By: Matthew Wang
The prestigious theater company Soho Rep plans to leave its current venue at 46 Walker St, New York, moving in with a similar company Playwrights Horizons due to rising rent and costs and a shaky future after the COVID pandemic.
Soho Rep cited rising rent prices and building repairs for its decision to leave its current location, choosing to stay with a different theater company Playwrights Horizons for the time being.
Soho Rep, despite its innovation in being the first to offer plays such as “Fairview”, a Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama, and“Public Obscenities”, a Pulitzer Finalist, is still a relatively small nonprofit, with a reported budget of only 2.8 million USD and only 5 full time employees according to The New York Times.
Still suffering the effects of the COVID pandemic, the theatre along with several other groups, had been struggling to keep its doors open. In addition, its current venue has proved to be too small, only seating 65 people, to keep up with rising costs, resulting in deficits even with its reportedly highly successful and well reviewed shows.
Playwrights Horizons is a similar establishment which was also hit hard by the pandemic, also experiencing deficits during the last season. The two companies found quick partners with each other, with Playwrights Horizons having shared its 128 seat theater with a different company the previous season.
This latest move follows those of several other similar companies. According to The New York Times, Second Stage Theater and Long Wharf Theater, two other prestigious East Coast theater companies, are among the companies moving out of their previous homes due to the financial stress after the pandemic. As property prices continue to hike and theaters still recover after 3 years of limited viability, many are opting to simply leave for cheaper theaters to survive.
However, Soho Rep isn’t leaving its venue without a bang. According to The New York Times, “Soho Rep plans to stage one final show at its current home, at 46 Walker Street, this fall, “Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!,” This show will be a collaboration between the performance artist Alina Troyano and Jacobs-Jenkins, who won a Tony Award this year for ‘Appropriate.’
As the post COVID pandemic aftermath continues to settle down, it will be for the future to tell the place of in person theaters. However, as of now, theaters have no choice but to re-evaluate their strategies to keep their rising costs low. According to Adam Greenfield, Artistic Director at Playwrights Horizons, “It shouldn’t be news to anyone that nonprofit theaters are struggling acutely, and the costs of maintaining a theater company, even at a significantly reduced scale, are skyrocketing.” Soha Rep also stated plans to move back if possible, as these companies begin to recover from the pandemic years.