June 18, 2016
Thom Carroll//PhillyVoice
Joe Paprzycki, who founded the South Camden Theater Company 15 years ago and built a viable performance venue on a parcel where his grandfather once owned a bar, was ousted by his board of directors earlier this week. The board has not publicly explained it action.
Five days after voting to remove its founder as producing artistic director, the board leader for the South Camden Theater Company explained the board’s actions in a written statement.
The move meant severing ties with Joseph Papryzcki, the man who founded and was the guiding force behind the theater for 15 years.
The board’s president, Robert A. Bingaman, emailed a statement on Friday which ran more than 1,300 words. The story about the dismissal was half that length.
The core of the statement reads:
“The decision to remove Joseph Papryzcki as Producing Artistic Director was not made lightly.
“The board recognized that it owed a duty to the city of Camden, its patrons, and its donors to ensure that the South Camden Theatre Company and the Waterfront South Theatre remained viable, so that it could continue to bring additional life to the neighborhood.
“Taking this duty into account along with the current state of the company’s finances, the declining attendance at our shows, and the many challenges facing the company, the board decided that it was in the company’s best interest to move in a new direction.”
Bingaman said most of the season scheduled by Papryzcki, with the exception of one play, will remain in place, though a new producer may make changes.
Related story: Et tu? South Camden Theater Company ousts founder
Papryzcki, who resigned his post on the board after being removed from his unpaid producing position, on Saturday simply said, “I stand by what I have said” previously.
The non-profit theater company was asked by PhillyVoice for its tax filings on Saturday. They were not immediately provided by Bingaman.
IRS documents known as 990s are considered public documents. Bingaman, who cited the theater's finances as one reason for ousting its founder, said the documents will be provided.
