More than a dozen current and former Alley Theatre employees allege the outgoing artistic director, Gregory Boyd, had created a toxic work atmosphere by singling out young actresses for verbal abuse.
Boyd abruptly retired this week from the theatre after 28 years. The company’s tax records show Boyd was a year into a five-year contract and was paid at least $420,000 in fiscal year 2016.
The allegations mainly focus on bullying and abusive behavior toward young women under Boyd’s direction on the stage, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Emily Trask, a member of the theatre for nearly two years, said she quit the company in April after reporting that Boyd bullied her, called her vulgarities and twice touched her inappropriately.
“I felt I had no choice but to leave what was my dream job,” she said to the Chronicle, citing “harassment and what I felt to be an unsafe environment.”
The newspaper reports that Boyd hasn’t responded to its requests for comment and theater officials declined comment.
A second actress, who was not identified for fear of retaliation, said Boyd pinched her buttocks once on stage and once while she was making coffee in a break room. “It was a very scary place to work for me,” she said, “a very hostile place.”
The theater’s administrators and board president declined to answer questions about the allegations against Boyd.
#MeToo comes to Houston: After Gregory Boyd's abrupt resignation, Alley Theatre actors tell the inside story. https://t.co/Y8nJovpn9l pic.twitter.com/zH7RiJfEao
— Lisa Gray (@LisaGray_HouTX) January 12, 2018
Alley Theatre could face challenges in replacing Gregory Boyd https://t.co/QTr9uw5uaZ via @HoustonChron
— Katherine Feser (@kfeser) January 10, 2018
Did the #metoo movement force @AlleyTheatre’s hand in the retirement of Gregory Boyd? Explosive allegations on #abc13 at 6. pic.twitter.com/x58ZYvxxiQ
— Miya Shay (@ABC13Miya) January 10, 2018
"He took away our voices and put us in our underwear."
More than a dozen current and former Alley Theatre employees say Gregory Boyd singled out young female actresses for verbal abuse. https://t.co/Fg4J76gUdb
— Wei-Huan Chen (@weihuanchen) January 12, 2018
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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com