SALISBURY — Piedmont Players Theatre’s Artistic Director Bradley Moore was let go on Tuesday, and actors and other volunteers with the theater have started a petition asking for Moore to be reinstated. Upcoming showings of “POTUS” have also been canceled as a result.

The cast and workers with POTUS were not told that Moore had been fired until two days afterwards, just a few hours before their next rehearsal, Stage Manager Daniel Keith said. Keith said that the cast had a conversation amongst themselves about how best to move forward and decided that they were not willing to do that without Moore.

“We told them ‘if you want this show to continue, you’ll have to let Bradley come back and finish this show at least. The president of the board said he’d look into it. He came back later and said that he was unable to make that happen,” Keith said.

Keith, who lives in Charlotte, said that many people from Charlotte, Concord and other areas around North Carolina were willing to make the trip to Salisbury to participate in Piedmont Players Theatre’s productions because of the open and welcoming environment that Moore had fostered during his tenure.

Moore, in a response via email on Friday, said that he was informed he was being let go at approximately 9:30 p.m. after working for 12 hours that day in the theater. Moore said that he told the cast that they should do whatever was best for themselves, and not worry about him when making any decisions.

“They all worked so hard on POTUS and they were all just so incredibly brilliant in their roles. I really wanted the community to see just how insanely talented these actors are and how wickedly funny and amazing our show was, but the cast decided that they didn’t want to do the show without me,” Moore said.

A petition for Moore’s reinstatement to the role has been created by volunteers who worked under him. Caroline Forrester, who started the petition, said that most of the people participating in shows or classes under Moore found out through the theater’s Facebook post, which was posted at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. None of Keith, Forrester or Moore himself said that they were told exactly why Moore had been let go. Moore said that the only reasoning given was that his artistic vision “was no longer the artistic vision that the theater desired for the future.” Keith, however, said that Moore and the board had a large disconnect caused by board opposition to Moore’s openness to diverse viewpoints and voices in the theater.

“Bradley was a queer, liberal man. He’s a big queer voice in the community and he was open to telling all stories from all viewpoints,” Keith said.

Keith said he also believed the decision stemmed from the homophobia of some board members. He pointed to a board member, who he did not want to publicly name, who decided to pull his financial support from one of the theater’s performances after hearing that Moore had invited Salisbury PRIDE to set up a table in the lobby.

“Bradley is one of the only directors who has made me feel appreciated. Who has made me feel like my background and body type will not prohibit me from opportunities. Who has always made me feel welcome and seen, even when I wasn’t cast in a show. Losing him will be detrimental. I urge those responsible for this decision to reconsider. I personally feel like my voice was not heard, my time and dedication were not valued and the weight and impact of this decision was not considered. We deserve for our voices to be heard,” Forrester said about her decision to start the petition.

Moore said that he would be willing to accept if Piedmont Players offered him a return to the position.

“Ya know, for all the people that volunteer there, perform there and the incredible staff I worked with every day, I would absolutely go back. I love them all so dearly. I loved my job, but I loved the people even more. That is why my heart is currently broken into a million pieces. Thinking that my life is going to be so different now, not surrounded every single day with that love and creativity has been the hardest pill to swallow,” Moore said.

Moore said, however, that he would not be willing to work with the same board. He spoke about a toxic environment that he worked in, and said that he was no longer willing to suffer the “mental beat downs, lies and deception,” that came with working there.

Two members of the board reportedly voted against the termination of Moore’s employment while another member was not present at the board meeting.

Keith said that even as stage manager of the upcoming production of “POTUS,” he had only met three of the members of the theater’s board of governors.

“These board members are not involved in the slightest bit,” Keith said.

Taylor Hutchins, the president of the board of governors, said that Tom Hollis will work as interim director for the rest of the theatrical season. Hollis is currently the director emeritus of the theatre department at Central Piedmont Community College.

Representatives of Piedmont Players Theatre and the board of governors did not respond to questions about the firing of Moore by the Salisbury Post’s deadline.