Leadership

Director, dramaturg, and founding AD of Crowded Fire, Rebcca Novick, speaks with Marissa Wolf, the new AD of Portland Center Stage—and former AD of Crowded Fire as well—about knowing when you’re ready for change, leaving communities you’ve helped build, parenting in the arts, and more.

Kim Whitener, the former executive director of HERE, and theatre producer and consultant Mara Isaacs sit down to talk about moving from institutions to the freelance world (and vice versa), the generosity of other theatre creators, work-life balance, and more.

Bill Rauch, the inaugural artistic director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and Diane Ragsdale, assistant professor at the New School, sit down to discuss long overlaps between outgoing and incoming leaders; equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives; the responsibility of an artistic leader is the time of #MeToo and #TimesUp; and more.

Scott Artley talks about the decision to wind down activities of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis after over thirty years on the scene and details the steps taken to “sunset” the organization in a respectful, beautiful way.

Joyce Rosario, interim artistic director of the PuSh Festival, and producer and curator Meiyin Wang sit down to talk about whether the next crop of leaders is being set up for success, working across differences with colleagues, their respective transitions, and more.

Howard Shalwitz, co-founder of Woolly Mammoth, talks with Carey Perloff, longtime director of American Conservatory Theater, about their decades-long tenures at their respective companies, covering everything from the throughline of founding manifestos, to the five- to six-year cycles companies go through, to how lonely it is to be an artistic director, and more.

May Antaki speaks with Brendan Healy, the new artistic director of Toronto’s Canadian Stage, about leadership changeovers happening across Canada, how his approach to being an AD has shifted over the years, his desire to cultivate curiosity inside audiences, and more.

Stephanie Ybarra and Maria Goyanes discuss their similar artistic journies and their goals for the future.

Artistic directors Hana Sharif and Kwame Kwei-Armah discuss transitions in leadership in the US and UK and how they've helped define success in their respective institutions.

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, introduces the leadership series with thoughts and advice from his past experiences with major leadership transitions over his thirty-year career.

Isaac Mafuel examines the role women have played in the theatre industry in Malawi, from its birth in the late 1960s until now.