A HUGE upheaval: A local improv theater loses two artistic staffers over issues of inclusion
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HUGE Improv Theater is an improvisational comedy space on Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis that frequently offers a wide selection of shows during an ordinary week.
Last week, two of the theater’s volunteer artistic staff resigned suddenly.
The resignations were triggered by a new show called “Throwback Thursday,” scheduled to start performance on Sept. 12 and run through Feb. 27, 2025. “‘Throwback Thursdays’ is intended to be a transformational experience for improv artists in their career,” read an audition notice.
On Monday, Aug. 12, John Gebretatose, the theater’s co-executive and diversity and inclusion director, published an open letter criticizing the show.
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“HUGE Theater leadership recently published a statement on DEI in casting for our stage,” Gebretatose wrote. “The inciting reason for this letter is that the HUGE production of ‘Throwback Thursday’ has drastically failed to follow this guide.”
The theater has a public history of inclusiveness, with an entire section of its website dedicated to “Community.” The page promotes improv events intended for queer performers and performers of color, among other groups that are historically left on the margins of improvised comedy.
According to Gebretatose’s letter, the new show did not live up to these standards.
Among the specifics of his complaint, Gebretatose said that the show:
Has a 93 percent white cast. According to Gebretatose, this was the result of selection criteria, which favored performers with more experience, which “due to a living legacy of white supremacy, disproportionately excludes BIPOC performers.” He also blamed a lack of outreach.
Ignored criticism from performers. Gebretatose wrote that he and others had reached out to leadership, but the theater decided to move forward with the play anyway.
Shortly after he published the letter, HUGE’s artistic director, Becky Hauser, resigned in a private statement published on the theater’s Discord channel. She indicated that she would continue in the position until the end of the month, which would allow time for her to transition new leadership into her role.
The next day, another member of HUGE leadership resigned. This was Butch Roy, one of the founding members of the theater and then-co-executive director and board secretary. His resignation was effective immediately.
In his resignation message, Roy did not explicitly respond to Gebretatose, but in a message published on HUGE’s Information Channel on Meta, Roy wrote, “I am exhausted. I am sad. I want HUGE to reach its full potential.
“It won’t be under my leadership.”
HUGE Theater has been through a lot of changes in the past few years, including moving from their longtime home just south of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue to a space they purchased a few blocks north.
The space formerly had another tenant, an art supply business that relocated to Detroit Lakes in March, leaving HUGE without a tenant.
HUGE has additional economic challenges. The theater had previously limited its fundraising to one event per year. This year, they added a second event in May. HUGE listed its reasons for the fundraiser as follows:
”Without going too deep: we had to open months later than we planned, there is ongoing income from a cell tower we expected to have but don’t, property taxes we didn’t expect to have as a non-profit but do, and a brutal, unexpected $200K expense we had to eat to install HUGE’s HVAC on the roof because the city abruptly imposed that requirement. As a kicker, our old landlord is withholding our security deposit.”
Last Wednesday, the Board of Directors of HUGE Theater put out a brief statement to the community.
“The board is committed to identifying the concerns and details surrounding the professional conflict on staff, execution of job duties and addressing the issues brought forward by our DEI director,” the statement read in part. “We are in the process of developing a plan to ensure we reflect our ideal that improv is for everyone.”
Amy Derwinski, board president of HUGE, spoke to MPR News. While she declined to discuss any personnel matters at the theater, she explained that HUGE has had a transition plan in place since 2020 that was sidelined by COVID.
“It wasn’t planned,” she said regarding this past week’s shakeup, but the board is now focused on the theater’s long-term viability. “The vision of things we want to have happen.”
As to questions about the financial health of the theater and internal burnout within the institution, Derwinski answered “I would say that the board is focused on exactly what you talked about.”
