ATCA Statement of Support for Arts and Theater Organizations

ATCA Statement of Support for Arts and Theater Organizations

In the past few months, there has been a disturbing number of actions taken at the behest of the current presidential administration solely for the purpose of silencing dissenting voices. While these actions have impacted all members of a free society, within the theater ecosystem, the actions taken against the National Endowment for the Arts, established by Congress in 1965, have been devastating.

In all corners of the theater world, the gutting of this agency has had far-reaching repercussions, ripping away needed funds from productions, many of which were in progress and just days away from welcoming their first audiences.

Storytelling in communal spaces is not just one of life’s simple pleasures but is a necessary part of a free-thinking society. Through the power of storytelling, we can witness the innermost parts of our souls and see all that is good and bad within the human experience.

Much of that scrutiny is fairly applied to the nation we live in. Dissent and criticism are not valued in societies that attempt to implement an authoritarian playbook. As members of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association, we gather together to observe that today’s zeitgeist is undermining and threatening the essential role of theater in personal, cultural, and community lives. Not only do we have a responsibility to stand side-by-side with our community’s theatrical institutions, but we must also use our voices to say the actions against those same institutions are unacceptable.

— American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association Executive Committee, June 4, 2025