Change of Command at Shakespeare & Company
Tony Simotes to Assume Role of Artistic Director
By: Larry Murray - Jan 22, 2009
A change of Artistic Directors has just been announced at the Lenox, MA based Shakespeare & Company. Tina Packer, the current Artistic Director will turn over those responsibilities to Tony Simotes in June. Packer who has led this highly regarded Company for three decades now plans to work towards a future which includes a new theatre, codifying her unique teaching and educational techniques, and the completion of a major fund drive which is well underway. Tony Simotes, her successor, most recently directed Othello for the company as part of the 2008 season.
The selection of Simotes culminates a rigorous, year-long, national search. Simotes re-joins the Company full time on June 1, 2009 and will lead the planning for the Company's 2010-2011 performance season.
"Shakespeare & Company has always been a driving force in my life as a theatre artist," Simotes says. "It has occupied a central place in my artistic heart and soul for over 30 years."
"This is a unique place" he continued, "poised to grow into an exciting future while remaining rooted in the incredible journey of inspiration we've been on together for these last three decades. Tina's incredible vision and energy is encoded in the DNA of Shakespeare & Company. But I am ready to bring my own energy, intuition, artistic sense and perspective to the job."
Packer's Plans
Packer will devote her focus to the Company's ongoing growth into an international center of learning and intellectual renewal. This mission includes codification of the Company's distinctive training and performance techniques through writings and multimedia projects, as well as the long-term goal of building a historically accurate reproduction of the Elizabethan-era Rose Theatre. She now has more freedom to bring S&Co.'s distinctive performance techniques around the world, as in 2007 when she directed Shakespeare's Coriolanus for the Mercury Theatre Company in Colchester, England. Further engagements will be announced later in the year.
"I couldn't be happier with the choice, or more excited about what we can do now that Tony is on board." Packer says.
"Tony is a founding member. He knows our aesthetic and training discipline, and that is extremely important to our vitality and mission. We have an outstanding artist management structure in place, and his energy, forward looking vision and experience will only add to that. I believe our best years are yet to come."
Packer says she can now look squarely at the "big picture" as S&Co. looks to fulfill its mission in new and exciting ways. "I am not going away or turning my badge in. I am committed to seeing Shakespeare & Company evolve into an internationally recognized center of education, training, performance and intellectual renewal. But I simply cannot lead this effort while sitting in the Artistic Director's chair. I am eager to turn those duties over to Tony, knowing that his distinctive talents will inject great spirit into the Company and bring about some of our finest work."
Simotes no Stranger to the Operation
Originally from Joliet, Illinois, Simotes co-founded the Company with Packer and other dedicated artists in 1978. A graduate of the University of Illinois, he earned his Masters of Fine Arts from New York University, and is currently a tenured Professor and Director of University Theater at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. He has been a guest lecturer at a host of Universities across the country, including Yale, NYU and the University of California. Simotes has played major roles in both film and television, and brings a long list of stage directing credits to Shakespeare & Company.
Over the last decade he has directed a number of successful shows at the Company, including the critically acclaimed productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor in 2006 and Othello in 2008. Simotes is also a nationally recognized and professionally accredited fight director and choreographer.
His wife Lucy, a realtor, is originally from Fitchburg, Mass. They met at Shakespeare & Company's 25th Anniversary Gala in Founders' Theatre in 2002.
Board Chair Predicts Seamless Transition
"Tony brings all the qualifications, proven capabilities, and career experience we were seeking, coupled with a strong personal desire to lead the Company forward through its next phase of growth," says Richard Mescon, the Chairman of Shakespeare & Company's Board of Trustees. "Tina was a central participant in the search process and we are looking forward to a seamless transition. With her now freed up to take the S&Co. name far and wide, around the world, we couldn't be more excited about what the future holds in store."
Company Staff Sees A New Chapter
Shakespeare & Company Managing Director Nicholas J. Puma, Jr. says. "This is a handing of the baton we need to fulfill in order to secure our long-term growth from a spirited group of visionaries living together in The Mount to a valued institution. With Tony we can make this change in leadership while maintaining our aesthetic identity. He will open a new chapter in Company history with a free hand, and comes aboard ready to operate with independence and initiative. We're fortunate to have an active, involved and supportive Board that is looking forward to working closely with Tony in the years ahead."
A View Towards the Future
The changing of responsibilities comes at a time when the Company is expanding its programming and in the midst of a $10 million Capital Campaign. The new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre had a "soft" opening this summer as part of a comprehensive Production and Performing Arts Center. The new facilities have already allowed S&Co. to expand its world-renowned education and training programming, as well as launch its first-ever winter season with Theresa Rebeck's Bad Dates, playing at the Bernstein Theatre until March 8. S&Co. will announce what it promises to be an "exciting and provocative" 2009-2010 season in the coming weeks.
"I will be bringing my own perspective and artistic sense into the role of Artistic Director and am confident I can now give back to the Company some of what it has given me." Simotes says. "I look forward to carrying the Company's mission onward, and will very actively pursue artistic opportunities to help fulfill our potential."
"There will be challenges. But every great company has them. In fact, the better and more successful the company, the more the challenges. I know from my experience with Shakespeare & Company that we will meet these challenges with innovative answers, and create our own future with inventive and effective personal and artistic achievements. That's what we have always done and will continue to do."