John Bogna
After he announced his retirement, employees of the Alley theater company came forward with allegations of misconduct against former Artistic Director Gregory Boyd:
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As of January 11, over 12 people are speaking out against what they described as a “toxic” and “bullying” atmosphere under Boyd’s reign as creative director, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle.
TORTURE: @AlleyTheatre insiders speak out against retiring artistic director Gregory Boyd. @ABC13Miya reports.https://t.co/mrp7XEl91w
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) January 11, 2018
Boyd reportedly focused his alleged verbal abuse on female employees under his direction.
During an interview with the Chronicle, former employee Emily Trask said Boyd repeatedly screamed at her, calling her a “stupid c—” on one occasion and touching her buttocks inappropriately:
“I felt I had no choice but to leave what was my dream job,” she said further.
Allegations of abuse dating back to 1996 are reportedly coming out against Boyd.
An internal email sent after accusations surfaced cautioned employees not to give any information to members of the media, reading as follows in part:
“If a post on social media warrants a response or contains confidential information, legal issues, financial information, personal patron information or offensive/negative content or commentary about the Alley Theatre, please inform Rachel Applegate immediately.”
“Please do not offer information to media — even if you know the answer.” an email, sent from the Alley’s Director of Marketing and Communications, according to the Houston Press, read further.
Some say the question now becomes how will the theater move forward?
So far, Boyd is reportedly remaining silent on the subject of his accusations, with some saying they believe the Alley will ultimately be forced to consider the unresolved matters when officials find another director to fill his seat.
Amen on this story. As an audience member who’ve sat next or near to Gregory Boyd over the years – totally agree hands down. He was rude and totally condescending! Glad he’s gone. Let’s move forward to better leadership in the future.
— Bernie Sandner (@BernieSandner) January 11, 2018
So far, the theater board released a statement providing how it will form a committee to investigate the Alley’s workplace environment; the statement reportedly omitted any mention of the accusations against Boyd.
Joy Yvonne Jones, a former employee of the Alley, said she thinks the company should put the past behind them and focus on creating a better environment going forward:
“He’s gone, that’s it. The next thing is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Jones said in an interview with the Press. “If we’re going to keep the Alley as the city’s cornerstone theater, it’s about moving forward. I don’t need other people to go down.”
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Gregory Boyd, former artistic director of @alleytheatre in Dallas, faces numerous misconduct allegations made by current & former employees, who described him as " “volatile,” “toxic,“ “cruel,” & “tyrannical.”reports @Playbill. https://t.co/rRTjcRHzr6 pic.twitter.com/nou4S1hSEA
— Mark Shenton 💙 (@ShentonStage) January 16, 2018
must-read piece from @Carydar on the artistic impact of the Alley Theatre resignation. Great quotes from local theater leaders on the shortcomings, and strengths, of Gregory Boyd's leadership style https://t.co/nNyp1Ioqda
— Wei-Huan Chen (@weihuanchen) January 11, 2018
