A WORD (or more) FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, GENEVIEVE DE MAHY

Hello! Glad you are here you curious cat!

Our Impact Report is complete and now available for free download. Celebrating the 16 year history of Single Carrot Theatre, the impact report also dives into the challenges facing the industry. Learn more about it HERE

We have continued our education programs through the 22/2023 School Year. We are about to make a big announcement about the future of Single Carrot’s education programs!

A Note From January 2023

Hi!

You are here because you want to know more about Single Carrot’s closing. If you’re here out of love, or because you want the tea, or because you’re staring at your screen still wondering “But really, what happened?” Welcome! You’re in the right place. Over the next few months, we will share more in depth information and perspectives about Single Carrot’s journey here. 

At this current moment, with low staff capacity and the tremendous effort required to responsibly close down an organization, we have not been able to fully put together all of our thoughts yet.  This is just the start of our conversation. We want to answer initial questions and will continue to update this page as we go. 

Furthermore, as we continue to unpack and unfold our history, there will surely be more that will surface. And we know that’s still only the half of it and that this story is not only ours. There will be many more perspectives shared over coffee and beers, on phone calls with family, on social media posts, in job interviews, and in therapy through the many lenses of the people experiencing it. All are valid, and as artists we know that with any good story, there are many layers. 

Okay, okay, but WHY is Single Carrot closing?

This decision was made thoughtfully and with comprehensive discussion between our board, ensemble and staff. In recent months, the board and ensemble was already planning for my internally announced departure as Artistic Director and planning a transition away from a founder-led model. This also coincided with our Executive Director, Emily Cory being recruited to work in another sector. The theatre industry has seen a wave of leadership transitions over the last two years, which you can read more about in the articles about below. More recently, SCT has been buffeted by a confluence of challenges, each of which on their own could be overcome, but together makes it impossible for a theater of our size to continue in a way that truly serves and is responsible to its people and its community. 

These include:

  • The theater industry’s reckoning with the reliance on human capital (undervalued and unpaid labor) and the collective refusal to allow that structure to continue. 

  • Staffing shortages and the difficulty of hiring key positions post pandemic has led to maxed out capacity of existing staff leading to burnout. As a result, SCT has not been able to adequately support the artists we employ. We were sadly forced to cancel BLKS and will subsequently have to cancel Dance Nation.

  • The (rightful and just) rising cost of human capacity, both in terms of artist time and staff. We could not offer fair compensation to bring in artists and staff members and keep them, despite our significant efforts over the last 4 years to do so.

  • Limited institutional philanthropic investment in building operational and artistic sustainability in small, local organizations. (And thank you so much to those who do!)

Articles for more reading

Leadership Exits

Why are So Many Bay Area Theatre Leaders Leaving Their Jobs, San Francisco Chronicle

Multiple High Profile Leadership Departures, Broadway World

COVID & Audience Return

Study Finds Covid Concerns Still Deterring Audiences, American Theatre Magazine
Regional Theatres Struggle to Recover from Covid Closures, NPR Marketplace