A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is celebrating its fifth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having offered to date over 250 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Click here 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 ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

12/12 – Three Views of the Latiné Arts Community: Chicago and NYC. In the room: Justine Bayod Espoz/Torito Arts, Executive Director at the Creative and Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA), arts journalist, producer and performing arts curator, advocate for diversity in the Chicago arts community; Christin Cato, NYC actor, playwright (Sancocho, O.K.!), freelance writer, dramaturg and educator, 2025 HOLA award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting; and Jorge Huerta, Chicano scholar, author and theater director specializing in Chicano and US Latinx theater. What are the challenges to creating genuine inclusion in the melting pot of American arts culture, and have the current strict immigration policies had an effect? Has progress been made in gaining acceptance of authentic latiné voices? Are non-Latiné audiences supportive of the diverse voices in our culture, or are Latiné opportunities limited to the Latiné community and companies that have a specific following? And does authenticity ever get lost in an effort to be accessible to broader audiences? Are NYC, west coast and Chicago audiences, in general, open to and supportive of culturally diverse works? Is that changing in today’s political climate where non-white communities are viewed with suspicion? Click here to register for the Zoom link.

UPCOMING

12/19 – Produce Yourself in 2026: What’s New on the New York Festival Scene? In the room: Matt Bader and Faith Pasch of the newly launched Manifestival Series, a curated showcase of plays and solo performances produced in tandem with the inaugural season of Matt and Faith’s new Diamond Mesh Theatrical Productions; John Chatterton and Jay Michaels of the returning Midtown International Theatre Festival, a favorite NYC showcase for new work that closed in 2017 but is coming back; others tba. In the past months we have looked closely at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We now focus on developmental opportunities that are closer to home. Is the festival experience right for you? We’ll talk about the intricacies of creating and running a festival, the reasons for being in a festival, managing expectations and getting the most out of this opportunity. Click here to register and reserve.

More information about upcoming interviews 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/. And a podcast series, TRU Talks About Theater, featuring 2023 Community Gathering conversations, is available wherever you get your podcasts; or tune in at ElectraCast: https://electracast.com/?s=Theater+Resources

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-three-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 also 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; 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.

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