Public Statements
A Message from NCTC
March 18, 2025
Joint Statement in Support of the ACLU’s Lawsuit against the NEA
We, the undersigned , welcome, celebrate, and support a diverse range of artists, designers, workers, educators, and audiences to share stories that reflect the full range of lived experience in our local, national, and global communities. We proudly acknowledge the complexity and breadth of those experiences and affirm the dignity and inalienable rights of individuals of all gender identities and expression.
As such, we stand in strong support of the ACLU’s lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on behalf of Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, The Theater Offensive, and Theatre Communications Group. The lawsuit challenges the NEA's new guidelines that consider applications for projects that appear to “promote” what the federal government deems “gender ideology” ineligible for funding. The prohibitions demanded under these guidelines not only threaten the freedom of artistic expression of countless U.S. citizens but are unconstitutional and in direct violation of the NEA’s purpose as legislated by Congress, which explicitly states that “artistic excellence and artistic merit are the criteria by which applications are judged.”
The endowment was structured with specific assurances that the standard for grants would be “artistic and humanistic excellence,” that decision-making power would rest in the hands of experts in the arts and away from the influence of government, and that the agency’s policies and practices would reflect “the high place the nation accords to the fostering of mutual respect for the disparate beliefs and values among us.”
We thank the plaintiffs in this lawsuit and stand with our fellow theaters and artists in challenging these unconstitutional guidelines. We remain steadfast in our commitment to sharing stories that reflect the full diversity of our communities and our nation.
Collectively,
Aurora Theatre Company, Crowded Fire Theater, Golden Thread Productions, Killing My Lobster, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Playwright’s Foundation, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO), Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Shotgun Players, Z Space
A Message from the Artistic Director
February 27, 2025
Curtain Up
We will not be bullied, silenced or erased.
There are those in power who would turn back the clock in an attempt to scrape away our hard-won rights. As the onslaught continues, you can count on NCTC to remain steadfast in its mission to champion innovative, high-quality productions and educational experiences for youth and the Queer and Allied communities. We exist to effect personal and societal growth, enlightenment and change and we will not waver in our vision–theatre is a vital community building event.
That said, we know the fight ahead will be daunting. We cannot rest. It will take every ounce of our collective creative and resolute resistance to turn the current surge of unrestrained ignorance into unwavering compassionate knowing. With the current whirlwind of inequitable edicts being foisted upon us, it is crucial that our stories be told without apology. NCTC will not surrender its responsibility to uplift the voices of diversity, gender, heritage, and identity through the transformative powers of theatre.
You can count on NCTC as a safe place where our community can gather to celebrate the
glorious multiplicity of our humanity. Together we take the stage in the spirit of joy, dignity, harmony and ferocity.
Places everyone.
It’s time for the next act.
For a guide to action, we suggest: https://indivisible.org
Ed Decker
Founder and Artistic Director
New Conservatory Theatre Center
A Message from the Artistic Director
November 21st, 2024
The events of November 5th have brought this country to a place where many of us are being force-fed a jagged and bitter pill. A pill that gives even greater leverage to those who have spent decades chipping away at the rights of women, immigrants, the Queer community and the less fortunate among us. At the heart of this misguided prescription is a compound of lies, distortions, Fascism, false promises and bluster that regrettably a majority of the electorate has chosen to endorse.
So be it.
As a small but feisty theatre company in San Francisco, NCTC has championed arts education and thoughtful, groundbreaking, socially relevant productions for over four decades. While we are not in position to dismantle a massive political charade, we are able to fight back one story at a time. NCTC and theatres across America can and will continue, with even greater energy, to do the work we have always done. Through the transformative power of theatre, we will press forward shining the light on our history, arguing for present day equality and envisioning a future that is nourished by the multiplicity of our humanity.
To all our incredibly loyal donors, audiences, students, staff, Board of Directors, friends, and artisans rest assured that your stories are vital and NCTC will continue to tell them. They are even more precious in a world in turmoil. Together we shall gather, bear witness and find our collective heartbeat beneath the blazing, revealing, and reassuring glow of the stage lights.
When the pill is jagged and bitter there is only one thing to be done – spit it out.
Ed Decker
Founder and Artistic Director
New Conservatory Theatre Center