New York City’s Public Theater Lays Off 19% of Staff

One of America’s best-known and storied non-profit theaters, the Public in New York City, laid off 19 percent of its staff Thursday. The New York Times reported that the cuts meant around 50 staff lost their jobs. The Public, which originated massive theatrical successes like Hamilton, will cut the number of shows it programs next year. The theater’s “Shakespeare in the Park” productions will not take place next year as its venue, the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, will be undergoing renovations. Its most recent Broadway transfer, David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, opens next week. “The economic headwinds that are attacking the American theater are attacking us, too,” Oskar Eustis, the theater’s artistic director, told the Times. “Our audience is down by about 30%, we have expenses up anywhere from 30 to 45%, and we have kept our donor base, but it’s static. Put that all together, and you get budget shortfalls—big budget shortfalls.”