Staff members at a Rhode Island theatre company have resigned following an investigation into allegations of sexual assault against the company’s artistic director, who has vowed to continue in his role.

Cranston's Epic Theatre Company’s Executive Director Megan Ruggiero, along with top staff Angelique Dina and Lauren Pothier, have all resigned after they said they investigated an alleged victim's claim against the artistic director, Kevin Broccoli.

According to Ruggiero, following an investigation into the allegations, they “deemed the allegations and survivor’s statement [against Broccoli] credible.”

Broccoli, has stated that he will stay on as artistic director. In a statement to local news, he said:

“The goal right now is to give anyone who has been made to feel that Epic was an unsafe space the assurance that it will not be business as usual while this is handled. Megan, Lauren, and Angelique have made the decision to resign, and I thank them for dealing with this with the utmost grace and integrity.”

Due to the fact that the theatre company has no board of directors, that prevented Ruggiero and the rest of the team from firing Broccoli from his post.

“Though Kevin told us he will be remaining at Epic to accept responsibility, hold himself accountable, and swiftly try to install new leadership, we still felt uncomfortable remaking in our staff positions,” she told local news.

While the details of the allegations have not yet been public. Broccoli, on his part, seemed to have accepted responsibility for unethical behavior in his role as artistic director.

This week, Broccoli wrote that staff members came to him and “informed him that someone had come to them to tell them about an interaction with me that the person felt rose to the level of an assault.”

He continued,

“Although Epic is not a large company, we do have certain resources and a history of production that I think has some value and I wanted to know if there was a way to continue on with the company if I stepped aside. I felt that whoever was in charge of Epic once we went public with this would inevitably face a storm of criticism. In a sense, they would be asked to clean up a mess caused by me, and I didn’t think that was fair. My suggestion was to have Megan, Lauren, and anyone else on staff resign, and that I would make myself available to face that criticism on my own.”
“While I do not know who the person is that has spoken to the staff, I do know that over the years, I have absolutely made mistakes in regards to starting inappropriate relationships with other people I had working relationships with, and as an Artistic Director, I should have known better. Professionalism dictates that any interaction I have with someone working with the company, even while consensual, involves that person having to navigate whether or not engaging with me will be useful in some way and/or whether not engaging with me will hurt them in some way.”

Epic Theatre Company has been the residential theatre company for Crantson’s Artists' Exchange since 2013. It is unclear if these allegations and resulting resignations will impact Epic’s partnership with the organization.

This is a developing story and we will update this piece with new information as it becomes available.

RI Theatre Staff Resign Amid Allegations of Sexual Assault Against Artistic Director

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