Emily Shooltz. (Photo by Jamie Grill Atlas)
NEW YORK CITY: Signature Theatre has announced that Emily Shooltz will be the company’s new artistic director, succeeding interim leader Beth Whitaker, who has served in the role since the departure of artistic director Paige Evans earlier this year. Shooltz will step into the role Nov. 1, following a nationwide search. For 14 years, Shooltz served as associate artistic director of Ars Nova, another New York City new-works incubator, which means she brings to Signature an expansive network of American playwrights and theatremakers.
“My mission at Ars Nova was to foster the skills of a deep generational well of talent as they were starting their careers,” said Shooltz in a statement. “It’s incredibly gratifying to now see those people lighting up the industry at a time of vibrant cultural change. I cannot wait to put Signature’s resources to work shepherding their next brilliant ideas alongside a wealth of new collaborators. I’m honored to build on the legacy of James Houghton’s beautiful vision and Paige Evans’s keen artistic eye in leading Signature’s next chapter.”
At Ars Nova, Shooltz fostered the work of dozens of early-career playwrights the organization commissioned and developed for production, including many who have joined the Signature fold, including Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dave Malloy, Melis Aker, Samuel D. Hunter, Annie Baker, and The Mad Ones, Amy Herzog, Kristoffer Diaz, and Bekah Brunstetter. Following her time at Ars Nova, Shooltz worked for two years as a freelance creative consultant.
Signature Theatre’s board and staff teamed with Arts Consulting Group to search for a leader to continue to design and implement Signature’s artistic vision, which is to curate exciting and diverse seasons and to identify and engage the artists evolving and expanding American theatre.
Added Shooltz in a statement, “The deep dive approach to a playwright’s work that Jim Houghton envisioned for Signature is so singular and special. I can’t imagine a bigger professional thrill than being in extended conversation with the great storytellers of our age, especially at a time when artists are thinking about playmaking in increasingly porous and fluid ways. I am deeply committed to our contemporary playwriting community, and particularly love supporting writers alongside composers, outside-the-box thinkers, and theatremaking multihyphenates. Working with Signature’s unique model to champion playwrights and an expanded circle of visionary artists will be a privilege and a joy.”
Lila Neugebauer—director, Signature Theatre board member, and Signature resident playwright (with The Mad Ones)—said in a statement that she is “thrilled to see Emily Shooltz take the helm of this storied, beloved institution. In her tenure as associate artistic director of Ars Nova, Emily distinguished herself as a leader possessing brilliant instincts when it comes to identifying early-career talent. Her artistic practice is characterized by rigorous thinking, genuinely collaborative spirit, and far-reaching empathetic imagination. I cannot wait to see where Signature goes under Emily’s leadership.”
Shooltz arrives at Signature amid the final season programmed by former artistic director Paige Evans, who produced nine seasons of award-winning and critically acclaimed shows at Signature.
Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature Theatre serves its mission by hosting distinctive resident playwrights and cultural communities at its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects. As of 2023, the theatre’s budget was $13 million.
