Theatre affirms commitment to access and equity
(Chapel Hill, NC, July 21, 2018) PlayMakers Repertory Company today announced that its 2018-19 Mainstage season will be led by an all-female group of directors. This is the first season in the theatre’s 42 year history that all of its chief creative artists are women, affirming PlayMakers’ ongoing commitment to bringing more diversity to its storytelling.
The 2018-19 lineup of directors features:
- Jessie Austrian, director of Ken Kudwig’s “Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood”
- Valerie Curtis-Newton, director of Dominique Morrisseau’s “Skeleton Crew”
- Kirsten Sanderson, director of “She Loves Me” (Book by Joe Masteroff; Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon
- Harnick)
- Whitney White, director of “Jump,” a rolling world premiere by Charly Evon Simpson
- Vivienne Benesch, PlayMakers’ Producing Artistic Director and director of “Life of Galileo” by Bertolt Brecht
- Lee Sunday Evans, director of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive”
“When it came time to choose the directors to helm the wide range of stories that make up our 2018/19 season, I set out to find, first and foremost, vibrant, passionate and diverse voices,” said Benesch. “That those voices happened to be all women’s voices was a wonderful stroke of fate. I believe so strongly in championing access, equity and diversity, and I’m excited to work alongside these amazingly talented, visionary female leaders. I hope PlayMakers can help set an example that when we have a better balance of gender in the theatre, we are all enriched by the different perspectives that brings.”
PlayMakers’ 2018/19 Mainstage season delves into the reverberations caused by the choices we make. Each of the six plays explores the power we wield to shape and shift everything from our most intimate relationships, our memories and the institutions around us, to the broadest strokes of science, history, and ultimately truth.
About PlayMakers Repertory Company
PlayMakers is the professional theater in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina’s premier resident theater company for more than 40 years. We produce relevant and courageous work that tells stories from and for a multiplicity of perspectives and creates transformational impact in our immediate and extended communities. PlayMakers has been named one of the “best regional theatres in America”.
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