BoHo Theatre says goodbye
It was announced last week that after 19 years, BoHo Theatre would be closing for good. BoHo’s production of National Merit marked their return to in-person audiences last year, as well as my own return to live theatre. From that first production, I fell in love with what BoHo was doing for the Chicago theatre scene, I fully believed that they were an integral and necessary entity, I kept tabs on what they were doing next and I even joined the board of directors. After working in theatre for years, I knew that pay equity was hard to come by, that most everyone I knew had side gigs apart from their full-time arts administrative roles or artistic endeavors. BoHo, a once volunteer only company, attempted to make their pay match the production value. They wanted their artists and administrators to be paid fairly for the level of work that was needed, the quality of work they wanted to do. They faced a hurtle that sadly ended up being too tall. I spoke with BoHo Theatre’s Board President, Nancy Bullock, about what the process of closing BoHo Theatre has been like, what is next, and what made BoHo Theatre an asset to Chicago.
Q. It was announced Thursday, May 25 that BoHo Theatre was shuttering after 19 seasons. You've served on the board for almost a decade now. After fighting the good fight for so long, what has the experience been like to say farewell.
A. It has been very difficult for me personally, but very carefully thought out. We explored a variety of avenues, so while I am sad and also somewhat personally exhausted, I do not have any regrets, as we really did not come to this decision easily or quickly. My own process in saying a final farewell will take some time and reflection. It is certainly not a quick process to navigate - there are things we could have done differently in retrospect, but we were operating in the current environment we were in. I believe in seasons for everything and a 19 year run was a very good season. And I am starting by celebrating that.
Q. One of the factors in deciding to close BoHo Theatre was being able to pay employees, casts and production teams fair and livable wages. This is not a problem that is special to BoHo, it is something that is suffered by artists across the nation. What are the steps that communities and beyond can take to make sure that artists receive pay allows them to thrive?
A. Great question. Creating BoHo Theatre to be a totally volunteer, non-paid theatrical organization does seem very outdated at this point in time. However, 20 years ago, this was not that unusual for actors and directors to get their start without compensation.
What we have lived through is the unsustainability of that theatrical business model in 2023. Communities need to address these issues through grants and arts funding budgets and also a realization from local theatre patrons that $17 is not a realistic ticket price. Enjoying art is an investment and costs money. To think that everything is discounted just because you are a non-equity company is outdated thinking. Producing theatre costs real money. Enjoying and supporting that art costs real money. We need to have hard conversations in our communities about the value of the arts. We also need to have corporations and business entities realize that a healthy arts environment in a community, with their support, brings in great employees, families and people who can help their companies thrive.
Q. There was something really special about BoHo, the theatre, the people, the work radiated positivity and inclusion. Even in BoHo Theatre's Artistic Director, Elizabeth Swanson's farewell letter this sentiment rang true. From your own perspective after being a part of the BoHo's family and a part of the Chicago Theatre community as a whole, what made a safe haven, a welcoming home base, and an accessible space for all?
A. Wow. When I joined the Board of Boho, I didn't really appreciate at the beginning that what you have stated was NOT the norm for smaller theatre companies in Chicago. From the moment I joined BoHo, I knew that the value of the actors was as important as the value of the production. And that made total sense to me as an amatuer artisit myself.
Actors, directors, musicians, crew members were treated as VITAL to the creation of a successful production. BoHo never created "assembly line art". Check the box. That is never who we were. It was baked into the DNA for BoHo, as much as the all non-paid volunteer DNA was part of the culture. We had an amazing amount of great stuff - because remember, our mission was Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love. The Bohemian philosophy of art. We truly lived that. We really did.
Q. The company may be closing, but the artists, creators, and administrators past and present will continue being a part of the Chicago theatre community. How do you think the values of BoHo will carry on?
A. The actors/directors/musicians/supporters of Boho Theatre understand that creating relevant and poignant theatre is not a tactical move, but a soulful creation. It is not just about getting a part, or getting experience or again, checking boxes. It is about the totally unique experience of bringing your whole creative self to the production and being able to share that with the world. And the audience responds accordingly.
Q. You've spent many years on the board at BoHo Theatre, supporting, bolstering, and encouraging their work. Where do you plan to focus those efforts next, and what can people do to make sure their favorite companies continue creating?
A. I am going to take a pause. I tend to throw myself into the "next big thing" and I want to think about what it looks like. What works for me. I need some time to pause. Which is okay. People need to figure out how to support what they love in the new post COVID environment. Do I enroll in subscriptions, do I sample a variety of different theatre and art options, do I just do everything online, but still financially support the arts? These are not easy questions to answer. We have created new paradigms for engaging in art and theatre and music - and I think those actions will continue to change over time. I do not have a crystal ball to envision how the artistic community will eventually emerge and grow and change. But I know that it will. Because it is part of who we are.
"Only art penetrates what pride, passion, intelligence and habit erect on all sides – the seeming realities of this world. There is another reality, the genuine one, which we lose sight of. This other reality is always sending us hints, which without art, we can’t receive. Proust calls these hints our “true impressions.” The true impressions, our persistent intuitions, will, without art, be hidden from us and we will be left with nothing but a ‘terminology for practical ends’ which we falsely call life."
— Saul Bellow, on science and art from his Nobel lecture in 1976.
BoHo Theatre is not the only theatre to shutter recently. The arts are vital to our city and community, purchase tickets, donate, and spread the word about shows you like to help keep your favorite institutions thriving.
