Molly Smith is an American theatre director and the
artistic director of
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
She was formerly artistic director of the
Perseverance Theatre in
Juneau, Alaska, which she founded in 1979 and led until 1998.
Biography
Smith attended
Catholic University (Washington, D.C.), received a master's degree in theatre from the
American University in Washington, D.C., in 1978 and spent the next 18 years at Perseverance Theatre.
[Viagas, Robert]
"New AD Molly Smith Announces DC Arena Season, With Loomer & Glover"
Playbill, April 20, 1998
In 1998, Smith became Artistic Director of Arena Stage.
[ Interested in encouraging new American plays, she founded Arena's "downstairs series," which has held readings and workshopped some sixty plays, many of which have gone on to full productions.
Smith commissioned numerous world premieres at the Perseverance Theatre as well, including ]Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...
's Pulitzer Prize-winning ''How I Learned to Drive
''How I Learned to Drive'' is a play written by American playwright Paula Vogel. The play premiered on March 16, 1997, Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. Vogel received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. It was written and develo ...
'' and ''The Mineola Twins
''The Mineola Twins'' is a play by Paula Vogel with music by David Van Tieghem, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1999.
Overview
The story satirically examines women's experience and the women's movement over more than three decades in post-World W ...
'', Tim Acito’s '' The Women of Brewster Place'', Moises Kaufman Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses.
;Places
* Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay
* Moises Padilla, ...
’s ''33 Variations'', Charles Randolph-Wright
Charles Randolph-Wright is an American film, television, and theatre director, television producer, screenwriter, and playwright.
Early life
A native of York, South Carolina, Randolph-Wright graduated with honors from York High School. He at ...
's ''Blue'', Zora Neale Hurston's lost play, ''Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk:
* Polk County, Arkansas
* Polk County, Florida
* Polk County, Georgia
* Polk County, Iowa
* Polk Count ...
;'' and Sarah Ruhl
Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, professor, and essayist. Among her most popular plays are ''Eurydice'' (2003), ''The Clean House'' (2004), and ''In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)'' (2009). She has been the reci ...
's ''Passion Play, a cycle.''Mack and Mabel
''Mack and Mabel'' (often stylized as Mack & Mabel) is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Norman ...
'', ''Anna Christie
''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the ...
'', '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'', "The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
", and "My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
".[Arena Stage / About Arena / Leadership](_blank)
arenastage.org
Smith has served as Literary Adviser to the Sundance Theatre Lab and formed the Arena Stage Writers Council, composed of leading American playwrights. Smith brings artists of international renown to the Arena. She is a member of the Board of the Theatre Communications Group, as well as the Center for International Theatre Development.
She directed two feature films. ''Raven's Blood'' (1997) was adapted from the mystery novel, ''Death of an Alaskan Princess,'' by Bridget Smith, and filmed in Juneau.["'Raven's Blood' opens"](_blank)
''Juneau Empire.com, 11 September 1997, 14 February 2013 A major community effort, it featured many local actors and extras.Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
.[Ritzel, Rebecca]
"Molly Smith married"
''The Washington Post'', September 16, 2014.
Legacy and honors
Author Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...
said: "To know Molly Smith is to adore her, to work with her is to be inspired, to see her work is to believe in the magic of theatre again."[
Smith has received Honorary Doctorates from ]Towson
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...
and American universities.
She organized a march on the Mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
...
for gun control on January 26, 2013.
See also
References
External links
Arena Stage
Arenastage.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Molly
American theatre directors
Women theatre directors
Living people
People from Juneau, Alaska
People from Washington, D.C.
Year of birth missing (living people)