Months after promising radical changes in how it treats actors and other affiliated artists, the Flea Theater has announced that it would do just that, but not in the way those artists expected. As part of plans to “embark on a new mission,” the theater, a notable Off Off Broadway company, said Thursday it would close its most prominent programs for emerging actors, directors and writers, in effect eliminating dozens of positions.

The announcement, in a letter from the Flea’s board of directors, is the latest development at the troubled company. This summer, in an open letter, resident artists there accused the Flea of “racism, sexism, gaslighting, disrespect and abuse” as well as of exploiting artists who were paid little or nothing to work there. In response, the theater vowed to begin paying all of its artists. And on Thursday it presented part of its plan.

The news that their positions had been eliminated did not go down well with the resident actors, directors and writers, who have worked to change the theater’s practices.

“We spent six long months on negotiation, organization, and leadership, spearheaded largely by Black Artists, in an effort to sustain the institution and effectively transform it into the equitable establishment it was always meant to be,” a group of resident artists wrote in a statement posted to social media on Friday. “The Board has dismissed its unpaid Artists, in seeming retaliation for these attempts to organize.”

The Flea’s letter said that the move was a necessary response to the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Flea has a responsibility to act in recognition of the economic realities of the moment, which have a serious impact on programming, the breadth of our next season (whenever that may be), the number of artists we are able to support and every other aspect of our operation,” the board wrote, noting that the theater now has just three employees.

As a result, three initiatives will end as of Dec. 15: the Bats acting program, with some 100 members; a residency program for directors; and a “writers’ room” where playwrights contribute to the ongoing and popular series called “Serials.”

The group rejected the idea that the changes are a necessary response to the pandemic.

“The Flea was sick long before COVID,” their statement said. “And to claim that severing ties with all Artists is part of some economically prudent decision, because of the financial strain of the pandemic, holds no water in an institution where those Artists are not paid.”

The letter said the changes were also part of an effort to make the theater more equitable. But many artists, for whom the announcement came as a shock, viewed it as a betrayal instead.

Adam Coy, a resident artist and a member of the Bats, wrote in an email that the decision “feels directly related to our collective organization and attempts to hold the institution accountable for exploitation of labor and a toxic culture, where harm often fell on the shoulders of BIPOC bodies.”

The board noted that it hopes to develop a new, smaller artists’ residency program. Nona Hendryx, a musician and the interim chair of the Flea’s board, further explained the plan in an email on Thursday night.

“We’re working to create a new vision and purpose for The Flea through a residency program in which artists will be paid,” Hendryx wrote. “This new program will provide a venue for artist-driven ideas and provide financial support and other resources directly to participating artists.”

Founded in 1996, the Flea has presented work by A.R. Gurney, Qui Nguyen and Thomas Bradshaw, among others. Since 2017, it has operated out of a new, three-theater building in TriBeCa that was estimated to cost $25 million. Niegel Smith, its artistic director, is one of the few Black artistic directors at a prominent New York theater. The theater’s producing director, Carol Ostrow, recently left the organization.

The Flea’s largest performing space holds about 100 seats, though all in-person performances have been on hiatus since the pandemic began. While the theater hires and pays actors for some shows, it often casts volunteer members of the Bats, contending that the experience helps boost careers.

Brandon Lorenz, a spokesman for Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union that represents some 51,000 theater actors and stage managers, noted that the Flea’s new building has proved a symbolic liability, as leaders try to demonstrate they are making good on pledges of fairness and inclusivity.

“I hope that a new fund-raising plan for fair pay, fair treatment and a diverse workplace will be pursued with the same vigor used to raise $25 million for a new theater building,” Lorenz wrote. “All actors and stage managers deserve an inclusive workplace and fair pay. We’ll be watching.”