Artistic Direction

For three years, Kristin Patton and Nick Rabkin worked with five case study theatre companies to study the often fraught, high risk, and complex decision-making process of theatrical repertoire selection. The result of their research project, the Moonshot Report, offers insights into their process and practical recommendations for strategic approaches to season planning.

Ronee Penoi and Shanta Thake discuss their transitions into new leadership roles as Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson and Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center, respectively—including their work to shift narratives on stage, see institutions as community resources, and keep deep listening at the core of their leadership practices.

Sean San José, artistic director of Magic Theatre, and Margo Hall, artistic director of the Lorraine Hansberry theatre discuss stepping into their positions as artistic directors and reflect on their work together as two of the co-founders of Campo Santo Theatre.

Glenn Davis, co-artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, sits down with Ken-Matt Martin, artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater, to talk about shifting relationships with donors, the concept of term limits for leadership, the joys of returning to rehearsal rooms, and their shared experiences as Black men at the helm of Chicago theatres.

Regina Victor, artistic director of Slideshow Theatre Company, and Kaiser Ahmed, artistic director of Jackalope Theatre Company, discuss the joys and challenges of stepping into their Chicago-based positions as theatres across the United States recalibrate their programming.

Verity Healey sits down with Javaad Alipoor to discuss themes that preoccupy Alipoor as a theatremaker and political person: racism, history, Brexit, international communities, politics, and how these things come into his work and collaborations with other artists.

Robert Barry Fleming, executive artistic director of Actors Theatre, and Courtney Sale, artistic director of Merrimack Repertory Theatre, converse about structural racism and systems of oppression, what can be learned from theatre for young audiences, the possibilities in a post-COVID world, and more.

David Dower and Martin Faucher discuss leaving their leadership positions at Boston’s ArtsEmerson and Montreal’s Festival TransAmériques, respectively; the balance between artistic responsibility and activist responsibility as artistic leaders; passing the torch to the next generation; and more. / David Dower, directeur artistique du ArtsEmerson de Boston, et Martin Faucher, codirecteur général et directeur artistique du Festival TransAmériques de Montréal, discutent de leur départ respectif, de l’équilibre entre la responsabilité artistique et la responsabilité militante en tant que directeur artistique, du passage du flambeau à la prochaine génération, et plus.

Porsche McGovern shares the results of the sixth year of her study on who designs and directs in LORT theatres by pronoun.

Jack Reuler, artistic director of Minneapolis’s Mixed Blood Theatre, reflects on how the pandemic might just be the great equalizer in the American theatre and how it’s time for theatre to move from being something nice to being something necessary.

Tamilla Woodard, co–artistic director of Working Theater in New York, talks about why she makes theatre and offers several “what if” thoughts about how the field should move forward.