I have a special announcement to share with you today. At the end of September this year, I will be retiring as Artistic Director of San Diego Repertory Theatre after 46 years on the job.

After producing, directing and/or curating over 333 productions since the REP opened in 1976, the time is right for me to step aside and help the company find a new artistic leader who represents the contemporary zeitgeist.

I am deeply committed to a REP of the future that treasures three values that have for decades inspired me to go to work each day: VIRTUOSITY, DIVERSITY and COMMUNITY.

I want us to find a new artistic leader who can ensure the REP is always known as a theater that creates and presents work of the very highest quality.

I seek to find a successor who is as committed as I am to our goal of transforming San Diego REP into a truly equitable, fully inclusive, expansively diverse, anti-racist organization.

In the 13 months since our comprehensive Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan was published, I am pleased to report that we hired 293 artists to make work on our live or virtual stages. 61% of those have been BIPOC artists and 66% of those have been women. Our REP staff of 45 employees is 45% BIPOC and 58% of the staff are women. I am proud of our work in EDI and very aware that we have a long way to go to meet our challenging goals.

And finally, I want us to find a new Artistic Director who will dive deep and immerse her/himself in the communities of San Diego, to ensure that we are a truly REGIONAL theatre that makes plays for the people of San Diego.

My goals are a tall order, but I am determined that we find the person who can take San Diego REP to the next higher ground. We will keep you posted.

In the meantime, there is much to look forward to. In March we present the provocative new comedy The Great Khan by Michael Gene Sullivan that came out of our Black Voices Reading Series. In June, look for the world premiere of In Every Generation by rising playwright and JFest Associate Artistic Director Ali Viterbi. I will be directing the extraordinary musical adaptation of Twelfth Night by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Shaina Taub for a production in August. In September comes the San Diego premiere of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens and Mark Haddon. October brings the world premiere of Grand Master Funk by Herbert Siguenza.

I’m not saying goodbye! I’ll be directing a play each year at the REP and I look forward to seeing you at the Lyceum and in theaters around San Diego.

To every actor, director, designer and playwright I have been privileged to work with and to the thousands of theatre patrons who have walked the road with me, I am deeply grateful to each one of you who has blessed this amazing journey.
Gratefully,
Sam