The Flea Theater

What it reported doing in 2024

The flea's 2024 world premiere was bathhouse.pptx, written by jess i. Valles and directed by chay yew. Moving between (a)historical lecture, re-enactment, and cruising ground, bathhouse.pptx is an ode to the places that hold queer awakening, desire, and longing; the ghosts who inhabit them; and their threat of extinction. Bathhouse.pptx received its world premiere from march 22 - april 21, 2024. Due to this production's overwhelming success, the flea extended the run for 12 performances through may 6. Valles was a 2024 tow playwright in residence at the flea. Bathhouse.pptx was called "a fever dream, both poetic and mystifying" by the New York times, and gay city news exclaimed, "bathhouse.pptx ignites off-off broadway with artistry and heart... Stunningly original." bathhouse.pptx was published in 2024 by yale university press.the flea completed our pilot resident company program, which offers three-year residencies to a cohort of companies from our community that require support in their artistic and operational capacities. The a new cohort of two companies was selected for 2025 and includes vibe theater experience, a brooklyn-based performing arts nonprofit that provides free theater and music education programming, academic and wellness support services, youth leadership, and workforce development opportunities to bipoc girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people ages 13-26 throughout nyc and nationwide; and tribe, a multidisciplinary art collective that cultivates space to create a platform for artists inspired by the afrofuturism movement, led by doris duke award recipient and macarthur fellow shamel pitts.the flea expanded our juneteenth public performances program in 2024, commissioning and producing the work of eight artists who presented their work free and open to the public at venues across nyc, including the african burial ground, lincoln center atrium, and governors island.the flea also produced the New York premiere of an interdisciplinary opera, ritual of breath: the rite to resist, presented at lincoln center in july 2024 in collaboration with the hopkins center at dartmouth college. The opera tells a story of loss and conviction told from the perspective of erica garner, eric garner's daughter. The work was accompanied with dozens of "community activations" across the city led by a community producer that engaged thousands of new yorkers across the boroughs in both fine arts and racial justice activations. The opera was performed with a professional company and a 75-person community choir and was free to the public.finally, in december, the flea won a finishing commission to partner with under the radar festival to develop our 2025 mainstage we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism with obie-award winning artist jennifer kidwell. That development began in 2024 with a workshop and continued into the new year.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
• Fundraising efficiency: $2.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited
• Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
• Public policy transparency: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
• Public financial transparency: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
• Impact reporting controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
• Public relationship transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
• Public governance controls: 4 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 100
• Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -146.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Operating reserve ratio: 8.34; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings