Westport Playhouse Names Tazewell Thompson Artistic Director

Tazewell Thompson: named Playhouse artistic director. Contributed photo The Westport Country Playhouse tonight announced the appointment of Tazewell Thompson, stage and opera director and playwright, as its artistic director.

An announcement following a meeting of the Playhouse board said his appointment, which first leaked to the press Friday, would be effective Jan. 1, subject to contract execution.  (See WestportNow June 17, 2005)

Thompson succeeds actor and director Joanne Woodward who became the Playhouse’s artistic leader in 2000. Woodward will continue as artistic director through the end of this year, when she assumes the role of artistic director emeritus.

Woodward will remain an active member of the Playhouse board of directors, and will work with Thompson on educational program development and other projects, the announcement said.

“We’ve been lucky to find the perfect person for the job,” said Woodward. “Tazewell has wit and humor, and a real sense of the need for education, outreach and being a part of the community.”

For theatre, Thompson has produced and/or directed more than 60 plays, including the works of Shakespeare, Moli�re, Euripides, Brecht, Shaw, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Thornton Wilder, Clifford Odets, Ibsen, Chekhov, Athol Fugard, Terrence McNally, William Gibson, Feydeau, Alan Ayckbourn, as well as numerous world and American premieres. 

In 2003, he directed “The Old Settler” at the Westport Country Playhouse.

“It is with an enormous sense of privilege and awesome responsibility, and not the least, great respect for the legacy of this historic institution, that I accept and approach the mantle of artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse,” Thompson said.

“What a magnificent jewel of a theatre I inherit from the brilliant artist and civil and social activist Joanne Woodward. 

“Together with the generous and passionate support of the board of directors; the committed, dedicated, hardworking staff; plus the loyal, enthusiastic community of subscribers, I am excited at the myriad and limitless possibilities the future presents.”

In addition to his extensive directing credits, he is the former artistic associate of Arena Stage and The Acting Company. 

Thompson also served as the artistic director of Syracuse Stage, where he focused on new plays, audience cultivation, education and community outreach. 

While there he designed and edited StageView, a newsletter cited by Wilsonia Cherry of The National Endowment for the Humanities as “the finest theatre newsletter published in America.” 

In addition he visited and addressed numerous businesses and civic, educational and cultural organizations.

John Vaccaro, president of the Playhouse board of directors said, “Tazewell was the unanimous recommendation of our search committee and was enthusiastically endorsed by our Board. 

“We look forward to standing by his side while supporting his artistic leadership from 2006 and well beyond in every way we are able.  Let the era of Tazewell Thompson begin!”

Playhouse board chairman, Elisabeth Morten said, “Tazewell Thompson is a first-rate theatre talent, who, as a renowned director of plays, musicals and opera, has the artistic vision and leadership skills that will allow the Westport Country Playhouse to develop year-round programming of the highest caliber for the diverse community of artists, audiences and students that we
serve. 

“We are tremendously excited to have found such a great artistic leader.”

Thompson directed his critically acclaimed Glimmerglass Opera production of “Les Dialogues des Carmelites” last season for New York City Opera.  His production of “Porgy and Bess,” also for New York City Opera, was televised for “Live from Lincoln Center” and received Emmy nominations for Best Classical Production and Best Director.

Thompson directed world premiere operas of “Stefan,” “Luyala,” “Vanqui” and “As of a Dream.”  Other opera highlights include productions at La Scala, Paris Opera, Opera Bastille, Teatro Real in Madrid, Tokyo, Osaka, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Michigan, Orange County, New Jersey and Portland.
His New York production of Aaron Copland’s opera, “The Second Hurricane,”
was the “hit and heart” of the Copland 1985 Festival celebration. 

This summer and fall Thompson will direct Benjamin Britten’s “Death in Venice” for Glimmerglass Opera; Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Patience” for New York City Opera, and “Les Dialogues des Carmelites” for Vancouver Opera.

Also a playwright, Thompson has been commissioned to write plays for Lincoln Center Theater, Arena Stage, South Coast Repertory and People’s Light and Theatre Company.  His award- winning first play, “Constant Star,” has had more than a dozen major productions across the United States.

His adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which included more than a dozen songs from the period, was produced at People’s Light and Theatre Company for three record-breaking holiday seasons. He has adapted Aristophanes’ “The Birds” for young people for productions at St. Ann’s School and Columbia Grammar and Prep. 

Thompson is a board member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the Society for New Music and the Thornton Wilder Society.