The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) withdrew a $200,000 grant it already had approved to Round House Theatre. The money was intended to underwrite the recent production of “Bad Books.”
The loss leaves the theater in Bethesda “with a significant hole in our budget this fiscal year,” according to an email it sent to its followers.
Round House was notified at 9:30 p.m. on May 2 that the entire NEA grant had been withdrawn, according to Ed Zakreski, managing director.
That was just two days before the show, which had opened April 2, closed on May 4.
“That grant was cancelled after business hours on Friday night, when we had already presented the play nearly three dozen times and had only three performances to go before it closed,” theater officials wrote in the email.
According to the message Round House received, the grant was withdrawn because it no longer aligns with the current administration’s policy, Zakreski told MCM.
By the time the message was received, “all the money was spent,” he said.
Zakreski is optimistic that Round House’s “incredibly passionate core” of theater goers will step up and contribute to make up the $200,000 deficit.
However, he said. “I am incredibly scared for what this means for the arts in the United States.”
“The NEA has always worked to be bipartisan or nonpartisan, depending on your view,” Zakreski said, noting that NEA has “never” before withdrawn a grant it had already approved. The grant was offered in November of 2024.
