Q&A: Leda Hoffmann is Ushering the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio into a New Era

Leda Hoffmann joined the Columbus theater scene in August 2020, when people were thinking more about social distancing than attending a sold-out production. Three years and one pandemic later, she’s settled into her role as the artistic director of the recently rebranded Contemporary Theatre of Ohio (formerly CATCO) with a mission to become a nationally recognized, anti-racist arts organization. 

You've been in Columbus for three years. What about the city sticks out to you? I've just gotten to know the greatest people. And everyone's been so supportive in trying to figure out what's next. The word on everyone's mind all the time is growth. I feel like a lot of us are trying to figure out what that looks like. I think it's no secret that the [Columbus] theater scene is smaller than [other] towns of our size. That's a very exciting opportunity for what could be next. 

What’s changed for theater since the pandemic? People's patterns have shifted. Nationally, what's happening—we're seeing the exact same thing happening at the Contemporary—is that folks who were longtime subscribers ... that subscription base is sinking. Ours is down to, I think, about a third of what it was pre-pandemic. Without those tickets already sold, the kind of work you can do, the financial stability of who you are shifts. We've been running a budget deficit ever since the pandemic started. It's getting better every year, and we've got a five-year plan on how we get out of it. But it means we've got to be really strategic with where we put our resources.  

The exciting part about that is the pandemic was this moment of great change. In this moment where we were all really scared and freaked out and people lost their jobs and we're trying to figure out who we all were, we as a theater company also happened to have this leadership change. It really allowed us to redefine ourselves and really be clear about our core values. We make theater that sparks conversation, that builds empathy, that builds community. 

Your website states: “The Contemporary strives to become a nationally recognized, anti-racist contemporary theater company.” What does anti-racist work look like for the Contemporary? We have to acknowledge the realities of the world in which we live. And anything we do, whether it be an education program in a school or a musical on our stage, cannot be void of the realities of the world around us. One of the major realities of that world is that the racist systems of the world exist. So, what are we gonna do about it? There are some internal things that have obviously shifted that just make it, frankly, a safer place to work. The big thing has happened externally, in terms of the stories we tell onstage. We will never do a season with an all-white playwright selection. The voices that we hear onstage have to be the voices that represent our city. Because that's what Columbus deserves. And we're just going to be completely unapologetic about that. 

To learn more about the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio, visit thecontemporaryohio.org. 

This story is from the December 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly.