New board chair at Buddies theatre exits
There’s more disruption behind the scenes at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Its new board chairperson, Jason Aviss, has stepped down after a brief stint in the role.
Aviss, an arts consultant and events producer, joined the Buddies board with Christina Cicko and Brendan McMurtry-Howlett after the entire previous board resigned in January. The theatre confirmed the new board members’ appointments Jan. 28; Aviss stepped down in early February.
Aviss told the Star he “decided to resign when it became clear to me that what I understood to be within the scope of responsibilities of a board of directors was at odds with what the other board members and staff understood that scope to be.”
Entertainment lawyer Derrick Chua said he was not surprised that this misunderstanding took place. “I think individual’s understanding of the responsibilities of a board comes a lot from their background and their experience of boards,” said Chua. “I have sat on at least a dozen boards, and they all operate differently. None of this is illegal or unusual, but the way governance has developed. And the relationship between board and staff does vary from organization to organization.”
Buddies has been in a process of organizational review and transformation since the summer of 2020, involving two outside consultants and a third-party review committee. Given the scale of self-interrogation and change that Buddies is attempting, “I don’t know that there is a guidebook for that,” said Chua.
“It seemed like the new board was brought in quickly, so I’m not surprised that at least one of them had different expectations from the others.”
The Star sent questions about Aviss’s departure to the board and Daniel Carter, interim director of operations and programming, and the four responded jointly in an email.
“Jason stepped up in a really important moment, and we are incredibly grateful for the work he put in while he was serving on the board,” they wrote.
Asked if this continued shuffle of board members was a sign of instability at the organization, the board and Carter pointed to its recent programming, including the 43rd Rhubarb Festival, the premiere of the audio play “The Hooves Belong to the Deer” by Makram Ayache as part of its “Queer, Far, Wherever You Are” series of digital and hybrid events and the upcoming run of the play
“White Girls in Moccasins” from manidoons collective.
“The new board and staff have been building a strong relationship and channels of communications over the past month,” the board members and Carter wrote. “The board is continuing to collate past recommendations and receive staff input to ensure the company is moving forward in a good way.”
Buddies was founded in 1979 by Sky Gilbert, Matt Walsh and Jerry Ciccoritti and is now the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world.
The theatre has had five artistic directors in its history, most recently Evalyn Parry, who took on the position in 2015. Buddies began its organizational review process in the summer of 2020, following calls from community members for Buddies to be accountable for the ways in which anti-Black racism and other forms of oppression manifested at the organization and went unaddressed.
(I) decided to res ign when it became clear to me that what I understood to be within the scope of responsibilities of a board of directors was at odds with what the other board members and staff understood.
JASON AVISS