Bated Breath Theatre Company

LETTER FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 

"OUR SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE"

Dear Friends, 

Every year I write a Giving Tuesday letter about supporting Bated Breath. This year my ask comes with significant urgency. Look around at the landscape of theater in this country. Theaters are closing everywhere, shows are closing early or are poorly attended, the institutional funding for our work has dwindled. Theater in our country is in a very precarious position. 

Bated Breath is no different. Our primary source of funding is sunsetting and our financial stability is at risk. During the darkest times of the pandemic, when all other theaters were shuttered, we made live theatre safely. We've built our reputation on our resilience. And, we have more one-of-a-kind theater experiences in the hopper. However, if we don't raise some serious dollars within the next couple of months, we too may have to close our doors. 

I'm proud that we've been able to come up with different models of how to boost ticket sales and still do theater on a shoestring budget. One example of this is our show Voyeur: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec which became the longest running, pandemic-friendly show in New York City. Countless audience members told us that we got them through the longest hours of the pandemic because they could look out their window and see that live art was still filling the streets of New York. When other theater companies furloughed employees and did not mount a production for over a year, Bated Breath put over 34 theater artists back to work in 2020. Will Gleason of Time Out said, "Lieberman is reimagining what-and where-a theatre can be." 

With your help, Bated Breath can have a bright future. In addition to bringing new theatrical pieces to life, we want to expand our devising/physical theatre training offerings. We have two audience participatory plays in process, and I am excited about my current adaptation of the New York Times #1 bestselling book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by author Susan Cain. We did some early devising last year with Bated Breath actors and are hoping to enter the workshop and production phase soon. When describing the play Susan Cain says, "This is the play that will show us how to love in these dark times."

I'm excited for the future ahead and hope that we have the capacity to continue to demonstrate that a combination of resilience and artistic excellence can result in unforgettable theater in unexpected places. But, we can't do it without you. Please consider donating and please tell your friends about us. 

Wishing you the best over the holidays,

Mara Lieberman 

Executive Artistic Director 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

For more info, visit Batedbreaththeatre.org