Work Stoppage — Statement of Support

We, the now-former resident artists of Victory Gardens Theater, applaud the bravery of the Victory Gardens staff in risking their livelihoods by publicly calling for the Board of Directors to resign. We gratefully and enthusiastically support their call for theater workers in Chicago and across the country to vow not to accept new contracts at Victory Gardens after July 18th unless and until this board resigns.

Harmful practices pervade the theater industry because people in power believe that if an artist, technician or administrator isn’t willing to endure abuse and mistreatment, they can easily be replaced because someone is always willing to be “next in line.” With our full-throated support of the staff’s petition, we invite our colleagues to join us in proving them wrong by demonstrating that the Board’s refusal to resign will result in Victory Gardens losing access to the finest theater workers in Chicago, and nationwide.

A theater’s lifeblood isn’t its Board of Directors; it is the workers who animate the building, from the stage, to back of house, to the administrative offices. Without theater workers, this board will only govern an empty box.

Join us by signing and amplifying their petition for the Board’s resignation here.

In solidarity,

Lili-Anne Brown, Resident Director

Marisa Carr, Ensemble Playwright

Keelay Gipson, Ensemble Playwright

isaac gómez, Ensemble Playwright

Jess McLeod, Resident Director

Stacey Rose, Ensemble Playwright