Teresa Eyring is in her 16th year as Executive Director and CEO of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Ms. Eyring is helping to create a better world for theater and a better world because of theater paraphrasing a TCG vision statement adopted under her leadership. A Stanford University and Yale School of Drama graduate, Eyring worked for many years in resident theaters before moving to New York to take the helm at TCG.
Ms. Eyring heads up TCG’s programs and services for a membership of seven thousand individuals and seven hundred theatre organizations and affiliates. TCG also provides professional development, networking opportunities, research, grants, and scholarships across the United States. TCG publishes American Theatre Magazine and is the largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature in North America, with 19 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the booklist. TCG holds a major biennial national conference for theater professionals, theater teachers, and theater-makers. Additionally, TCG’s work extends globally as the US Center for the International Theatre Institute shared with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown School of Foreign Service.
We had a chance to ask Ms. Eyring about her career and TCG.
You have worked in development, management, and administration at various theaters, including prestigious resident theaters and a prominent children’s theater. Tell us about how your experience prepared you for TCG.
Artists and the arts are vital in community life. My first job after college was as development director of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre company in Washington, DC. I learned about fundraising, of course—which has been essential in every position I’ve ever held. But I also delved into how theater can inspire reflection on current and past events, help us build relationships and imagine the future together, and lead to overall community well-being. Each experience reinforced my belief in the importance of theatre and theatre-makers in society. For example, at the Children’s Theatre Company, I saw that young people are excellent and discerning theatre-goers, usually less conservative than adults regarding theatrical form and storytelling. In addition, these experiences gave me a deep understanding of how theater is made, how communities are engaged in art making, and what the economic challenges are for live performing arts.
TCG Books, your play publishing division, commits to publishing playwrights’ works throughout their careers. How is this model different than other publishers? Ours is a commitment to the playwright and their body of work. We don’t publish only the plays that have been the biggest hits.
There is also a sensitivity to the individual artist’s process. We don’t generally rush a book but rather ensure the final text is how the author wants it. We’ve even stopped the press on a few titles because, in the end, the playwright realized they weren’t quite finished with their script.
At the recent TCG fundraiser, you honored La Tanya Richardson Jackson & Samuel L. Jackson. Tell us about the connection between TCG and the Jacksons.
Given TCG’s long relationship with the late August Wilson, we saw an alignment with the Jacksons’ revival of The Piano Lesson. In addition to the Jacksons’ artistry, we admired their philanthropic spirit and commitment to increasing access to theater for all. Broadway publicist Rick Miramontez, a TCG honoree in 2019 and a close collaborator, also saw a meaningful connection. The Piano Lesson’s lead producer Brian A. Moreland concurred. Rick and Brian became co-chairs of our 2023 Gala, and they brought so much to the process.
You just announced TCG’s One Million Books Campaign. What are these books, and who gets them?
We are passionate about theater as an art form and plays as literature. One Million Books aims to make a broader range of playwrights and plays available to college, university, and public libraries, independent bookstores, community centers, and more.
In addition to single-volume print and digital offerings, TCG Books participates in Drama Online, a digital library for theater and literature students, professors, and teachers. It includes 200 TCG titles, nearly half by writers of color.
What are you looking forward to at TCG?
Our mission is to lead for a just and thriving theater ecology. I look forward to how we will fulfill this mission in the coming years as we continue to rebalance and reimagine our theatre landscape for the future. With our fierce dedication to equity and inclusion, a specific program I look forward to is a Theatre for Activism series coming up.
For more information on Teresa Eyring and the Theatre Communications Group, visit tcg.org