Running a Theater, and a Family Q&A

Craig Smith and Elise Stone have graced the East Village theater scene for more than three decades, first at the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre for 50 combined years, before founding the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble in 2004.

Celebrating 25 years of marriage this month, Smith and Stone make time for three teenagers, three rescued pets, and for Smith, a fulltime job at a publishing company, where I met them over a decade ago.

Hectic schedules aside, Smith, Stone, and I discuss some of their great passions: family, theater, and animal rights:

What was the genesis of the decision to leave the Cocteau, and start your own theater company?

Craig Smith: 2004 was a time of choice for Elise and me. We had recently adopted children and a life in the arts is not always kind or supportive to families. We had cumulatively acted in over 250 productions, maybe it was enough? I guess it wasn’t! We and three other colleagues decided to start a new theater company with no assets but wanted an organization run by artists which would hold up artists first and foremost. We had our eyes wide open, as we knew the challenges of nonprofit arts. And, not surprisingly, it has not been easy, but we have marshalled on.

Now, 10 years later, how’s it going?

Elise Stone: Phoenix is in its eleventh season and we are really proud of the high caliber work. In addition to live performance, we have provided semester-long programs in NYC public schools for the past nine years and also do outreach programs for seniors.

We have a continued commitment to make high quality theater accessible to ALL people regardless of their ability to afford a $25 ticket. We have no lack of talented theatre artists and communities that need to be served by our programs. What we do lack — constantly — is the kind of support that makes the work we do possible. Every day is filled with anxiety that there won’t be enough donations to get us through the next semester — the next production — the next workshop for seniors. Craig and I have spent our lives making theater. We don’t walk in the kind of circles where we have powerful friends with money, influence or star power. We are very dependent on the generosity of our individual donors and audience members.

In 2002, you adopted two children, ages 3 and 5, from Ethiopia. What were those first moments like?

Craig Smith: When our first two children came home in 2002, it was completely insane. We had been preparing for their adoption since well before 9/11 – we were fingerprinted, home studied, submitted reams of documents, taken crash courses in Amharic (the language of Ethiopia), and looked forward to the arrival with great excitement. When they arrived at Newark Airport, it was intense, exhilarating, and very challenging. They spoke no English – we knew about 25 words in Amharic, and we were all striving mightily to adjust to totally new surroundings and new lives. I so admired their bravery, fortitude, and zest for life.

We later discovered that our daughter had a biological brother in Ethiopia and after a very long and exhausting process, our third child, already 11 years old, came home to us in 2005. We, as a family made it work, and it is, as it was supposed to be. We are so very happy.

Craig, soon after adopting your son Tesfahun and daughter Hakima, you donated a kidney to your brother.

Craig Smith: My brother, who was six years older than me, had chronic kidney disease. I knew that I would be an appropriate donor for him, and this was confirmed shortly before the children arrived in 2002. The pre-op was somewhat time consuming in a not-too-challenging overall process. I had to take tests here in NYC for the operation, which would take place in Minneapolis. The actual donation was really very easy – a laparoscopic procedure and I was out of the hospital two days later, driving the car and having a beer at my high school reunion!

Elise, you are the organizer of the NYC Vegan Spirituality Meet-up and have a home filled with adopted dogs and cats. Tell us a bit about your compassionate life choices.

Elise Stone: My kids (and anyone else eating at my house) are all vegan when they eat at the family table because I only cook vegan food — they actually prefer my veganized versions of all their favorites, and sometimes even admit it! The kids aren’t fully vegan, but perhaps when they are older, I hope they will be; but of course they are all their own people. Craig, on the other hand, has pretty much become vegan by this point and I see more and more people who are vegan or pre-vegan joining us at the weekly Vegan Spirituality Meet-up.

A few years ago we just felt called upon to open our home to another four-legged family member (to join the cats). We began fostering a blind, diabetic terrier. It soon became obvious that we should adopt Merlin, and we did. Then, one of our rescue friends had an urgent situation with a very sick rat terrier. I carried him in a sling across my body to keep him warm and nursed him back to health. And of course we fell in love with him — that was our sweet Mr. Button — he had a couple of happy years with us and then he passed. He was the sweetest gentlest creature I have ever met and I still miss him terribly. Currently, we have Merlin and the cats, Charlie and Twinkle Toes.

In four decades of living, and working, in the East Village, what changes have you seen?

Craig Smith: The East Village has changed dramatically and it is not going in the right direction. We have 7-Elevens and IHOP, for God’s sake and enough gyms to service a small country. The independent stores are disappearing. I blame zoning laws that allow developers to increase retail rents which force out the small business. We have lost our character, we have lost our culture. I mean do we really want a Bowery and St. Mark’s strip mall? I keep hearing Joni Mitchell singing “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.”

The Phoenix recently performed August Strindberg’s Creditors. What’s next?

Elise Stone: On December 28th we have a benefit staged reading of Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milk Wood.” 2014 is the Centennial of Thomas’s birth, so this is an excellent celebration of one of the most beautiful works of the Welsh/English language. In February 2015, we’ll have a staged reading of Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of our Teeth” with much more planned for the spring and beyond.

Craig Smith: Keeping all the balls in the air is a workout. We have three teenagers at home with the oldest going to college next year and a sophomore and a junior right after that, a full season of theater which employs hundreds of artists, an audience to keep happy, sets to build, plays to read, students to teach, and stories to tell. It is just about always stressful but never dull.

For tickets, information on future events,go to: phoenixtheatreensemble.org