright's Allegations

Echo Theater Company artistic director Chris Fields has issued a statement in response to what the company says are false and defamatory allegations made by playwright Tommy Smith to the press and on other media.

According to Fields, Tommy Smith has made false claims in an email, on social media and in interviews with journalists, that The Echo Theater Company presented his play, GHOST LIGHT, without permission.

The statement by Chris Fields follows:

"Tommy Smith made false claims that The Echo Theater Company performed his play without permission.

"The Echo has a contract signed by Tommy Smith on June 18th of this year, as well as a canceled check, proving that he gave us the rights to present his play for twelve performances and that Mr. Smith was paid in full. (We are attaching copies of the contract and check.)

"After four performances of the twelve, Tommy Smith asked for more money, although he had already signed a contract for a set amount. The Echo agreed to give him more money, but he tried to renegotiate his deal. When we were unable to reach agreement on all points, the Echo canceled the remaining performances of Mr. Smith's play, although we had every right, contractually, to continue the remaining performances pursuant to our agreement. Tommy Smith then went to the press and social media calling for a boycott of his (canceled) play while making a series of patently false allegations.

"Tommy Smith falsely claimed that the Echo had no right to perform the play, ignoring the contract that he signed. Mr. Smith claimed that he was not paid, and that the play was 'stolen' from him. Apparently, Mr. Smith forgot that he had been paid and cashed the check. In what can only be viewed as some sort of grandiose play for attention, Mr. Smith asked people to boycott the play, even though he knew that the Echo had already canceled the remaining performances, leaving no performances to boycott. Mr. Smith even had the temerity to assert that the Echo attempted to claim authorial control, and that we did not include him in the rehearsal or production process. This is ludicrous and patently untrue. In fact, Mr. Smith's statements constitute actionable defamation under California law.

"In the face of these shocking and false claims, The Echo sought a retraction in discussions with Mr. Smith's agent. Our initial preference was not to add more fuel to the fire by commenting in public and to try to work this out between us. Yesterday, his agent told us 'to direct all further correspondence to Tommy Smith directly.' We emailed Mr. Smith and he wrote back that 'any further messages to this email will be unread and automatically responded to with pictures of cats.' Since Tommy rejected the opportunity to issue a retraction, we are now compelled to share the documentary evidence showing that his claims are grotesque lies.

"The Echo Theater Company deeply regrets the end of a long and fruitful relationship with Tommy Smith. Our productions of his plays garnered five LADCC Awards, ten StageSceneLA 'Scenies,' an Ovation Award and a current Ovation Award nomination. We develop, commission, and despite our meager resources, produce new works that consistently win awards and critical acclaim. We could not do this without the inspired artists whose trust and words we cherish. Until this recent inexplicable incident, we felt that way about Tommy Smith. In fact, you could say that we've been his champion and benefactor in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, we now only find ourselves baffled by his ingratitude and defamation."

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