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arts entertainmentPerforming Arts

Majority of Shakespeare Dallas staff quits over the course of a single week

Director Raphael Parry says there was no triggering event, citing better opportunities elsewhere for the young employees who left.

Shakespeare Dallas lost five of its eight full-time staff members over one week in late September, according to officials of the theater company celebrating its 50th season this year.

“The optics are not good,” says executive and artistic director Raphael Parry.

But despite how it looks, there was no major triggering event for the resignations, according to Parry. He says most of the employees had been with Shakespeare Dallas less than a year and left for higher-paying jobs at other nonprofits.

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“What happened? There’s not a smoking gun to produce,” says board chair Lauren York, who will lead exit interviews of the departed staff members They include the managers of development, education and marketing.

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Shakespeare Dallas executive and artistic director Raphael Parry on the set of "Diamond...
Shakespeare Dallas executive and artistic director Raphael Parry on the set of "Diamond Dick" at the Green Zone in 2012.

York says most of those who left were under 30 and making less than $50,000 a year.

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Parry concedes that the troupe has been having turnover issues for a few years and has increased pay and benefits to try to improve retention. “It’s something we wrestle with,” he says.

He also cited “the wear and tear of producing theater.”

York agreed, saying there was sometimes “a sharp dissonance” between the work and what people were paid for it. She also mentioned possible fallout from COVID.

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Jenny Ledel portrays Hamlet in Shakespeare's Dallas' all-woman production of the classic...
Jenny Ledel portrays Hamlet in Shakespeare's Dallas' all-woman production of the classic play running through Oct. 15 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre.(Jordan Fraker)

Shakespeare Dallas is financially stable, Parry says, with an annual budget of $1.2 million and no debt. The group is currently producing Hamlet with an all-woman cast at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre, its home venue.