Off-Broadway's Pearl Theatre Company Ceases Operations After 33 Seasons

After 33 seasons, off-Broadway's Pearl Theatre Company has ceased operations, according to the organization's website.

The statement reads, in part, as follows:

"Despite this company’s continuing critical acclaim, record-setting audiences, and landmark institutional support, the efforts of the artists, staff, and Board of Trustees simply could not outpace the economic reality of operating a mid-size theatre company in Manhattan amid a crowded field of worthy causes.

"Since losing its home at Theatre 80 on St. Mark’s Place nearly a decade ago, The Pearl has fought to keep theatre, arts education, and a resident company of actors thriving in its performance venue on Manhattan's far West Side. But, as with many of its peers in the arts community, the continuing pressure of maintaining real estate as a 160-seat non-profit theatre proved to be an insurmountable challenge for the company and its steadfast community of supporters. Consequently, The Pearl has filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the State of New York."

Founded in 1984 by Shepard Sobel, Joanne Camp, and a small troupe of actors, the Pearl has received Drama Desk, Calloway, and Drama League Awards for its work. The organization's closing production was Kate Hamill's stage adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair.