I only know one side of the story, basically what Roxanna Conner told me and what I read in the news, i. e., Chris Jones' articles in the Tribune and Kerry Reid's article in the Chicago Reader. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I understand the entire situation.
Such a tragedy and what an unconscionable handling of the situation by the board, some of whom (I'm not sure how many) are people of color!
My partner and I began seeing shows at Victory Gardens in 2010. Since then such plays as Tree, Appropriate, Cocked, A Wonder in My Soul, Native Gardens, Pipeline, The First Deep Breath, and finally cullud wattah, which was programmed by Ken Matt-Martin -- no theatre group in Chicago can match that record of introducing new works of African-American playwrights to Chicago audiences, not Steppenwolf, not Goodman, and not Court Theatre. It's such an unnecessary loss for the theatre community in Chicago. |