This has been a year I did not fully anticipate when I stepped into this role. None of us anticipated the Washington Post gutting its arts and culture staff. That decision landed hard on a community that has long relied on that coverage, not just as readers, but as the artists, administrators, a nd theater lovers whose work and passion it documented. The Post provided consistent employment for talented writers across this region, and the reach of its coverage helped audiences discover, understand, and invest in the extraordinary work happening on our stages. Its absence leaves a gaping hole in our community’s ability to be seen. But something else happened in the wake of that news that I want to name directly. Our community responded. Not with resignation, but with generosity and determination. The outpouring of support we received in the weeks following the Post announcement reminded me, in the most tangible way, of why this work matters and who we are doing it for. That support made something possible that we had not planned for when we built our budget this year. Like everyone else, we did not anticipate the Post’s decision when we mapped out our fiscal year in January. What we had budgeted for was our core coverage, the reviews, features, and news that our staff and contributing writers deliver week in and week out. What the Post’s announcement made clear was that the moment demanded more than that. More voices. More coverage. And a real investment in the craft of criticism itself.  The DCTA Writers Fund With the backing of private donors who responded to this moment with us, we established the DCTA Writers Fund, a dedicated resource that exists specifically to expand what we are able to cover in response to this disruption. It has allowed us to elevate the quality and breadth of our coverage. We brought on additional writers, including some who have been displaced from other publications. We have  invested in the training and development of our existing writers through staff webinars, which educate them about key aspects of theater criticism. You have likely already noticed some of the results. Writers Celia Wren, Trey Graham, and Chris Klimek, among others, have joined our organization in recent weeks. This is what that Fund looks like in practice. The DCTA Critic’s Picks We are also in the middle of something exciting on the editorial side. Our team is rolling out what we are calling the DCTA Critic’s Picks, a curated designation that helps our readers navigate toward the work we believe is genuinely exceptional. This grew directly out of feedback we heard from our community: you love that we cover everything, and you also want a signal for what rises to the top. The Critic’s Pick is our answer to that. Look for the DCTA Critic’s Pick designation to make its debut with the start of the next season. The DCTA website redesign Finally, with support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DCTA is embarking on a major website redesign. Thank you to everyone who responded to our recent survey. The response was remarkable. Over the next six weeks, some of you will receive personal invitations to participate in focus groups that will take a deeper look at the feedback we received. Your voices are shaping what we build next. Our goal is to launch the new DCTA website in time for the start of the next theater season this fall. I want to close where this year has taken me emotionally, because I think it matters. I watched the Helen Hayes Awards recently and felt something shift. The resilience in that room, the artists who kept creating through budget cuts and political headwinds and the loss of a major critical platform, reminded me that this community does not wait to be saved. It shows up. It makes the work. It finds a way. That is who we are covering. That is why what we do matters. If you believe in this work, we would be grateful for your support. The DCTA Writers Fund is open, and every contribution at any level directly expands what we are able to do for this community. Thank you for being here. Let’s keep going. ...read more read less