It is with great excitement that we announce our new Artistic Director Eric Ting. He comes to Cal Shakes after spending 11 years with the Long Wharf Theatre, eight of which were as the company’s Associate Artistic Director. He is also an Obie Award-winning director who has been called “a magician” by The New Yorker magazine and “perhaps one of the most gifted young directors in our midst” by the Hartford Courant.
The announcement, by Cal Shakes Board President Jean Simpson, Managing Director Susie Falk, and Search Committee Chair Kate Stechschulte, caps an extensive seven-month nationwide search. Ting will serve as the fifth artistic director in the company’s history, succeeding outgoing Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone, who completed his 16-year tenure with the opening of The Mystery of Irma Vep.
“I am profoundly honored to join this remarkable organization whose mission and programming both on and off its stage so thoroughly embody what I believe a theater can and must be today,” says Ting. “I’m inspired by the fearless scope of vision of my predecessor, Jonathan Moscone; and humbled by the collective commitment, faith, and trust given me by Jean, Kate, and the entire Cal Shakes Board. I can’t imagine a more passionate and devoted partner than Susie Falk; nor a more dynamic community of staff, artists, and audience to call my home; nor a more splendid cultural and civic landscape than the Bay Area; and that stage, that glorious backdrop, those hills, that sky, the stars! I’m eager to see what the future holds for Cal Shakes, and so very excited to be a part of it.”
Ting will make periodic visits to Cal Shakes between now and November 1, 2015, when he assumes his official duties as our Artistic Director. His wife Meiyin Wang—currently Co-Director of the Under the Radar Festival and the Devised Theater Initiative at the Public Theater as well as Curator of the Park Avenue Armory Artist-In-Residence program in New York City—and their new daughter, Frankie, will make their move from Brooklyn to the Bay Area in early 2016.
Read the press release, which includes Ting’s full bio here.
1 thought on “Introducing our New Artistic Director Eric Ting”
Dear Eric Ting,
I just returned from a research exchange where I met Randy Bailey’s wife (the Randy Bailey who I believe is in your To Kill a Mockingbird). During this exchange we were discussing (and doing) work on public engagement and dialogue. Catherine (his wife) really thought that based on what her husband has said and your bio that you are passionate about social change and creative ways to do this. I am hosting public deliberations in order to do this, for example, but have always believed that art is another great way to do this. I’m writing because I hear you are going to be in the Bay Area soon, and I just moved here pretty recently. At the very least, I will definitely be coming to see your show, but I would love to connect as well! I included my personal email above in case you want to connect once you are out here.
Cheers,
Liz Benton