WTF recommits to being a welcoming, diverse and inclusive workplace.

WTF will grow its unconscious bias and anti-racist training for existing, new and seasonal staff and Trustees.

WTF will create infrastructure and resources to support BIPOC artists, administrators, technicians and artisans.

WTF will invest in human resources by creating a seasonal Conflict Resolution Manager position to keep the Festival accountable during the summer.

WTF commits to addressing the structural components of the company that have stalled meaningful progress toward equity and diversity at the Festival.

WTF will reimagine and rebuild the apprentice and internship programs to be fair and equitable.

WTF will radically reinvent the methods by which it recruits and hires employees.

WTF will retain outside expertise to accelerate existing efforts to diversify the Board of Trustees.

WTF’s artistic director commits to leadership transition in or by September of 2024.

WTF’s artistic director recommits to identifying and hiring BIPOC administrators into influential, key positions on the full time, year-round staff who can lead the Festival into its next chapter.

WTF commits to establishing and funding a Fellowship for an emerging, BIPOC leader at the Festival.

WTF commits to building a diverse audience and to serving diverse communities.

WTF will allocate resources to audience engagement and to the development of BIPOC audiences in the Berkshire region.

WTF will expand COMMUNITY WORKS efforts to build and grow meaningful partnerships with Berkshire-based organizations that serve BIPOC constituencies.

These commitments are steps in an ongoing process. As the Board of Trustees and the staff work to realize and expand upon these commitments, more will come. As an essential part of our process, we will keep our communities informed of our continuing anti-racism work. We are exhilarated to manifest a future for this theatre company that embraces in the deepest and fullest ways, on stage and off, true equity, diversity and inclusiveness. As a result, we will make better art and we will better serve our communities.

Williamstown Theatre Festival is committed to creating a safe, positive, welcoming place for all. Our staff, board, artists, audiences, community partners, and volunteers practice respect and a commitment to inclusion. We lead with kindness, and we treat one another with dignity. We foster a culture of collaboration, diverse perspectives, and the open exchange of ideas; we endeavor to listen to and learn from one another.

When Bryant left Williams the following year, Nikos became artistic director, and the Festival’s repertory became increasingly ambitious with productions of Shaw, Giradoux, Miller, Williams, and Chekhov. A growing family of actors evolved including Mildred Dunnock, E.G. Marshall, and Thornton Wilder, later joined by the likes of Blythe Danner, Olympia Dukakis, Edward Herrmann, Kate Burton, James Naughton, and Christopher Reeve, whose return year after year gave stability to the Equity company.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Williamstown became known for innovative versions of classics: The Seagull (taped for PBS), Galileo, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Peer Gynt, and The Threepenny Opera. By this time, more than 100 people worked in the theatre every summer. Auxiliary activities began to supplement the Main Stage: the Apprentice Workshop, an experimental Second Company, lively Late-Night Cabarets, Sunday literary events, and new play readings. The 1980s saw some ambitious work, including The Greeks and a two-night celebration of Tennessee Williams with the playwright in residence.

After an extraordinary and visionary 33 years as the head of WTF, Nikos Psacharopoulos passed away in 1989. Following a 35th season dedicated to his memory, run by a troika of Peter Hunt, Austin Pendleton, and George Morfogen, Hunt, named artistic director, gave a new focus to musical theatre and American classics. In 1996, long-time WTF stage manager Michael Ritchie became Producer. During his eight years at the helm, nearly two dozen productions transferred to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatres across the country. In 2002, Williamstown Theatre Festival received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Ritchie was succeeded in 2005 by Roger Rees, who encouraged new writing and emphasized the importance of the Apprentice in the life of the Festival. Former WTF resident director Nicholas Martin served as artistic director from 2008-2010. In 2011, WTF received the Commonwealth Award for Achievement, the highest cultural honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Former Associate Producer Jenny Gersten led the Festival from 2011-2014. Mandy Greenfield assumed the role of Artistic Director in September of 2014, placing an emphasis on generative work. Many plays developed at WTF have gone on to successful productions in New York and regionally, and in 2018, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living, developed and premiered at WTF, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Through these 67 years, the Festival’s goals have remained constant: to attract top talent, cultivate young artists, produce reinterpreted versions of classics and new plays from gifted playwrights, and to continue to attract audiences with the quality and ambition of our work.