Fall 2023

New York Times, July 24, 2023: Theater in America is Facing a Crisis as Many Stages Go Dark
New York Times, August 29, 2023: Hitting Theater Hard: The Loss of Subscribers Who Went to Everything

Dear Friends of the Mountain Play,

Something is happening to theater in America.

Unprecedented. We’ve heard that a lot lately, but it accurately describes the multitude of pressures theaters face today. This is not normal. It is also endemic. Theater companies are threatened across our entire country, in small towns and large cities. One of the articles highlighted above suggested we may be headed for a time when regional and amateur theaters die away, leaving us with just Broadway and Broadway touring company productions.

We can’t let that happen.

Over the last century or so, — 110 years if we’re counting — the Mountain Play has faced wave after wave of challenges – war, pandemic, extreme weather, and always, ever-rising costs. Miraculously, our little nonprofit theatre survived two pandemic years with no earned revenue – and came back singing. We’re proud of our last two seasons. Proud of proving that our organization is lean and nimble enough to come back after two dark years and pull off three award-winning productions while meeting or surpassing industry standards for artist labor costs. We pulled it off with the scarcest of resources and despite relentless hardships. Many more hardships than these:

  • New California labor laws significantly increased payroll costs and impacted staff time.
  • Transportation costs doubled (something most theaters don’t have in their budget).
  • COVID canceled in-person fundraising events and some performances.
  • Deep in a severe drought, a bizarre June storm canceled a performance.
  • And despite rave reviews, some audiences were still not ready to return to live theater.

We hope you are proud of the century-old community tradition the Mountain Play provides. We sincerely do this extraordinary thing for you. And for your children. And your grandchildren.

We believe this incredible story isn’t over yet. We want to make it to our 111th season this spring, and we are counting on you – our community of supporters – to step up with urgency. This is not a drill. Theaters are in danger. Mountain Play is threatened. Please make a stretch gift today.

We can’t do it without you. With your support — and a little luck with the weather — Mountain Play will be celebrating the renewal of our tradition and rebuilding the foundation to support our production of Kinky Boots in spring 2024.

With grateful thanks for your generous investment in Mountain Play’s future,

Eileen Grady

Executive Director and Artistic Producer