Tacoma Theatre Loses NEA Grant

The struggling Tacoma Actors Guild theatre loses a $25,000 NEA grant for producing Shakespeare. A production of “Comedy of Errors” was canceled after the theater announced $350,000 in debt and laid off its staff in December, reopening with a scaled-back production cycle that includes, instead, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” That disqualified TAG from the competitive Shakespeare for a New Generation program. TAG was selected as one of 22 participating theaters in the nation. These have to be full productions of Shakespeare’s work.”