Playwrights’ Center Appoints Nicole A. Watson as Producing Artistic Director
Tom O’Connor Consulting Group (TOCG) is pleased to announce that Nicole A. Watson (she/her) has been appointed Producing Artistic Director by Playwrights’ Center (Robert Chelimsky, Managing Director) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, following our extensive national search.
As shared in a release from the company, Playwrights’ Center is thrilled to announce that renowned director, educator, and arts leader Nicole A. Watson has agreed to join the Center as Producing Artistic Director. Watson will step into the role on April 1, taking over from outgoing Director Jeremy B. Cohen, who has held the position for the past 14 years. Cohen has moved on to helm the Ojai Playwrights’ Conference, but will remain at Playwrights’ Center until June to support the transition.
Born in Jamaica and raised in New York, Nicole A. Watson is a freelance director and educator with an interest in new play development and plays that deal with the past. A former history teacher, Nicole started directing in 2008 and works in NYC as well as universities and theaters throughout the US. She is currently the Associate Artistic Director at the McCarter Theatre Center, after holding the same position at Round House Theatre.
In the company’s statement, Playwrights’ Center’s Board Chair Harrison David Rivers says, “Given the richness and diversity of her artistic experience, demonstrated passion for new work, and deep commitment to listening and community building, Nicole is absolutely the right leader to guide the Center into its exciting new chapter.”
Also in the company’s statement, Watson says, “To talk about Playwrights’ Center is to talk about possibility. The organization has made an unconditional commitment to supporting writers, and that makes the Center a beacon of light in these times. I am ecstatic to lead the Center in this time of growth and transition, to become a member of and advocate for the vibrant artistic community in the Twin Cities, and to support artists and their artistic practice.”
“The Playwrights’ Center has for decades been one of the most impactful organizations in our field and in working with the team there – staff and board and artists – on this search, it is clear why that is the case,” noted Cynthia Fuhrman, who led the team at TOCG on the search. “There is a clarity of mission and purpose, unquestionably centering writers, shared by everyone in the company. The caliber of candidates who stepped forward in this search reflected the high regard held for PWC, and the exciting selection of Nicole Watson by the search committee and board feels completely aligned with the vision of the company’s future. We were honored to support this search.”
About Playwrights’ Center
Playwrights’ Center sustains, develops, and advocates for playwrights and their work to realize their full artistic potential. Through the practice of inclusive theater-making, Playwrights’ Center fosters engagement towards an equitable, empathetic, and boundlessly imaginative world. The Center serves playwrights by starting and sustaining careers, developing new work, and connecting playwrights to theaters. Each year at the Center, fellows and Core Writers receive more than $450,000 in direct support, 70+ new plays are workshopped, playwrights connect with 100 producing theaters through partnership programs, and over 2,500 member playwrights from around the world find resources to achieve their artistic vision.
Since its founding in 1971, the Playwrights’ Center has become one of the nation's most generous and well-respected theater organizations, helping launch the careers of numerous nationally recognized artists such as August Wilson, Lee Blessing, Jordan Harrison, Carlyle Brown, Craig Lucas, Jeffrey Hatcher, Melanie Marnich, Kira Obolensky, and Larissa FastHorse. Work developed through Center programs has been seen nationwide on such stages as Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth, the Guthrie, Goodman, and many others.
About Tom O’Connor Consulting Group
Tom O’Connor Consulting Group (TOCG) is a NYC-based consultancy that supports arts institutions and leaders with two integrated services: organizational strategy and executive search. Consulting specialties including marketing, strategy, assessment, and organizational development. Founded in 2015, TOCG is a fully remote company with team members spanning the country and the globe.
Select clients have included Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Carnegie Hall, Cincinnati Opera, Huntington Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, Next Chapter Podcasts, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and more.
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