New Repertory Theatre in Watertown is closing
After four decades as a mainstay of the Boston-area theater scene, New Repertory Theatre is ringing down the curtain.
In a statement Wednesday morning, New Rep’s leaders said that “fundraising with major donors has fallen short of the theater’s goals for a sustainable path,” and consequently the board has begun the process of “formally dissolving the organization.”
The closing of a company with the kind of high profile New Rep has is likely to send shock waves through the Greater Boston theater community. But a lot of theater artists and leaders have been waiting for this particular shoe to drop at one theater or another. Many other regional theaters are grappling with similar issues, and New Rep may not be the last casualty.
According to the company’s statement: “New Rep takes great satisfaction in its history and in particular the 2023 season, however it is subject to the same converging realities that have impacted so many theater companies throughout the country: post-pandemic economics, changes in the philanthropic landscape, challenges with the business model of regional theaters, and other factors beyond its control, along with the ending of emergency Federal support for the performing arts.”
A midsize theater based in Watertown, New Rep had recently presented an acclaimed production of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and the premiere of Phaedra Michelle Scott’s “DIASPORA!” In June and July, the theater staged a first-rate production of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart,” a searing drama about a firebrand activist’s attempt to sound the alarm about AIDS, set in New York City in the early 1980s.
During the lengthy theater shutdown caused by COVID-19, New Rep took steps to reinvent itself in terms of leadership and programming, attempting to innovate its way out of a crisis.
Rather than the traditional regional theater model of leadership headed by an artistic director and a managing director, New Rep appointed a team of “resident artists” that included writer-producer-director Lois Roach, actor Maria Hendricks, and actor-playwright Michael Hisamoto.
And rather than program a season that began in September and ended in May and consisted of roughly half a dozen plays or musicals, New Rep focused on smaller-scale forms of live performance, including musical, dance, and storytelling events, often with short runs.
The goal, according to the theater, was “inclusion and diversity and a collaborative process centered on new work, new voices, and creative programming” that included “collaborative community performances.”
Founded in 1984, New Rep has experienced turnover at the top in recent years. After seven years as artistic director, Jim Petosa stepped down at the end of New Rep’s season in 2019. Michael J. Bobbitt was chosen to replace him, but in December 2020 Bobbitt was named executive director of the Mass Cultural Council.