From Press Release
The extent of the community response to my abrupt firing from Factory Theatre on June 20th was unexpected and overwhelming. More than 4200 people signed a petition demanding my reinstatement and the board’s resignation. 250 prominent artists stated their intentions to boycott the Factory, both as artists and as audience members. Hundreds more have written personal letters of support.
All this has made it very difficult for me to simply move on to the next chapter of my creative life as per my original release on June 21st. Thus, while the protest action has been a community initiative, I have remained deeply engaged in the issues and the debate.It is clear, however, that the avalanche of community response has made absolutely no impact on the direction set by Factory’s current board of nine directors.
In August, I made overtures to the board in the hopes of finding a positive and respectful way to break the impasse, to restore community confidence and to help move the theatre forward. These too fell on deaf ears. A month ago, bowing to public pressure following the collapse of key productions from the season, the Factory board agreed to pursue mediation to try to resolve the issues. While mediation has taken place over the past two weeks, this attempt has been unsuccessful and has now ended. Continue reading Announcement: Statement from Ken Gass re Factory Theatre →
