Soho Rep. to Close Walkerspace After 25 Years

By: Sep. 28, 2016
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In Spring 2016, Soho Rep. began to plan for a capital campaign for a permanent home in New York City. The organization began to renegotiate an interim extension lease for their current venue, at 46 Walker Street, to explore the option of purchasing the same venue where Soho Rep has staged its productions since 1991, and to examine other alternatives for its facility needs.

As part of that exploration, Soho Rep. recently learned that the usage authorized by the City when the company first moved into the building 25 years ago does not align with the current operations in the space.

On September 28, Soho Rep.'s Board of Directors met to review possible courses of actions, including altering the physical venue. They determined that the necessary renovations and administration would be cost and time-prohibitive.

With this new understanding, the Board of Directors and leadership staff have decided that it is no longer in the best interest of the company's artists and audiences to renew their lease, which was set to expire in March 2017, and to close the theater at 46 Walker Street immediately.

The 2016-17 Soho Rep. season will continue as scheduled, with performances of Daniel Alexander Jones' Duat taking place, as planned, at The Connelly Theater, October 11 - November 6. Soho Rep will announce a location for its Spring 2017 production, Richard Maxwell's Samara, soon.

Soho Rep. is working with All For One Theater, to find a new home for Gideon Irving's My Name is Gideon. All For One Theater had rented 46 Walker Street for their production that was set to begin performances in the space on Thursday.

Founded in 1975, Soho Rep. has built an outstanding reputation for being at the forefront of new and innovative theater, serving as a vital center for Contemporary Theatre artists.

Soho Rep. is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays, performing to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over half aged 18-40.

In 2014, Soho Rep. was honored with a Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement. Over the last decade, Soho Rep. productions have garnered 18 OBIE Awards; the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical; 13 Drama Desk nominations, two Kesselring Awards, The New York Times Outstanding Playwriting Award for Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles To Silverlake and, a special citation in The New York Drama Critics' Circle's 2012-13 awards. In recent years, Soho Rep. has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as David Adjmi, Annie Baker, Alice Birch, Lucas Hnath, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Sarah Kane, debbie tucker green, Young Jean Lee, Nature Theater of Oklahoma and Anne Washburn.



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