As we look forward to opening The 39 Steps, the final play of the Lantern's 2024/25 season, we are struck by how this moment feels both familiar and strange.

A few weeks ago, we marked the fifth anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. And we remember the joy of re-opening our theater to live performances in winter 2022. Upon arriving for a preview performance of A Man for All Seasons, one patron clasped our hands and exclaimed, "I can't believe how much I missed this."

What had he missed so intensely? We believe that at its most effective theater can act as a flight simulator for your life. Theater opens a door into a place of focused imagination and of play in which we can have new experiences in perfect safety and emerge from them wiser, revivified, and more connected with our fellows. In a world where false narratives are constantly at odds with simple truth, theater is vital laboratory for deep exploration.

In this way, the art of theater is a living resource for people and communities to continually rediscover, explore, and reconnect with our common humanity. The act of gathering in one place to live out a story not our own, to immerse ourselves in the thoughts, emotions, and conflicts of others, to feel their joys and griefs and make their life altering discoveries with them. These are the things that theater – uniquely among art forms – offers us.

We believe that theater also can help us to access emotions and find inspiration, critical during trying times. To love. To laugh. To make discoveries. To nurture and be magnanimous. To help others and to be helped ourselves. To be fully and truly ourselves we must frequently exercise our faculties of kindness, curiosity, courage, and generosity. We must be open and compassionate. These qualities are what make good people and good societies.

We now ask your permission to speak candidly. In the past several weeks, the outlook has darkened considerably. The world now faces economic uncertainly – very possibly a recession – and unfortunately those of us working in the arts know exactly what we face: attendance and contributed support are at risk.

Despite these risks, we carry on. We recently announced our 2025/26 season, and we hope that you are as excited to experience it as we are. Next season will be a perfect mix of classic plays by Stoppard and Shakespeare and the Philadelphia premieres of plays by living American playwrights Pearl Cleage and Lloyd Suh. We will also welcome back Anthony Lawton in his original adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

We consider it our honor to do this work and are overwhelmingly grateful to you, our community of supporters, for letting us into your lives and for becoming part of ours.

With an operating budget approaching $2 million for the 2025/26 season, the Lantern will need to raise at least $1.4 million in contributions, equal to 40% higher than our average efforts over the past several years. This need reflects our commitment to welcome all by deliberately keeping ticket prices low. With government and foundation grants declining due to changes in policies and lower securities prices, we need you to invest in the Lantern's future because of – and not despite – the heightened uncertainty.

You are the mainstay of the Lantern – our audience and our benefactors. We welcome a conversation with you about the challenges we now face, and we hope that our work on stage inspires your strong support.

With deepest appreciation,

Questions? Please contact our Development Team at development@lanterntheater.org. Thank you for supporting the Lantern!