Weighting the Wait Partnership Opportunities | Open Theatre Project

A guide for Producing Organizations wanting to host Weighting the Wait

Bringing Weighting the Wait to Your Community

Since its world premiere at St. John's Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain, Weighting the Wait has drawn interest from venues, schools, faith communities, and arts organizations looking to bring the production to their own communities. Open Theatre Project has put together a partnership packet outlining what that could look like.

The contents below covers the story behind the production, including its origins in story circles with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, three ways to produce the show, ranging from an intimate story circle experience to the full staged production, estimated budgets and flexible cost-sharing models for each option, and next steps for organizations ready to start a conversation.

Interested in bringing Weighting the Wait to your organization? Reach out at contact@theopentheatre.com.

ABOUT WEIGHTING THE WAIT

Weighting the Wait is an embodiment of Open Theatre Project's commitment to lifting up stories of the unheard, and to strengthening a shared sense of collaboration and community. This is a devised theatre performance, a choral movement piece giving voice to the aftermath of loss to gun violence for parents and community, and to the role of the state and community in that experience. Built through community story circles in partnership with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, the piece lifts up the power of story to connect actor to actor, actor to audience, and audience member to audience member.

It was not a script handed down from above, but something grown from the ground up, shaped directly by the people who lived it. The cast does not arrive with answers. The cast bears witness, and reflects the stories back to the room, because the story belongs to everyone sitting in it.

Movement is not decorative in Weighting the Wait, it is structural. The piece weaves movement choreography together with spoken text and ensemble performance to explore grief, memory, and the long road toward healing. Choreographed by Audrey Johnson, the movement work gives physical shape to the story circles at the heart of the piece: the cast moves as a chorus, echoing and supporting one another's testimony, so that the loss carried by one performer becomes something the full ensemble holds and moves through together.
Weighting the Wait was developed as part of Open Theatre Project's Open Voices Series. It was written by participants in the LDBPI/OTP writing circles facilitated by Dev Luthra, with additional text by Dev Luthra and text refinement by Lucas Milliken. The production is directed by Dev Luthra, with choreography by Audrey Johnson and light and set design by Gordon Gumuchian.

The full production runs approximately 70 minutes, including time to view the Requiem Pieces installation and a post-show talkback with the audience, and features a cast of five actors.

Weighting the Wait premiered May 22 through 30, 2026, at St. John's Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, for eight performances. Interest in the production since closing has led Open Theatre Project to offer it for future productions with venues, schools, arts organizations, faith communities, and community centers.

What Audiences Are Saying

“I felt welcome in a community outside of my own. The performance offered a door for me to walk through.”
“This was sacred work presented in a sacred space.”

“Absolutely thoughtful and emotionally provoking.”

“It awoke something that was sleeping inside me.”

“The best combination of pathos and advocacy I have seen.”

“This topic, which is raw and tender for most, was presented in a beautiful way that was validating without creating more wounds.”

“An engaging work that takes community collaboration seriously.”

Notes from the Cast Crew & Collaborators

“There was a powerful magic embedded and woven into this show. Breathtaking and breathgiving.”

“This piece was an incredible tapestry of pain and healing woven together, not seamlessly. The seams were visible, and that made the tapestry all the more stunning.”

“It reinforced my belief in the power of theatre to create and sustain community.”

“What stays with me is the complexity of healing.”

Excerpt from the Production: Scene 3

This Excerpt was chosen because it distills the throughline of the entire piece: the power of story to move from person to person. The letter the Moms write together is passed hand to hand within the scene, then physically extended out toward the audience in the closing image, actor to actor, actor to audience, and by extension, audience member to audience member. It is the clearest, most literal staging of the connectivity that runs through all of Weighting the Wait.

The scene's closing question, “Who do I send it to?”, also opens directly onto the piece's larger concern with where responsibility and care are supposed to live: family, community, the state, the church, and the peace worker who sits with families in a way a police report or a courtroom cannot. That is the work the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute does every day, and it is not incidental to this piece. Weighting the Wait was written with participants in the LDBPI writing circles, and several of the Moms' voices in this scene carry directly from those conversations.

*****

A placard is paraded across the stage, reading: Who do I send it to?
The Moms crowd around one of them who is finishing a letter. Perhaps they are all involved in writing the letter, suggesting additions, edits.

MOM/T: I have written a letter. A letter to let people know what death, sudden, awful, brutal death, leaves behind.
MOM/Z: My bleeding and broken heart. My river of tears. The wall of indifference imprisoning me. The wet eyes and commiserations. The assumptions.
MOM/L: O I am so tired of the assumptions. Tired of people saying I'm strong. I don't have a choice. I have to work. Be there for my family, children, and my son. He would want me to continue on. Stolen and taken. Return him to me. Return him to me.
MOM/C: The grief, the grief, oh the grief. And here it is, this letter, hot with the power of feeling, of anger and desire for retribution, dripping with blood and loss, the gaping holes of loss.
Anxious, excited, one of them signs the letter, another folds it up, another puts it in an envelope, another seals it. Settles to address it. Hesitation.
MOM/D: And, and now, now, who should I send it to?
MOM/Z: To the powers that be?
MOM/T: To the State?
MOM/L: The Police?
MOM/D: To the Agency?
MOM/C: To the people who matter!
MOM/L: To the priest and the social worker?
MOM/Z: To Saint Peter?
MOM/L: Who do I send it to? You?

MOM/L stretches out the letter to the people. The other Moms stretch out their letters to the people.

Why Bring This Production to Your Organization

Weighting the Wait offers value across several dimensions, and organizations often find more than one of these resonates:

Community dialogue and healing: post-show talkbacks create space for audiences to process grief, resilience, and hope together, often alongside guests from the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.

Educational value: curriculum connections around restorative justice, oral history, community storytelling, and the devised theatre process.

Advocacy and visibility: partnership with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute connects a host organization to an established violence prevention and healing organization with deep community roots.

Audience engagement: the production draws audiences invested in socially engaged, community-based art, offering something distinct from a typical season offering.

Faith and community relevance: themes of grief, remembrance, and collective healing resonate directly with congregational and community life.

Expected outcomes include deepened community dialogue, expanded visibility for the host organization's own mission, strengthened ties to the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute's violence prevention work, and a shared artistic experience uncommon in most communities.

Open Theatre Project's hope is that this piece will inspire collective action, energizing communities to take action and inspiring your organization and community to do more.

Which Option Is Right for You?

Open Theatre Project offers three ways to bring Weighting the Wait to your organization, ranging from an accessible, low-commitment entry point to a full staged production. All three are built on the same story circle foundation and the same partnership with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. Every detail within an option, including scheduling, marketing support, and community partner involvement, is customized to fit your organization.

A few questions worth asking as you consider which fits best:

What's your intention? Are you looking to open a community conversation, support a curriculum, or present a full theatrical event?
What's your budget range for this engagement?
What space do you have available? A flexible room such as a fellowship hall, a classroom, or a full performance venue?
Is this a first step toward a larger partnership, or a one-time engagement?

Organizations often start with the Story Circle Experience or Educational Edition and grow into a Full Production over time, as the relationship and community interest develop. A note for faith communities specifically: Open Theatre Project has found the strongest fit with interfaith committees that already collaborate across congregations, rather than a single congregation working alone, and many congregations have flexible non-worship spaces, such as fellowship halls, that lower the barrier to hosting.

Three Ways to Produce Weighting the Wait

Format
A multi-hour, facilitated story circle session led by at least two Open Theatre Project staff, with engagement before and after.

Content
Draws on text prompts from Weighting the Wait as well as the original story circle prompts used to create the production.

Best suited for
Community groups, faith communities, and organizations seeking a participatory experience rather than a staged performance. Interfaith committees that already collaborate across congregations tend to be a stronger fit than a single congregation working alone.

Estimated budget
Around $1,000, depending on add-ons selected.

Add-on menu
Marketing and promotional support, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute co-facilitation, and extended session formats.

Format
Abridged script performed by a cast of three, approximately 20 minutes, with pre- and post-show engagement. Accompanied by a study guide for classroom and educational use.

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute engagement
Includes direct engagement from the Institute: peace banners, peace poles, and related programming.

Best suited for
School assemblies, classroom periods, and community education settings.

Estimated budget
Around $5,000 to $7,000, depending on venue and add-ons selected.

Ticketing and cost models
Same flexible cost-sharing and fundraising options as the Full Production.

Add-on menu
Talkbacks, marketing and promotional support, and expanded Louis D. Brown Peace Institute programming.

Format
Full-length choral movement theatre performance, approximately 70 minutes, including time to view the Requiem Pieces installation and a post-show talkback with the audience.

Run length
Ideally a minimum two-weekend run (8 to 10 performances) to support a recoup-based model. Many single organizations, such as an individual congregation, may find that commitment difficult on their own. Open Theatre Project is glad to explore co-producing a run across multiple organizations to share the commitment and reach a shared audience.

Cast and crew
Cast of five actors; technical requirements flexible to fit your venue's existing capabilities.

Venue notes
Many congregations have flexible non-worship spaces, such as fellowship halls, that can lower the barrier to hosting a full production.

Artwork
The original production is staged within Rosalyn Elder's Requiem Pieces quilt installation. Inclusion in touring productions is subject to venue capacity and artist availability. See The Requiem Project section above.

Estimated budget
Around $15,000. Final cost depends on venue, run length, and add-ons selected.

Ticketing and cost models
Flexible: Open Theatre Project may front costs and retain ticket sales; the host organization may cover costs and retain sales; or costs and sales may be split by shared agreement. Open Theatre Project is also glad to explore joint fundraising.

Add-on menu
Post-show talkbacks with Louis D. Brown Peace Institute guests, marketing and promotional support, extended community partner engagement, and additional options by request.

NEXT STEPS

Reach out to start a conversation about bringing Weighting the Wait to your organization.
Select and customize a production option together.
Confirm budget, ticketing and cost model, and schedule.
Secure the engagement with a deposit.

A 50 percent deposit is required to confirm a Full Production booking (terms subject to adjustment for other options). Open Theatre Project is also glad to explore joint fundraising for organizations interested in producing the show while working within budget constraints.

Contact
Open Theatre Project (Open Theatre Inc.)
theopentheatre.com
contact@theopentheatre.com