A dependable haven for theater professionals, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is in its sixth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having led over 300 consecutive conversations about aspects of theater and the arts. The series has offered the theater community information, inspiration, and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of shutdown, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Visit https://truonline.org/events/women-over-40/ to receive this Friday’s Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; non-members may also attend for free, but we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a $12 ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

11/13 – Women Over 40: Opportunities and Observations. In the room: Cindy Cooper, playwright, journalist, author and activist, and Cheryl L. Davis, playwright, lyricist, Emmy-nominated soap writer, General Counsel for the Authors Guild, TRU founder. Both are members of the Executive Committee of Honor Roll!, an advocacy and action group of women and playwrights over forty whose goal is greater inclusion in theater. Why does it matter if women or women-identifying writers over 40 are excluded because of their age or gender? In a political environment of cancel culture, art may be the most essential and last outpost for preserving voices that are being silenced. Why are the stories and perspectives that women+ artists over 40 bring to theater valuable? How does the diminution of women+ writers over 40 have impact on our culture? Are theater audiences losing out? We’ll look at ways Honor Roll! raises awareness and builds support to combat the crushing combination of ageism and misogyny. What steps are other organizations taking to elevate those who have been marginalized by age and gender along with race, ethnicity, ability and homophobia? We’ll also speculate on non-profit theater leadership around the country in terms of the lack of representation in their seasons by women+ playwrights over 50, and share the list of 50 Plays By Women Over 50 that was generated in response. Visit https://truonline.org/events/women-over-40/ to register and receive the link.

UPCOMING:
11/20 – Space Exploration: More Lesser Known Venues Well Worth Knowing. In the room: Ildiko Nemeth, founder and artistic director of the New Stage Theatre Company; Shua Jackson, managing director of the New Stage Performing Space and their newly redesigned Underground 106 venue; and John Sannuto, president of the board of Polaris North performing arts group. We’ve all heard about theater spaces closing pre- and post-shutdown, but if you know where to look you can find some interesting low-profile spaces off the beaten track, open and thriving. We’ll meet representatives from two west side gems: Underground 106, an intimate 74 seat performance space that supports alternative art tucked away on the upper west side; and Polaris North Studio in Chelsea, a cozy 60-seat space and the home of TRU Town Hall meetings. Click here to register and receive the link.

11/27 – What I Am Thankful for (and What I Need): A Conversation with the TRU Community. In the room (subject to change): TRU board members John Lant (producer/SDC director/showrunner/consultant specialist for musicals/plays off-Broadway; TV/Film Studio Operator for 2 Studios for stage to screen or film productions NY & NJ), Sandy Silverberg (technical advisor, producer), others tbd. Click here to register and receive the link.
 
12/4 – What’s New In New Jersey? Meet the New Leader of The American Theater Group. In the room: Charlotte Cohn, NY-based director, actor and producer who became the new Producing Artistic Director of ATG in July. The company was founded in 2012 and is currently in residence at the 160 seat DMK Black Box Theatre in Union Arts Center in Union, NJ and the 257 seat Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge, NJ. What attracted commercial producer Charlotte to a boutique size theater company with the mission championing new work, creating memorable experiences and strengthening community through storytelling? Click here to register and receive the link.

More information about upcoming dates is available at: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering.

To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with “Zoom Me” in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization’s ongoing service to the community.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/ Please visit us and consider joining our 39,000 subscribers.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-four-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings about the arts, and monthly Town Halls about current social issues; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater; and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices (adapting short plays into films), Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Merrie L. Davis, Dunbar Hofmann Productions and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.