U.S. theatre is struggling right now, much more so than in other countries where government support for the arts is strong. Jeremy O. Harris, writer of Slave Play, has written a heartfelt, convincing plea for WPA-style relief for the theater industry. He starts with an anecdote about telling an NYC cabbie that he’s a playwright by trade.
“When I told him I’m a playwright, he looked back at me with true pity. ‘I feel for you people. I’m real poor on money right now, like most cab drivers, but at least I can work … for hospitality and the arts it’s like the light just got turned off. It ain’t right.’”