All our supporters--that means you--have been astonishingly generous with donations, which have been our only source of income during the pandemic aside from greatly reduced city, state, and federal funding.

Your generosity has allowed us to continue paying one full-time and three part-time employees, and to keep up with our $4,700/month rent.

But no live performances or ticket sales for eight months have taken a toll. We've lost $70,000 in ticket sales and $25,000 in venue rentals, and we are now facing the loss of $30,000 in FronteraFest tickets sales.

So although the advent of vaccines is giving us huge hope for next fall--maybe even summer?--we're not quite sure how we're going to get there. Our city funding, which is supported by the hard-hit hotel tax, has been cut by 58%, and the pandemic has hit overworked city staff so hard that we're unlikely to get the city money due to us this year until well into 2021.

We have been excited to present some great virtual programming and will continue that through 2021 or until it is safe to have an audience again.

But we need a little more help before the end of the year. If you're struggling as so many of us are, don't worry about us; just accept our love and thanks for even reading this far.

But if you're able to give even a little, it would help so much and we would be so grateful. You can donate to us directly and securely here.

Stay safe and sane and as cheerful as possible. HPT loves you.

HPT’s selection for the summer new play workshop, Running Bear, by Raul Garza,is now available as an audio drama on the HPT YouTube Channel--or you can listen on Soundcloud.

We had planned to make the show available on both platforms only from November 21-28, but with the playwright's kind permission, we've decided to leave them up through the end of the year. Merry Christmas!

When two solitude-seeking strangers intersect on a footbridge, they are forced to resolve the impasse by confronting past traumas and fading dreams.

Now in its fourth year, the new play workshop’s public reading was postponed from this summer due to Covid-19. But this November, you can hear it as a fully produced workshop directed by Lily Wolff, featuring Mical Trejo and Estrella Saldaña, with sound design by Robert Fisher. Download the PDF program for more information.

Attending is easy! Stream it on Soundcloud, or go to this YouTube link--or search for "Hyde Park Theatre" in your Roku or smart TV YouTube app—and select the Running Bear video. Then sit back and enjoy!

The show is free, but if you're in a position to kick in with a small donation we could sure use it--besides the loss of income due to the coronavirus this year, we're currently experiencing a 58% cut in city funding. The donate link will also be in the YouTube description.

Raul Garza is an Austin-based playwright who has drawn acclaim for telling stories rich with authenticity and sense of place. His full-length play Fantasmaville received the National Latino Playwriting Award, and earned a B. Iden Payne Award nomination for Outstanding Original Script. His short play "MyHEB" garnered FronteraFest Best of Fest accolades. Raul’s full-length plays include Sanctuary, Sinners in the Garden, Confessions of a Mexpatriate, Pig. A Requiem for the '90s, The Last Mixtape, There and Back, and El. His short story "In the Room" won the 2014 Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest, and "LeBaron" was cited for Honorable Mention by the 2014 Texas Observer Short Story Contest. When not writing, Raul transcends with kundalini yoga, devours pop culture, and serves as creative director of TKO Advertising.

The other 2020 finalists were:

• The Howling Gallery, by Katie Bender
• The Amphibians, by Dan Caffrey
• Dominion, by Bill Frisbie
• Model Home, by Doug Gower
• Professors, by Laura Neill
• Ralph Without, by Patrick Shaw

HPT thanks all of the playwrights who shared their work with us for consideration.

The show is free, but if you're in a position to kick in with a small donation we could sure use it.

Hyde Park Theatre is located at 511 W. 43rd Street. Covered off-street parking for the patrons of HPT is available during performances in the lot at 4315 Guadalupe Street, just north of The Parlor. You can drive through The Parlor's parking lot to reach it. Evening HPT parking also available at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. We are grateful to them both for their generosity.

Follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.