Public commenters allege harassment and unsafe rehearsal practices at Barn Theatre; city attorney says police have been involved

Tamara Phillips, a local performer and former journalist, told the City of Stuart commission she and others were either dismissed or resigned from a recent Barn Theatre production and alleged an unsafe and "charged rehearsal environment," including instances she said involved a cast member repeatedly bringing a loaded firearm to rehearsals. "I was dismissed after repeatedly reporting a charged rehearsal environment and raising concerns," Phillips said while reading a prepared statement during public comment.

Mayor Campbell Rich and other commissioners stressed the seriousness of the accusations and the difficulty of adjudicating claims about an absent individual during public comment. City Attorney Patrick Baggett told the commission that "there are some issues that could rise to criminal allegations, which have been turned over to the police department because the Barn Theatre is within the city limits, and the police have investigated any allegations that would be handled by the police department." He added that other claims could fall into civil employment-law areas rather than criminal statutes.

Phillips named the Barn Theatre artistic director and the theater's board president in her remarks and asked the commission to investigate safety and governance concerns. Other public commenters during the same period called for broader preservation of public records and formal inquiry into alleged wrongdoing by city actors; commissioners did not open a formal internal investigation on the Barn Theatre matter at the meeting.

The meeting packet and on-the-record remarks cited both criminal-scope complaints (for example, unsafe firearm handling) and allegations that would more typically be resolved through employment or civil litigation. Commissioner comments and the city attorney's statements left the factual status of many of the allegations unresolved; Baggett said investigators could identify which matters required police follow-up and which would be civil claims.

Next steps referenced at the meeting: members of the public were told they may file public-record requests for the full written statement; law enforcement involvement was indicated by the city attorney; and the commission encouraged anyone with specific evidence to provide it to investigators. The commission did not vote on or direct staff to open a formal city-led investigation into the Barn Theatre at the Nov. 10 meeting.