May 6, 2025
Patrons and Friends of Stained Glass Playhouse,
We are sorry to announce that, due to unforeseen financial challenges, we have made the difficult decision to pause our mainstage productions following the conclusion of William Inge’s “Picnic”.
For nearly forty-five years, Stained Glass Playhouse has been proud to provide quality theatrical performances in our unique and intimate space in the former sanctuary of Marvin United Methodist Church, at some of the most affordable ticket prices in Winston-Salem, and with an eye toward programming that focuses on moral messages, family values, and community issues. For 28 of those years, ever since first becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, we have consistently produced four shows a year, with the only other pause in our programming occurring during the global pandemic in 2020-2021 (and the nearby Weaver Plant fire shortly after in February of 2022).
Like most community theatres, our actors and board members are volunteers; and, to keep our costs as low as possible, we have also been fortunate to engage volunteer props, lighting, costume, and set building personnel. Because of this, and thanks to the support of the church and other organizations, we have been able to succeed primarily on the revenue from our ticket sales – with no fees, no concessions, no merchandise, moderate donor support, only a few ads (primarily as trade for services), and no paid sponsors.
With that said, the Board has recognized that it is time for the Playhouse to explore new, creative, and innovative ways to operate so that we can grow and thrive. Times change, and if we are to continue doing what we love – making great theatre – we need to take this pause, step back, and consider what the future of Stained Glass Playhouse can look like.
To that end, we are asking for your continued support. In the coming weeks, we aim to launch our first-ever capital campaign, through which we hope to secure annual donors and sponsors to help better sustain our ongoing operations. We also plan to hold special events and productions, to try and increase our visibility and build a “rainy day fund” to see us through future unexpected challenges. And, when we can return to our regular mainstage programming, we do still intend to produce the shows that we had originally planned for the coming year, as well as possibly introduce some new content, and maybe – just maybe – find ourselves in a new home.
We realize that this news comes with some initial disappointment. We have received a lot of support and excitement in response to our season announcement, and it pains us to have to hold off (for now) on bringing these shows to our stage. Change is never easy – but we’re hoping we can make it worth the wait.
Please stay tuned for more information to come. And, in the meantime, please come see “Picnic”, running this weekend and next (May 9-11 and 16-18).
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors at Stained Glass Playhouse