Soho Rep. Announces Return To Walker Street for 2018 Season

Soho Rep. is pleased to announce an anticipated return to 46 Walker Street for the 2018 season. The storefront venue, which was closed in September 2016, has been Soho Rep.'s artistic home since 1991 and where it has produced such notable works as Sarah Kane's Blasted, Annie Baker's Uncle Vanya, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, among others.

"When we closed our space in the fall, the prospect of ever returning seemed impossible," said Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson. "Given the anticipated legal, administrative and construction costs for a company of our small size, the task felt Sisyphean. In that moment of despair, Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin called me expressing her sympathies and her desire for Lower Manhattan to not lose another cultural venue. With the advocacy and guidance of the Commissioner and with the additional help of the Department of Buildings, our return to Walker Street became a real possibility. Since that momentous phone call, we've fundraised and assembled a team to design and implement necessary renovations."

"When I heard that Soho Rep. was as closing its Walker Street theater, I refused to believe that there was nothing that could be done," says Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin. "I strongly believe that artistic institutions like Soho Rep. are the lifeblood of New York City and that government can and does play a role in enabling them to survive and flourish. I called the Department of Buildings and arranged for Commissioner Rick Chandler to tour the Walker Street site with me to see what could be done. He issued a list of what they would have to do to be in compliance. I am so pleased to have played a role in a great theater company's new lease on life."

"Soho Rep. is a vital part of New York City culture - and the neighborhood," said Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler, PE. "When Commissioner Menin told me about the problems with Soho Rep's building, we convened a team from our Manhattan office to explain the process of bringing their theater up to code. I'm optimistic about the future of this great New York institution and I look forward to seeing Soho Rep's doors open once again."

With the guidance of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and the cooperation of the Department of Buildings, Soho Rep. is now pursuing renovations to the storefront property that will allow the non-profit theater company to secure a current certificate of occupancy.

Soho Rep. is also finalizing a lease extension through 2022 and will continue to search for a permanent home in New York City.

Soho Rep. has launched a $500,000 fundraising campaign, of which $305,000 has been raised through the company's Board of Directors, who have pledged 100% participation in the campaign, as well as individual and institutional funders, including leading gifts by Barry R. Feirstein, Jim and Laura Pizzo, Caryl Ratner, John Adrian Selzer. The campaign supports estimated renovation costs, along with the costs of producing the company's work off-site this season and the loss of significant sub-rental income-a key component of Soho Rep.'s annual budget.

"Soho Rep.'s staff and board are grateful for all of the support we've received from the community thus far," said Benson. "We are eager to return to our home on Walker Street and continue producing the new work of extraordinary, adventurous playwrights, directors and designers in a space that's been such an important part of our work over the past 25 years."

About Soho Rep.

Soho Rep. is a leading hub for innovative contemporary theater in New York City. We are dedicated to artistic excellence by supporting distinctive, diverse, and pioneering theater. We empower artists to make their boldest work and invite audiences to share in that intimate and transformative live experience. Soho Rep. creates a dynamic context for both artists and audiences that promotes and sustains conversation in the field and the cultural fabric of the city.

Soho Rep. is a very big, small theater. We have five full-time staff members, and our annual budget is $1.6M. At the same time, our outstanding reputation and recent accomplishments far exceed the size of our company.

Soho Rep. was honored with a 2014 Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement citing "nearly four decades of artistic distinction, innovative production, and provocative play selection," and we were named The Village Voice's 2015 Best Off Broadway Theater. Our productions have been recognized with 18 OBIE Awards; the 2016 Lucile Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical for César Alvarez and The Lisps' FUTURITY; nine Drama Desk nominations; two Kesselring Awards; and The New York Times Outstanding Playwriting Award for Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles to Silverlake. In 2016, Artistic Director Sarah Benson was also named one of three recipients of the prestigious Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Theatre.

Many of our most acclaimed productions have been Soho Rep. commissions, were generated in the Writer/ Director Lab, and/ or developed in weeklong Studio workshops. They include: Annie Baker's Uncle Vanya, David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, Anne Washburn's 10 out of 12, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, which transferred to Theatre for A New Audience's 299-seat space in 2015.

About the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment encompasses the key economic and creative sectors of film, TV, theater, music, advertising, publishing, digital content and real estate as it relates to these industries. In total, these sectors account for over 305,000 jobs, and an economic output of $104 billion. The office promotes New York City as a thriving center of creativity, issuing permits for productions filming on public property, and facilitating production throughout the five boroughs. It also oversees NYC Media, the largest municipal broadcasting entity in the country including five TV Stations and a radio station with a reach of 18 million households and a 50-mile radius.

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