Redhouse Announces Pause in Theater Operations With Hunter Foster to Leave in January 2021

Redhouse Arts Center has made the difficult decision to pause its Theater Operations for the foreseeable future. As a result, Redhouse Artistic Director, Hunter Foster, will be leaving the organization in early January, 2021. Foster began in 2018, directing Rent, God of Carnage and A Syracuse Christmas Carol. His inaugural season was cut short due to the Global Pandemic with the final two shows of that season, Fences and Fun Home, being cancelled. Theatre's across the country have mostly remained dark due to the ongoing crisis. The economic toll of COVID-19 has, unfortunately, caused many arts organizations to make these difficult decisions. Executive Director Samara Hannah commented, "Redhouse is honored to have had Hunter Foster lead its theatre program for the past two years. These are very challenging times and most challenging for the performing arts. We remain optimistic as we look to continue working with Foster during the interim as well as the possibilities of working together in the future".

The Board recently convened and decided to suspend the Artistic Director position until conditions for live stage performances improved. There is a chance Foster could resume his role as the Artistic Director when audiences can safely return to Redhouse.

Hunter Foster stated, "I've had the honor and privilege to be the Artistic Director for Redhouse these past few years. It was my dream job, and we accomplished a lot of great things here. My wife and I fell in love with Syracuse and the community, and we can't thank them enough for their support. It's disappointing that I won't be able to finish the job that I started, but I know Redhouse has an incredible future ahead of it. I am also excited about independently producing theatre on my own with my production company. With vaccines on the way, I am hopeful live performances will return in 2021, and I definitely will be a part of it.