Exclusive: A.R.T./NY Shares Findings on Changes in Workforce in HEALTH + WEALTH Report
The report highlights struggles and successes for off-Broadway theatre companies.
By: Team BWW May. 26, 2025
In early May, A.R.T./NY released a first-of-its-kind research publication about the state of the New York City theatre field, called Health + Wealth, Empowering Theatremakers Through Data. This is the second in a series of features from Talia Corren and Risa Shoup, A.R.T./NY’s Co-Executive Directors, highlighting key themes from the report. Read the first article in the series for the topline takeaways.
Be sure to read the full Health + Wealth report for a dose of courage and big ideas about the future of the theater field.
Dear Friends,
As we mentioned in the first article in this series, the Health + Wealth report was produced because we were hungry for evidence that would shine more light on the needs, opportunities, and challenges of our theater community. We are called to transform our field, and this report is an invitation - to every one of us - to catalyze new approaches and reinvent the ways we work.
This week, we’re sharing what we learned about the people who power our field. We are keenly aware that we are living through seismic shifts in labor, workforce, and leadership – and while these transitions can be destabilizing, they are also opportunities for transformation. Our observations are grounded in survey data about the past few years, but our eyes are focused on the horizon.
We invite a radical transformation of existing structures and systems that will bring us the field we deserve, supported by new ways of working.
We hope you’ll join us in this journey.
Yours in solidarity,
Talia & Risa
P.S.
Check back next week to explore our chapter on that persistent New York concern… space and real estate!
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About the data Our survey explored the financial well-being of non-profit theatrical organizations in New York City change between 2019 and 2023. Our partners at SMU DataArts analyzed the data from different angles, looking for trends based on budget size, whether a company rented or owned space, and the kind of community it served. We also explored programming trends. We gathered data about the years 2019, 2022, and 2023. This allowed us to compare one pre-pandemic year with two years into the recovery and post-pandemic Period. We did not gather data from the pandemic period itself, given challenges in reporting and other operational disruptions. The full report delves into the methodology. |
WORKFORCE & LEADERSHIP
To understand the circumstances faced by the theatre field’s workforce, we must begin by thinking about resources. The first chapter of Health + Wealth dives into the resource challenges we face and calls for more resources in the form of sustained, unrestricted, and multi-year investments. Learn more here or check out the full report at the link above. Stable, multi-year general operating support is essential to creating sustainable careers, organizational resilience, and the conditions for an equitable field.
Our data shows a shifting workforce: companies increased headcounts when COVID-19 relief funding became available, but they tended to hire more part-time and contract workers.
PAID VS. UNPAID LABOR
We asked individual workers how much time they spend doing theatre work, as well as how much of their income comes from theatre. We found, unsurprisingly, that 63% of people invest more time in the field than they are compensated for - in many cases, much more. And nearly half earn less than 10% of their income from theatre.
EMBRACING ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
The financial instability experienced by companies and individual workers has real impacts on the wellbeing of practitioners and curtails the ability of companies to run effectively. We envision a field in which organizations and artists can build sustainable careers with living wages, balancing flexibility with stability. In order to enable this, organizations must be supported in to face the need for transformation head-on, embracing opportunities to.
We will be launching new programs to support workforce sustainability and strategic transformation, and we call for funders and theatremakers alike to join us in testing new organizational models.
Read the report to learn more about the bottom line for theatre companies and - most importantly - our vision for transformation towards a sustainable field and sustainable livelihoods for theatremakers. And contact us to join in this effort. Email Talia or Email Risa.
We’ll be back next week with highlights from findings on space and real estate.
This project was made possible through lead funding from the Booth Ferris Foundation and was undertaken in partnership with Skeleton Key Strategies and SMU DataArts, the National Center for Arts Research.
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