Who is the Artistic Director at Generic Theater?

As you know, many theater companies have a single Artistic Director. For 26 of its 30 years, Generic Theater, too, had a full-time Artistic Director. Inevitably, however, the needs of the theater have changed as the community—indeed the world—has changed around us. The Generic ensemble has become more diversified and light on its feet.

In our new space, downunder Chrysler Hall, we've become more mobile, flexible, and fast on our feet. Many departments—costumes, office, and tech—are literally on wheels. Likewise, our seating is adaptable. We rearrange seating, platforms and staging so that every show is a unique experience. After the show it all goes away and we start anew. Our outreach to the community, too, is far more nimble. Generic has been reaching out to the community with bookstore events, flash mobs, school groups, conferences, and more. We attract directors and technicians from all over the local theater community to work on challenging material that can’t be done elsewhere, and have transitioned into a collaborative, team-based approach where the artists—not just managers—are in charge. We’re a little less structured and a lot more daring. In one form or another, this has always been the Generic way.

We are proud to have applied that spirit of diversity and cooperation to the role of Artistic Director. Rather than selecting one individual on whose shoulders the theater’s artistic vision rests, we recently formed the Generic Theater’s Artistic Team.

The Generic Theater’s Artistic Team selects directors, helps assemble production teams, and provides creative support and guidance during season selection, rehearsals, and productions.

This new collaborative approach is an exciting one, and we thank all our fellow artists for their support as we’ve fleshed it out and completed the transition. The Artistic Team (or A-Team) is designed to be small (3-5 members), agile, and accessible to everyone. To contact them, please email artisticteam@generictheater.org, and your email will go to all members. The current A-Team members are:

Paul Costen
Matt Friedman
Jeannette Rainey

The A-Team is designed to complement other creative contributors. For example, our Play Reading Committee selects the season, while the Artistic Team has the final approval. We believe that diversifying the artistic vision of Generic Theater in this way will result in better accountability, help us maintain our high standards of professionalism, and increase access to the organization by fellow artists and the wider public.

The team welcomes inquiries from anyone who is looking for a way contribute. Information about directing, acting, designing, and tech can be found here.