It has been a joy to see so many of you back in our theater as we have reopened with live performances. Our joy, however, has not erased the memories of the shared trauma we have all endured throughout the pandemic. We have lost family and friends. We have lost time and opportunities. We have lost employment and a sense of identity and belonging. And we mourn new national tragedies with unfathomable regularity. And yet we must persevere, seeking ways to overcome both the objective experiences we have suffered and the subjective toll those experiences take on all of us.

At the Lantern, we believe that theater can play an important role in helping the mind – what the ancient Greeks called the psyche – to heal. This belief is not original. It first found expression in the classic dramas by Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus, and has been rediscovered and bolstered by every great playwright from William Shakespeare to Lynn Nottage. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles wrote presciently:

The chorus: We know your pain; you are not alone.
Oedipus: O friend, you are my steadfast caregiver still.

As we persevere in the hope that Lantern plays engender precisely the catharsis that has been the goal of theater for more than 2,000 years, YOU are the key to the Lantern's continued success in an increasingly uncertain world. We need to see you back in our audience, and we ask that you consider increasing your support at this time when it is so urgently needed.

With deep appreciation,

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