Inside the battle to change a prestigious theater festival’s ‘broken’ culture

The festival is usually held on the campus of Williams College in Massachusetts. “It felt like the festival was saying, ‘We’re invested in your art, and we want to give you the support and the space and time to make great things.’” But Williamstown productions less resemble scrappy summer stock shows than those of major regional and Broadway stages, and mounting approximately eight large productions in eight weeks — sometimes with a double-header on opening — requires round-the-clock work behind the scenes. The festival did not respond to a question from The Times about the availability of hard hats with chin straps, but it stated that “we are aware of certain situations in prior seasons where the Festival worked to secure medical attention for apprentices or interns and offered our payment when needed.” This situation was part of a pattern at the festival, according to nearly all sources interviewed by The Times, who claim that a lack of safety equipment, training and adequate time to complete tasks led to preventable injuries — an allegation echoed in the appendix to the letter from festival alumni that was obtained by The Times. “And it gets normalized, because we’re taught that ‘accidents happen,’ as if it’s a single accident and not an entire, unsafe work environment.” Board chair Johnson said in a statement that Williamstown has “clearly defined, documented and disseminated reporting structures for raising concerns at the Festival, whether about safety or relating to harassment or discrimination,” via employee handbooks, onboarding and training sessions, and posted signage throughout its facilities. “At Williamstown,” he said, “we were the labor force.” Former department heads told The Times that they instead raised alarms to the festival’s leadership, either through emailed requests before a season began or during in-person debriefs once the season had ended.