NEW YORK CITY: Caborca and IndieSpace have launched the One More Equity Health Week Players, a play reading series that aims explore new plays and secure health insurance coverage for 14-16 actors and stage managers represented by Actors’ Equity Association who are one week short of eligibility to secure their next six months of health insurance coverage. IndieSpace awarded Caborca with a $5,000 grant for this new reading series.
“In a time of growing uncertainty around health care access, I wanted to find a way to help close an all-too-common gap for theatre workers,” said stage manager and Caborca founding member Erin Koster, who conceived the program, in a statement. “I’m so grateful that Caborca immediately embraced this idea and went to work to make it a reality. Helping stage managers and actors just shy of eligibility qualify for coverage through the Equity-League Health Fund—one of the strongest health plans in the country—is, I hope, a small but meaningful way to care for our collaborators and the larger theatre community.”
Performing arts workers earn six months of health insurance coverage through the Equity-League Benefit Funds by working a set number of contracted weeks within a year, but the unpredictability of the industry often leads to gaps in coverage. Caborca issued an open call to participate in this reading series on its website, with the first installment to take place in January 2026; its first cycle is now full, but the company is now planning for February.
“When Caborca shared this bold, inventive idea, we jumped at the chance to help make it happen,” IndieSpace executive director Randi Berry said in a statement. “IndieSpace exists to respond to artists’ needs and to fill the gaps they’re consistently forced to navigate. Supporting OMEHWP is a no-brainer — this model has real potential as a scalable short-term strategy while we work collectively toward a lasting solution to address the health care crisis in this country.”
Caborca is a bilingual ensemble under the artistic direction of Javier Antonio González. Founded in 2009, Caborca creates work at the intersection of Latine and experimental theatre, with a particular focus on corrupt and colonial power.
IndieSpace was established in 2016 to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theatres and to address systemic inequities in NYC real estate. In 2022, it merged with Indie Theater Fund, an organization focused on a new model for equitable funding for the indie theatre community.
