Disturbing details emerge as to why show canceled at Cleveland Play House
Kevin G Reeves Photographer
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
Last month, the Cleveland Play House announced that their upcoming production of ‘I’M BACK NOW: RETURNING TO CLEVELAND’ by Charly Evon Simpson was cancelled. Theatre officials did not disclose the reasons why the production was shuttered. But disturbing accounts are being released that detail how the show was derailed by an alleged sexual assault and how theatre officials responded.
Two weeks ago, when the Cleveland Play House announced the cancellation of ‘I’M BACK NOW: RETURNING TO CLEVELAND, they made the following statement:
“Sadly, a series of events impacted the community of artists involved with the production and resulted in this difficult outcome. We hope this remarkable play will be produced in the future.”
A spokesman declined to comment on why it was canceled.
However, the director of the production, Stori Ayers, is disputing that and has released her account of what happened on social media. Ayers’ posts were shared on Twitter by playwright Charly Evon Simpson.
According to Ayers, a cast member reported being sexually assaulted in the elevators of the actors’ housing complex. The actress reportedly alerted Play House officials, but according to Ayers, they failed to act appropriately. This included forcing the actress to continue to live in the same complex as their assailant and never informing the rest of the cast and crew of the incident. Ayers says that the Play Hose only took action once Actors’ Equity became involved.
Ayers also shared the resignation email she sent to Mark Cuddy, the theatre’s artistic director, which illustrates the theatre’s failure to act Ayers also accuses the theatre of not paying them in full, using policy to “dehumanize them.” Cuddy has not commented publicly on the situation.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.