Playwright Refuses to Let Old Globe Stage His Play

Playwright Jon Robin Baitz has refused permission to the Old Globe Theatre to mount a West Coast premiere of his new play, “Substance of Fire,” in its announced Jan. 18-March 1 slot.

Baitz said from his New York home that he had told Old Globe managing director Thomas Hall in August that he would not allow the theater to produce the show as long as it refuses to sign a standard Dramatist Guild minimum contract or interim agreement for the show.

His dispute is part of a larger five-year fight between the guild and the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), an organization of 64 nonprofit resident theaters, that dates back to when the guild first tried to obtain a standard minimum contract from LORT.

The Old Globe announced at the end of September that “Substance of Fire” would be part of its six-play winter season. Hall, who is also president of LORT, could not be reached for comment.

Hall has fought this battle with the Dramatists Guild before, and he won the last round. Last year, playwright A.R. Gurney resigned from the Dramatists Guild when the organization demanded that he withhold his play, “The Snow Ball,” until the Globe signed the guild contract. The show was produced at the Old Globe in May. In January, the Globe will produce the West Coast premiere of Gurney’s newest work, “The Old Boy.”

The guild represents 7,000 American and British playwrights and has minimum stipulations regarding authors’ royalties and the playwrights’ right to approve actors and directors. But, in previous interviews, Hall has said the sticking point is the guild’s restriction on a theater’s right to participate in, and profit from, future productions in New York.

“When we’re investing a half-million dollars in a production, you expect you’ll have some say in its future. You never make that money back in a nonprofit theater. The only hope is to make it back in a commercial production,” Hall said in a 1990 interview.

A production of “Substance of Fire” is now running at the Dallas Theatre Center, which also did not sign the guild agreement, but, according to Baitz, that was because he was “very very busy, and I wasn’t paying attention.”

While there was never a possibility of the Globe sharing in any future profits from “Substance of Fire,” Baitz said. He said he was withholding the show on principle, though not without regrets.

“I’ve gone to the Old Globe since I was a little boy,” said Baitz, whose parents live in Los Angeles. “I love the theater, and I was very happy they wanted to do the play. But there was no way I would step over other playwrights and go ahead with the production. The Old Globe is a very big holdout (to signing the guild contract)--a significant holdout. My regret is that there is no negotiation between LORT and the guild right now.

“ C’est la guerre .”