Off-Broadway Spaces Open Their Lobbies to Support Black Lives Matter Protesters | Playbill

Industry News Off-Broadway Spaces Open Their Lobbies to Support Black Lives Matter Protesters Signature Theatre, The Public Theater, and more are showing solidarity by providing shelter, supplies, and additional services.
Signature Theatre SignatureTheatre.org

As protests in New York City and beyond demand justice for Black folk and police accountability, Off-Broadway venues have begun to open their doors—which have been shut since March due to the coronavirus pandemic—in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Many of these organizations began providing shelter and services as an answer to a call placed by Open Your Lobby, an initiative that launched June 3.

The social resource asks theatre organizations to provide a space for a police-free shelter, supplies (such as water, snacks, first aid, PPE), and services (including WiFi, charging outlets, and restrooms).

Here is a list of venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn opening their doors. Keep checking here for updates and via Open Your Lobby on Twitter and Instagram.

This list was updated at 1:15 PM ET, June 12.

Midtown/Chelsea

Second Stage Theater
305 West 43rd Street (Between 8th and 9th Avenues)
The Tony Kiser Theater will be open from 1 PM to 6 PM.

Playwrights Horizons
416 West 42nd Street (Between 9th and 10th Avenues)
The venue will open its foyer from noon to 6 PM, and will continue to offer shelter and supplies Monday through Friday.

Signature Theatre
480 West 42nd Street (Between 9th and 10th Avenues)
The Pershing Square Signature Center Lobby will be open June 12–14 from 2 PM to 6 PM for four people at a time, offering WiFi, water, snacks, and restrooms. The company asks that protesters wear a mask in the space; additional PPE are on order.

MCC Theater
Stage Door Entry: 504 West 53rd Street (Off 10th Avenue)
The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space stage door will be open daily 2 PM to 6 PM, allowing protesters access to bathrooms, sanitizer, outlets, and water. "We will not be letting the police inside, except in the case of a medical emergency," the company says. "Please note, there is a police precinct a few avenues away on 54th Street."

Ensemble Studio Theatre
545 West 52nd Street (Between 10th and 11th Avenues)
The second floor venue will keep its lobby open June 12–14, from noon to 7 PM. Due to social distancing measures, only four people will be permitted at a time, and masks are required.

Atlantic Theater Company
336 West 20th Street (Between 8th and 9th Avenues)
Atlantic’s Linda Gross Theater lobby will be open to protesters from noon to 7 PM.

Downtown

New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street (Between Bowery and 2nd Avenue)
NYTW's open lobby hours are 1 PM to 5:30 PM for June 12.

The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street (Between 7th and 6th Street)
The Public will open its doors 2 PM to 6 PM June 12, with staff volunteers helping to facilitate social distancing.

SubCulture
45 Bleecker Street (Between Lafayette Street and Bowery)
The concert venue will offer a socially distanced (two people at a time, masks required) rest stop for protesters June 12 with hours TBD.

Club Cumming
505 East 6th Street (Between Avenues A and B)
The cabaret spot will once again provide a safe haven June 12 2 PM to 6 PM, offering water, snacks, PPE, and first aid.

Brooklyn

A.R.T./New York
138 South Oxford Street (Between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street)
South Oxford Space, which houses the Alliance of Resident Theatres, will offer sanitizer, outlets, restrooms, WiFi, and water and snacks for protesters, June 12–14 from 2 PM to 6 PM.

Irondale Ensemble Project
85 South Oxford Street (Between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street)
The Irondale Center will provide shelter and supplies every day moving forward from noon to 7 PM.

 
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