{"id":1529,"date":"2025-10-21T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2025-09-22T19:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T19:31:10","slug":"out-of-hand-theater-is-the-best-theater-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2025\/10\/21\/out-of-hand-theater-is-the-best-theater-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of Hand Theater is the Best Theater in America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

$1 million of government funding rescinded? Big deal. When your nonprofit arts organization chooses to do the right thing, it\u2019s an equation that works.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo courtesy of Out of Hand Theater.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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If you cast your mind back, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll remember this column from May 7, 2024: Nonprofit Arts Success: Out of Hand Theater Shakes the Trees of Social Justice<\/a>. After all, it was only just under 500 days ago and not much has happened since then. I mean, it\u2019s just been a national news snoozefest and your nonprofit arts organization, I\u2019m sure, is doing swimmingly. \/s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read that May 7 article, you\u2019ll remember that there is one theater, located in Atlanta, Georgia, that was, in fact, succeeding: Out of Hand Theater<\/a>. Now, because the new HHS head, brain parasite and all, regularly kisses the Big Mac special-sauce covered ring <\/em>of Donny Dingdong, the only thing masquerading as health care policy now is havoc, conspiracy theory, and predictable, preventable outbreaks (In 2025, there are already over 1,400 confirmed cases of measles \u2014 remember when there were 0 cases in the US? Good times.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s rescission and there\u2019s rescission.<\/strong> In March 2025, Out of Hand\u2019s largest contract \u2014 a $1 million public health grant from the Georgia Department of Public Health \u2014 was abruptly terminated due to sweeping federal budget cuts. This contract funded the Equitable Vaccines (EqVax) program, a statewide initiative designed to increase vaccine confidence and access among rural Black and Hispanic communities through arts-based storytelling, dialogue, and on-site vaccine administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The termination resulted in a nearly $300K loss in anticipated revenue and required Out of Hand to immediately suspend the EqVax program and lay off associated program staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got the letter the night of March 26 from the Georgia Department of Public Health saying our contract had been terminated because the \u2018funds are no longer available to satisfy the obligations of the Department under this contract effective March 24, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST,\u2019 meaning the federal government had taken them back.
\u201cWe had to immediately halt the program and tell the four staff members directly associated with it, because without those funds, we had no way to pay. We gave the two program directors a month to close out the program and complete work they were in the middle of, like publishing the wonderful comic book they produced, and we gave the other two staff members two weeks\u2019 notice, even though we had to pay out of cash reserves for all of that. We then went about trying to help those four staffers get new jobs. We succeeded with one, and another one we hired back onto our staff starting July 1! We were worried we would end our fiscal year with a deficit, which hadn’t happened in 15 years, but we ended on June 30 with a surplus of over $100,000, and have replenished our cash reserves.\u201d <\/p>\u2014 Ariel Fristoe, Founder\/Artistic Director, Out of Hand Theater<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A million dollars. In one f***ing swoop. And now, good people may die of a disease for which there is an effective vaccine, or at the very least, they\u2019ll get very, very sick. Unnecessarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d think that a $2 million company could not withstand a $1 million bloody scalp haircut, and yet Out of Hand continues to thrive. They may have suspended that program, but not their core beliefs as a company. Their new manifesto doubles down on that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just remember as you read \u2014 and, if you\u2019re smart, steal from \u2014 this manifesto: your nonprofit arts organization can succeed, too, despite the current administration\u2019s intimidation and extortion tactics. Your first step is to put your big boy\/girl pants on, grow a backbone based on outcomes and not programs, and have the intent to serve the whole community \u2014 not just those who are wealthy enough to buy tickets or donate. You have to want to be a community hero<\/em>, not a seller of tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Art + Information + Conversation = Social Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are Out of Hand Theater.
We believe theatre can do more than entertain.
It can disrupt systems.
It can disarm fear.
It can connect strangers across difference.
We believe that art is a civic tool, not a luxury.
And we use it\u2014with courage, with intention, and with our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take theater to our community.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go to them.
Into homes.
Into schools.
Into churches, office buildings, shelters, and Zoom rooms.
We bring theatre to where people already gather\u2014where they feel safe, seen, and heard.
Because a story is most powerful when it meets people where they live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We make theatre with the world rather than about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We make theatre with the world, not just about it.
Each of our programs begins not with a script, but with a question:
What matters most right now in our city, in our neighborhoods, in our bodies?
Who is already doing the work?
We partner with those people\u2014with civil rights advocates, public health leaders, educators, and everyday citizens.
Together, we develop theatre that addresses real issues\u2014racial justice, vaccine equity, housing, education, and more.
The community defines the problem.
We build the solution together.
Then we act\u2014on stage and off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go beyond performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because performance alone is not enough.
Change happens in conversation\u2014when people sit down, face each other, and speak honestly.
So every Out of Hand show includes information to inform and conversation to transform.
We bring audiences into dialogue\u2014structured, brave, respectful.
We give them a voice.
We break bread together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We set the table for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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L-R, Ariel Fristoe (Artistic Director) and Adria Kitchens (Activism Director), co-leaders of Out of Hand Theater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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We embrace complexity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We face it with empathy and rigor.
When a topic is hard to talk about\u2014racism, mass incarceration, public health mistrust\u2014we lean in.
We create space for truth and accountability, because without them, there is no progress.
Our plays open hearts.
Our data opens minds.
Our facilitators open pathways forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are innovative.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do not run a theatre building.
We do not rely on ticket sales.
Less than 10% of our revenue comes from audiences.
The rest comes from collaboration\u2014contracts with partners, and grants we win together.
Our revenue has grown steadily since we adopted this business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have remained debt-free, with cash reserves and a sustainable future.
We are proof that arts organizations don\u2019t have to choose between impact and income.
We choose both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are co-creators.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work only exists because of others.
We are co-creators with nonprofits, city governments, public schools, corporations, and courageous individuals.
Each collaboration is an invitation to build something new:
A dinner where hundreds talk about equity across tables.
A living room play about mass incarceration.
A short film that helps someone trust a vaccine.
Each moment is an act of art, of service, and of belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe in results.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we have them.
Over 90% of our participants say they learn something new, feel something deeply, and are inspired to act.
They volunteer.
They vote.
They speak up.
They connect.
The arts change lives\u2014not through spectacle, but through proximity, purpose, and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe in a different future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where theatre companies are also community hubs.
Where performance is also participation.
Where artists are also facilitators, educators, and bridge-builders.
Where the line between art and activism is joyfully erased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe theatre belongs to everyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not just those who can afford it.
Not just those who are already comfortable.
Everyone.
Especially those whose voices have been silenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are changing the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not waiting for the world to change, we are changing it\u2014one conversation, one collaboration, one courageous act at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of Hand Theater<\/strong>
Atlanta, Georgia
Est. 2001
Radically Local. Fiercely Collaborative. Unapologetically Hopeful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If your nonprofit arts organization is not doing these things, but instead is just treading water looking for answers by focusing on the financials instead of the impact, counting the butts in seats because you\u2019d rather be popular than heroic, and presenting plays and musicals and concerts and ballets that you think will sell lots of tickets to rich folks who might want your services instead of poor folks who definitely need to benefit from the experience\u2026 If you won\u2019t change your community for the better in specifically charitable 501(C)(3) kinds of ways (read the code for yourself), why haven\u2019t you just become a for-profit company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because even though you might legally be able to run a nonprofit company, that doesn\u2019t make it one that\u2019s worth a plug nickel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an excerpt from a letter Out of Hand sent to its supporters just recently. Can your company say as much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What We Achieved: Impact Across Georgia<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equitable Dinners: Thriving Together Atlanta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In partnership with the CDC Foundation, City of Atlanta, and National Black Arts Festival<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Courtesy, Out of Hand Theater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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