Arena Stage announced on Saturday, March 28th that it will temporarily furlough the majority of its staff starting on April 13th. 88 employees will be furloughed at that time. Furloughed employees will receive fully paid health benefits.
As previously announced, because of the ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, Arena Stage has suspended all remaining performances for its 2019/20 Season, as well as select special events and community engagement programs.
“It is with deep regret and sadness that we have temporarily furloughed much of our staff because of the cancellation of the remainder of our 2019/20 Season. We need the help of our patrons and supporters to weather this crisis and stabilize our beautiful organization,” said Executive Producer Edgar Dobie. “We look forward to welcoming staff back as soon as we can.”
Arena Stage is mounting an emergency relief campaign, the Roaring Back Fund, to address its lost revenue, sunk expenses and on-going operating costs.
Productions of Celia and Fidel, August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and Toni Stone have been postponed to the 2020/21 Season. Arena has made a variety of options available for current ticket buyers. These options include transferring tickets to the 2020/21 Season, donating tickets for a tax deduction, exchanging tickets, applying the amount towards a gift certificate or requesting a refund. Arena staff will be working remotely through at least April 24 and the sales office team can be reached at [email protected], by calling (202) 488-3300 and online at arenastage.org.
But you can see the Arena Theatre’s production of the Sullivan adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984.” which opened the night before the theatre closed for the season! With special permission from Actor’s Equity audiences can purchase tickets and see the play online. https://www.alleytheatre.org/1984video