By: Ethan Ding

The storefront space in Lower Manhattan where Soho Rep, a well-regarded Off– Off Broadway nonprofit, has been staging work for nearly three decades, on June 28, 2023. They will be moving in temporarily with Playwright Horizons,  another theater in New York.

Soho Rep, the theater company that has been in a black box on Walker Street for 30 years, will be moving in January. They’ll share space with Playwrights Horizons on 42nd and Ninth. The new arrangement is a multi-year partnership, and Soho Rep will use Playwrights’ 128-seat Sharp Theater andas well as another nontraditional space somewhere in the city over the next two to three seasons.

The move was prompted by real estate constraints andalso by fiscal concerns and comes at the same time that Second Stage Theater, is saying goodbye to its Off-Broadway home. Second Stage is planning to reside with Signature Theater temporarilyto temporarily reside with Signature Theater.

*“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,” said Adam Greenfield, the artistic director of Playwrights Horizons.

“New approaches to how theaters work have become a mandate.”

Soho Rep plans to have two of their three shows each season, maybe for 2-3, in Playwright Horizons’ 128-seat theater.

*Soho Rep will find other venues for its other shows as it tries to consider where it wants to be long-term. “We want to approach this as an opportunity to experiment,” Hammons said.

The theater’s leaders said they are open to remaining in Lower Manhattan. But there are factors beyond their control. TribecaTriBeCa, for example, has become one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

 “We would love to continue to be a part of a downtown arts and culture scene,” Flowers said. “The question we’ll explore is, ‘Is that possible?”