We call for the resignation of George Green, Artistic Director/CEO of The Public Theater of San Antonio. Or we call for the Board of Directors to remove George Green as acting Artistic Director/CEO of The Public Theater of San Antonio.

The leadership of The Public Theater of San Antonio have failed to abide by AEA COVID-19 safety guidelines thus dissolving the agreement between the organizations. They have failed us.

As part of the AEA guidelines, theaters must ask for approval to ensure proper safety precautions are being made due to COVID-19. AEA assumes most theaters are acting in good faith and are asking for approval before producing a new season. The Public Theater of San Antonio and their leadership only asked when they were discovered to be producing a nonunion season without the union's knowledge. They state that they informed AEA on Sept 4, 2020, but their hand was forced as they had already begun rehearsals for a production scheduled to open on September 10, 2020. This is when things began to fall apart. The leadership has failed the community and has jeopardized the future of the union in San Antonio and must be removed. The Artistic Director/CEO has failed the community and has jeopardized the future of the union in San Antonio and must be removed.

Additionally, The Board has knowingly been receiving complaints against the Artistic Director/CEO from both employee and artist

surveys with little to no apparent action occurring in the 4 years since his controversial arrival. (An arrival that dismantled the existing staff which ushered in an era of well-known cronyism) While everyone deserves a chance to grow in a new position, the community of San Antonio deserves a qualified leader that has the professional experience and higher educational background that would arm them with the qualifications to best navigate our emerging theater, which has now been thrust into a negative national spotlight.

Mr. Green has led a divisive house with unprecedented employee turnover and helmed a toxic work environment both on and off the stage that has marred the theater’s reputation and has resounding consequences on the local and national stage. We are proud of San Antonio theater. It is a vibrant part of the community and deserves a quality Artistic Director that looks out for the organization as a whole. Mr. Green and several of his employees have reputations for being bad faith collaborators with designers, guest artists, and guest directors while creating an environment where loyalty is demanded and anything else is punished. Mr. Green has also threatened legal action against AEA members for speaking out and relaying personal instances of his behavior to people in the community. When complaints have been levied against him to the board in the past he has sent threats at those artists as well, telling the community the board is on his side. These instances and more are well known in the community and have created an environment of fear that we will no longer tolerate.

George Green does not have the aforementioned professional experience nor a higher educational background. We do not believe The Board of The Public Theatre of San Antonio knowingly hired someone unqualified to run a community theatre for $85,000 a year, but the myriad of actions from this Artistic Director has hindered the ability for artists to have a safe and positive professional home in San Antonio, therefore, he is unfit for his position.

Now is the time to make this correction and commence a national search for a qualified Artistic Director. In the 2020 national movement of theaters catapulting forward as leaders in a conversation about EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and ethics, the Artistic Director/CEO of The Public is not the voice we want to represent our community or our city. We call for these corrections after this one man season. Mr. Green might have had organizations fail under his guidance and after his watch in Spokane but we of San Antonio are demanding better.

The local non union artists, AEA artists, stage managers, community members, and Actors Equity Association itself WANT The Public Theater of San Antonio to be a Union House. The community has been lied to, putting the future of the ability to work professionally in San Antonio in severe jeopardy. We stand in solidarity for what the future of San Antonio theatre can be under the proper qualified leadership.

Many different examples of the producer's union busting have been revealed today and are listed below:

"Many local AEA members have expressed their frustrations and want to return to work citing that their leadership is infringing upon their civil liberties,” stated George Green, the theater’s CEO. He goes on to say, “The Public Theater supports union members that are standing in solidarity with their upper management and are championing their position."

The Public and her leadership are interfering with our relationship with AEA by suggesting that they represent AEA member interests. There is clear manipulation and lying pouring out of The Public Theater of San Antonio.

What is the most unfortunate is that we WANT AEA contracts in San Antonio and especially at The Public. . George Green told members that AEA gave him the runaround, made him jump through hoops for safety compliance and ultimately denied the members work. He is attempting to paint this as an us vs. them narrative in the Artscene SA article by stating that The Public Theater of San Antonio told AEA that they were choosing to provide opportunities to the local non union members. These are our friends and our colleagues, and in our eyes FUTURE AEA members or those who will be able to work under AEA contracts. Most of the members here have come from the San Antonio community, and there have always been opportunities for non union artists. He is not "honoring" them now.

His actions directly cause the hindrance of local non union artists who deserve the chance to work and grow at a union theater. They have now lost that opportunity, as well as the opportunity to become union members under contract or to earn points toward membership as part of the Equity Membership Program. The deceit, union blaming, and union busting are unacceptable and makes his resignation completely necessary.

FROM AEA:

What is the Do Not Work List? While membership rules prohibit Equity members from accepting any non-Equity theatrical work without the appropriate contract or code, the Do Not Work list is an additional tool to alert members of Equity or our 4A’s sister unions to the nonunion status of certain employers. Unfortunately, there are times when good-faith negotiations between Actors’ Equity and employers do not result in an agreement acceptable for union members. Other producers may refuse to negotiate altogether or default on the terms of their agreement. In such situations, employers may be placed on the Do Not Work List. If you have been offered employment by someone on this list, or if you have questions about the employer, please click on the contact link next to that employer to email the appropriate Equity staff member.

The Public Theater of San Antonio is included in this DO NOT WORK LIST. The Public Theater is the only theater in Texas on this list out of hundreds of good faith theaters in the nation. Very few theaters in the nation have made BOTH the Safety Spotlight and DO NOT WORK list. All of this could have been prevented.

We deserve transparent, honest leadership.

We call for you to take action immediately.