Last week, the leaders at The Hearth Theatre learned that the venue it had rented for its newest show was suspending operations. The reason: The Catholic Church. The Hearth had been set to present the new play Racecar Racecar Racecar, by Kallan Dana, at the Connelly Theater—an Off-Broadway theatre in Manhattan's East Village. But then, the Connelly's landlords, the Archdiocese of New York, issued new content guidelines that prohibited any shows that didn't fit within Catholic Church doctrine. After an internal uproar, the Archdiocese announced the Connelly would cease presenting shows for the foreseeable future.
“The Connelly Theater announced last week that it would cease operations immediately due to a change in leadership at the Catholic Church, which led us scrambling to find a new venue on incredibly short notice,” said The Hearth’s Producing Artistic Director Julia Greer in a statement.
The news sent shockwaves throughout the local theatrical community. But then, Off-Broadway companies WP Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, and The Public Theater stepped in to help. They were able to get Racecar Racecar Racecar into a new venue, A.R.T./New York Theatres, located uptown on 53rd Street. Fittingly, the show is about a road trip, between a father and daughter. Racecar Racecar Racecar will run December 6–22.
Said Greer: “It is heartbreaking to lose such a valuable space to censorship and bigotry, but we were bowled over by the generosity and support of theatres big and small and are thrilled to be able to do our production as planned." The Heath focuses on plays by women, trans, and non-binary artists.
Racecar Racecar Racecar will star Julia Greer, Bruce McKenzie, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Jessica Frey, and Ryan King. It is directed by Sarah Blush. The creative team will include costume and props design by Normandy Sherwood, set design by Brittany Vasta, sound design by John Gasper, and lighting design by Cha See—with lighting associate and master electrician Miller Koppang, technical director Jack Woods, and associate producer McKenna Harrington.
Visit HearthTheater.com.
