Shakespeare Theatre Company Appoints Chris Jennings Managing Director

Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn announced that the Board of Trustees have appointed Chris Jennings Managing Director for the Company. Jennings has served as General Manager for the Company since 2004. During his tenure, Jennings has overseen the finance, production and marketing operations for STC and helped manage the Company's budget expansion from $12 to $19 million.

As Managing Director, Jennings will be responsible for the overall business and external affairs of STC including building partnerships with the many Washington-based performing arts companies who perform at the Harman Center for the Arts venues.

"I am very pleased that Chris Jennings has accepted the position of Managing Director, particularly since he has served as de facto Managing Director for nearly a year," said Michael Kahn. "Chris' wide knowledge of the performing arts community and demonstrated skills in financial and strategic planning will continue to be tremendous assets as we further develop our mission at the Harman Center for the Arts."

Mike Klein, Chairman of the Company's Board of Trustees added, "Chris has earned the respect and confidence of the entire Company, not just for the essential managerial skills, but by demonstrating the requisite dedication to artistic excellence and interpersonal relationships that have exemplified the Shakespeare Theatre Company for the past two decades. We are confident in our future with him in this position." Jennings currently serves on the Board of the DC Downtown BID and the Pennsylvania Quarter Neighborhood Association and is a member of the League of Resident Theatres and the Theatre Communications Group. Prior to his arrival in Washington, D.C., Jennings served as General Manager for Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's innovative approach to Shakespeare and other classic playwrights has earned it the reputation as the nation's premier classical theatre company. By focusing on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced, the Company's artistic mission is unique among theatre companies: to provide vital, groundbreaking, thought-provoking, vibrant and eminently accessible theatre in a uniquely American style. Artistic Director Michael Kahn has led the organization for 23 years, establishing the company as "the nation's foremost Shakespeare company" (The Wall Street Journal) producing "a repertory of classics that no New York theatre of similar size and scale can match" (The New York Times).

In its 2007-2008 season, the Company opened the Harman Center for the Arts consisting of the new 774-seat Sidney Harman Hall and the 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre, both located in downtown Washington's Penn Quarter neighborhood. A dynamic hub of activity, the Harman Center showcases the Company as well as outstanding local performing arts groups and nationally renowned organizations.

Photo of Artistic Director Michael Kahn courtesy of Shakespeare Theatre Company