The H B Playwrights Foundation Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Developing and producing new plays and work-in-progress: the hb playwrights foundation is a not-for-profit theater, in collaboration with hb studio, committed to developing and producing new plays and playwrights and to the performance of non-commercial theater for the benefit of the artists involved. During an ordinary year, hbpf will produce works-in-progress productions in collaboration with hb studio. In the fiscal year ending 8/31/2025, hbpf supported 23 public events in its hb playwrights theatre and provided rental space to 8 artistic projects.(continued on schedule o)(a)residency projects: hb studio's residency program provides space for artists to rehearse and present new work at an early-to mid-stage of development with the production capability of the hb playwrights theatre. Six(6) week-long residencies, featuring 54 artists, culminated in public presentations. Residency projects included: sons of an unknown father (2/3/25-2/9/25); pyrrah, the poet, and planet earth (3/31/25-4/6/25); divergentes: que harias por amor?(6/9/25-6/15/25); my body says no (6/23/25-6/29/25); waiting: a queer black tragicomedy in two acts (7/7/25-7/13/25); and lucha libre (7/21/25-7/27/25). Hb also hosted acting out and conch shell productions. Acting out is a resident company of formerly incarcerated persons that presented the odets project (1/18/25- 1/19/25), an acting out book event (5/4/25), and rich: songs of love and outrage (8/3/25). Conch shell productions is a resident company supporting emerging voices of the caribbean diaspora and the caribbean theatre and film scene and presented its new works festival (12/6/24-12/7/24). Hb also hosted spiderwoman theater, the oldest continually running indigenous feminist theater company in the americas, which presented a storyweaving workshop performance (5/16/25-5/17/25), and basement theatrics, an emerging theatre collective dedicated to the development of new work through readings, workshops, productions, and artist-centered community programming. These residency projects and hosted companies engaged 137 artists, presented 17 public performances and presentations, and served an audience of 714.(i)hb studio works-in-progress productions and public events: hb hosted eight(8) staged readings of new full-length plays and established works in development presented in the hb playwrights theatre and the helen gallagher studio theatre, featuring 56 artists, to a total audience of 197. Readings featured: velvet rage: a queer-ass play (4/12/25), rhinoceros (4/19/25), implicit memory systems: a jungian farce (4/26/25), bhai bhai bhai (5/11/25), accidental death of an anarchist (5/17/25), the auditioneers (5/18/25), exit the king (5/31/25), and stay calm (6/7/25).(ii)moderated public talks: public conversations with artists about contemporary theater concerns. Four(4) public talks were held in fy25, featuring 22 artists and serving an audience of 106 topics included: a conversation with max casella and michael beckett (3/9/25); crowdfunding for creatives: turning community into capital with zaq latino (5/3/25); the international student roundtable (5/24/25); and a conversation (hb insight series): the testimony project, pt.1: theatre as a witness to our times with frank wood & emily adler; the testimony project, pt2: noel coward's legacy at hb studio with alan pally & frank wood; and the testimony project, pt.3 with tina satter & frank wood.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
• Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Limited
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -169.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.98; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 27.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings