An Update on our 21-22 Mainstage Season
A LETTER FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Dear friends,
I’m writing you today with an update regarding our 21-22 MainStage Season. All of us at Theatre Lab were eagerly looking forward to beginning rehearsals this week for our world premiere production of Last Night In Inwood by Alix Sobler. As you are probably aware, the recent developments with the Omicron variant have caused multiple theaters - both locally and nationally - to postpone or cancel their productions.
Late last month, we made the difficult choice to postpone our annual New Play Festival specifically to provide us time, space, and some extra protection prior to the start of our rehearsals for the upcoming world premiere. We knew that, even with cautious mitigation strategies in place, there was always a chance that the process or production could be disrupted due to surging case numbers around the country. We were prepared to take that risk and to adapt and respond to whatever came our way. We hoped that by keeping our production “bubble”, we could navigate the next few weeks of rehearsal and that, as many scientists believe, the case numbers would begin to decline during that time - allowing us to open the show in early February.
Last week, however, a series of unfortunate and unexpected developments derailed those efforts. It became clear that we would not be able to start rehearsals as scheduled.
As a company dedicated to new work, it is our responsibility to provide a playwright with our most focused and full effort - particularly when we are given the privilege of breathing the first life into a play with a world premiere production. Every rehearsal process involves a complex grid of scheduling with multiple moving pieces that must come together at the right time in order to make the production possible. Any disruption or delay in the process creates not only a significant financial risk, but, more importantly, a risk to the artistic integrity of the production. And that risk is an unacceptable one.
It is, for this reason, that we have decided to postpone our upcoming production and reschedule for a time when we can give the play the attention, care, and artistry it deserves.
In an effort to cause as little disruption to the remainder of our season, we are not changing the previously announced dates for the following production, another world premiere, Overactive Letdown by Gina Montét. We are examining the calendar for the best possible options for the new dates for Last Night In Inwood and will share them with you as soon as we have them finalized.
In the meantime, the box office will begin processing refunds for all advance ticket sales for Last Night In Inwood. This will include a partial refund to season ticket subscriptions. The remainder of the season will go forward as planned and you have my absolute assurance that we will, someday in the near future, be enjoying a full production of Alix Sobler’s wonderful new play, Last Night In Inwood.
As you can imagine, this has been an incredibly difficult decision, but I do believe it is the right one for the company, the community, and, most importantly, the play itself. Please stay healthy and well and I look forward to welcoming you back to The Lab in March.
Sincerely,
Matt Stabile
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