THE TONY AWARD ® -RECOGNIZED
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES
WRITER, PRODUCER, AND ACTOR
JEREMY O. HARRIS
TO BE THE INAUGURAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR
OF THE WTF CREATIVE COLLECTIVE
PHOTOS OF HARRIS & RAPHAEL PICCIARELLI, WTF’S MANAGING DIRECTOR
OF STRATEGY & TRANSFORMATION AVAILABLE HERE
New York, NY (May 16, 2024) – Today, Managing Director, Strategy & Transformation Raphael Picciarelli announced that Jeremy O. Harris, the celebrated writer, producer, and actor, will be the inaugural Creative Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Creative Collective, a new artistic leadership model that will ensure boundary-breaking and diverse programming, create new opportunities for emerging artists, and foster shared ownership of the creative vision for the Festival. In his term, Harris will oversee the creative direction of the Festival, programming key events and facilitating exciting and unique collaborations with artists spanning multiple disciplines.
The WTF Creative Collective will feature a rotating annual cohort of directors that, in collaboration with Harris, will inform the curation and programming of each season. Working in partnership with Raphael Picciarelli, WTF’s Managing Director, Strategy & Transformation, the Collective will advance the new vision of the organization through annual and seasonal programming, strategic partnerships, and development of new work. Additional members of the first Creative Collective for the 2025 season will be announced later this year.
Harris said, “I’ve made it no secret that my idea of being a theatre maker is a holistic one and my passion to write plays is only matched by my passion to see the best ones being conceived. Nikos Psacharopoulos changed the American theatre by making Williamstown not only the equivalent of a teaching hospital for an entire generation of stars, but by also creating a home on the American summer stock stage for international playwrights. It’s my goal to continue this tradition by galvanizing a new generation of nascent talents across disciplines and challenging what theatre is by bringing artists from around the world together for a summer festival that feels more like a happening. What does a theatre festival that has Jaboukie Young-White, Milo Rau, a set by Billie Eilish & Steve Lacy and a new show with Ayo Edebiri and Paul Mescal look like? I’m not sure but I’m excited to go to my little black book and find out.”
Raphael Picciarelli, WTF’s Managing Director, Strategy & Transformation, said "When we were conceiving of our new artistic leadership model that will enable our vision for the future of the Festival, Jeremy was one of the first artists that came to my mind. Not only is he one of the most ambitious, bold, and talented artists working today, he also has a gift for curating and generating groundbreaking ideas. Sit with him for 10 minutes and you'll learn about an emerging avant-garde director in Berlin, the historical evolution of Jacobean tragedy, a fashion trend coming out of Paris, and an unknown writer trending on TikTok, and he'll connect all of them in fascinating and unexpected ways. I'm so thrilled to be collaborating with Jeremy and his partners in the Creative Collective to lead Williamstown Theatre Festival into its next chapter.”
Margaret Gould Stewart, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said, “Jeremy is coming into the Festival with limitless ideas and energy, and he shares WTF’s passion for bringing together emerging and prominent artists to create groundbreaking new work. I look forward to working with him and the team to support this exciting vision for the future of the Festival.”
Starting in 2025, WTF’s summer Festival will be an expansive expression of theater where audiences will be able to engage within a concentrated experience of a full calendar of events that range from traditional theater to fully immersive experiences, and everything in between. Simultaneously, WTF will develop year-round programming, producing digital and live pop-up events that begin to tell stories in the months leading up to the Festival and bring audiences closer to the process of making. This summer, starting Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4, an expansive four-day prototype for this new vision will take place. Called “WTF IS NEXT,” the weekend features a full slate of curated experiences and exclusive events that reflect an expansive expression of theater within the breathtaking natural beauty of the Berkshires.
Over the course of the “WTF IS NEXT” weekend, Festival goers may find themselves at an outdoor concert, a live taping of a popular podcast, a world premiere play, an outdoor community happening, or a burlesque-inspired variety performance. Guests will experience “WTF IS NEXT” through either a four-day pass (Thursday-Sunday) or three-day pass (Friday-Sunday). Passes are extremely limited. For questions, contact the Festival at 413 458 3200 x 113. Guest artists and projects that will be participating in the weekend will be announced in the coming weeks.