When back in March we had to cancel our summer season, we felt the one-two punch of the loss of most of our revenue along with the art itself, as did every theatre nationwide. Our passion is sharing and illuminating artistic beauty through live, professional theatre, and creating with this community the sense of connectedness and belonging that gathering together in a theatre makes possible.
Even with a smaller staff, we pivoted, conducting a successful live streamed Gala, chock full of Broadway performances, with a larger and more diverse audience due to its broader accessibility than our usual in-person event. We shifted to At Home with PSF programming, featuring actors sharing Shakespeare’s brilliance, video interviews with favorite artists, insightful articles from our staff and artists, resources from around the web, and other inspiring content. We recommitted, and deepened our commitment, to combatting racism and to doing our part to create a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world. We moved forward with our annual Young Company Shakespeare Project, which promotes the creative and professional development of these young artists. And we planned for the future.
We’ve been in deep listening mode regarding the science around this virus, and we’ve been in deep conversation with other theatres as well as artists, staff, unions, and service organizations in our field about what reopening will look like. We are examining and envisioning a variety of scenarios for Season 2021, our 30th. Whatever the process and the timing, we will reopen.
“If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.” ~ Hamlet
If you sponsored this summer, made a gift at Gala, donated back your tickets, or otherwise supported PSF through this unprecedented time, please accept our sincerest thanks. Your support has sustained PSF through these extraordinary months and strengthened our ability to prepare for a bright future of continued, meaningful service to this community.
And “in the closing of some glorious day” when we do reopen, we look forward to sharing in that great celebration with you.
Patrick Mulcahy
Producing Artistic Director