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EXCLUSIVE: The Atlantic Theater Company, one of Off Broadway‘s most celebrated theaters, has officially closed two new, previewing productions – Eliya Smith’s Grief Camp and Mona Pirnot’s I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan – amidst an ongoing strike by the stagehands union IATSE.
News of the strike surfaced last weekend, but the Atlantic at that time said the productions were merely postponed indefinitely. In fact, the cast and crew of both shows have been notified that the productions have officially closed.
In two largely identical letters obtained by Deadline, the casts and crews of Grief Camp and I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan were informed via notices dated January 12 that closing notices had been officially posted.
The companies for both shows “will be paid one (1) week’s equivalent contractual salary for week-ending January 19, 2025,” the letters, signed by Atlantic’s artistic director Neil Pepe and managing director Jeffory Lawson, state. Both letters state, “We thank you for your incredible work, which has not gone unnoticed, and continue to believe in the power of this beautiful play.”
The letters also provide instructions for collecting personal belongings at the theater.
After negotiations broke down last weekend between the Atlantic and IATSE, the stagehands union ordered a strike against the prominent nonprofit theater. The strike follows several months of negotiations that began after the Atlantic crew voted nearly unanimously to unionize with IATSE in February 2024.
Both sides sides issued statements following the strike action.
“Atlantic Theater’s refusal to bargain fairly has left the crew no choice but to strike,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb. “These workers deserve the same dignity, respect, and protections as everyone else in New York’s entertainment community—whether they work in front of or behind the curtain, on or off Broadway. Shame on them for not providing healthcare coverage to all their employees. We are prepared to resume negotiations as soon as Atlantic Theater is ready to bargain in good faith.”
The theater company released a statement that reads, in part, “Atlantic has been working together diligently with IATSE for months to create a fair contract for our crew workers and we have offered a good faith agreement with nearly a 20% increase in wages and other benefits. Recognizing how long a first contract can take, Atlantic offered two interim agreements over the past two months that included 13% increases in wages and health, effective immediately in return for a no strike agreement while we continue to bargain in good faith. Both of these offers were ignored.”
The strike comes at a pivotal time for the Off Broadway community, as nonprofit theaters, which traditionally have not been unionized, struggle with both the harsh economics of the post-Covid theater industry and many crew members’ increasing desire for union representation.
Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 professional actors, stage managers and others working in live entertainment, released a statement supporting IATSE: “Actors’ Equity Association stands in solidarity with these workers, and there was an Equity presence at today’s picket lines. We have full faith that IATSE is negotiating terms that are fair and appropriate for their members, and we look forward to the shows resuming when an agreement has been reached.”
