SpeakEasy Stage Names David Beardsley the Company's Inaugural Executive Director

The Board of Directors of SpeakEasy Stage, the award-winning, non-profit theatre company in residence at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, has revealed an important expansion of its senior leadership and governance:

Following an extensive national search, SpeakEasy Stage is appointing David Beardsley, an experienced non-profit executive, to serve as the company’s inaugural Executive Director. 

For over thirty years, SpeakEasy has been led by founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault. In recent years, Daigneault and the Board of Directors have envisioned SpeakEasy’s impactful future, which will include a focus on efficient and innovative business operations, an amplified community engagement effort, and a diversified philanthropic effort. Recognizing that both the artistic and managerial roles have increased in scope and complexity as the company has evolved, Mr. Daigneault and the Board designed the inaugural executive director role to support SpeakEasy’s next stage of growth and evolution.

Beginning July 31, 2023, Mr. Beardsley, who most recently served as Chief of Marketing and Audience Engagement for The Trustees of Reservations, will manage the organization in partnership with Mr. Daigneault, who will now serve solely as the company’s Artistic Director.  

“I am thrilled to be joining the immensely talented team at SpeakEasy, which is producing some of the most exciting theatre in New England and introducing Boston audiences to the most important and entertaining plays and musicals of our time,” said Beardsley. “I find SpeakEasy’s commitments to equity, inclusion, and belonging, and to working with local talent, especially compelling, and I am honored to be given a chance to contribute to such urgent work.”

Said Mr. Daigneault, “We are so thrilled to welcome David to SpeakEasy, and are excited for this next chapter in the company’s history. We look forward to drawing on David’s extraordinary managerial skills, vision, and passion for theatre to help lead SpeakEasy into this new period of growth.”  

At The Trustees of Reservations, a conservation organization that ranks as one of Massachusetts’ largest non-profits, Mr. Beardsley oversaw Marketing, Membership, Public Programs and Events, and Visitor Experience.  Previously, he served as The Trustees’ Director of Enterprise, providing strategic direction and management for the organization while helping to generate $6-$8 million annually in support of program and mission.  From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Beardsley also served as the Executive Director of Boston’s Hill House, where he provided strategic vision, managed key partnerships, and directed fundraising, marketing, communications, finance, and operations for a community center offering extensive youth programming.

In support of the company’s new executive leader, Constance Gist Guindo has been elected to serve as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, ushering in a new era of joint Board leadership. An active member and leader on SpeakEasy’s Board of Directors for the past two years, Ms. Gist Guindo will join incumbent Board Chair Andrew Fullem.

“This new structure will allow the Board to provide in-depth support to the staff as it manages change and focuses on SpeakEasy’s future,” said Ms. Gist Guindo. “David’s background in marketing and audience development, combined with Paul’s experience and artistic vision, will provide SpeakEasy with the strategic leadership needed for continued growth and impact.”

Ms. Gist Guindo will work closely with the new Executive Director and the Board’s Finance and Development Committees, while Mr. Fullem prioritizes time with the Artistic Director and the Board's Nominating and Community Engagement Committees. 

“These are critical investments in SpeakEasy’s future,” said Mr. Fullem. “They will provide us with focused strategic leadership and the resources to test new models and approaches that will ensure SpeakEasy’s strength for years to come.”

In 1992, SpeakEasy Stage was born with a simple idea – to give emerging local artists an opportunity to hone their craft while building a thriving theatre scene in Boston. From its humble 40-seat beginnings to its 200+ intimate black box spaces at the Calderwood Pavilion, it has grown into a leading voice in Boston’s thriving theatre ecosystem. SpeakEasy’s driving force – which lies at the heart of its programming, administration, and Board leadership – is its unrivaled commitment to boldness. 

Driven by a relentless calling to leverage the transformative power of theatre to connect us with ourselves and each other, it produces – and supports the development of – vital, timely stories that unearth the myriad of experiences, identities, and journeys that make us human. Its five-production mainstage season of contemporary plays and musicals and suite of curated community programs entertain us while being relevant and thought-provoking. 

This historic expansion of its leadership comes at the launch of SpeakEasy’s exciting 33rd Season, which includes the Boston premieres of The Band’s Visit (a co-production with The Huntington); A Strange Loop (a co-production with the Front Porch Arts Collective); and POTUS; Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.  

The national search was led by Syrah Gunning, Director, Executive Development and Brett Egan, President of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland, a leading provider of arts management services, training, and thought leadership for arts, cultural, and educational sectors worldwide.

In closing, Beardsley reflected, “Live theatre is being reshaped in ways that require innovation and bold action. Paul and the Board are leaning into this challenge in ways that make me excited for SpeakEasy’s future. I look forward to partnering with local and regional theatre leaders to reengage theatre lovers and welcome new audiences.”

Bios for Mr. Beardsley, Mr. Daigneault, Mr. Fullem and Ms. Gist Guindo are below.

For more information about SpeakEasy Stage Company, visit SpeakEasyStage.com.

For further information or to schedule interviews, please contact Jim Torres, Director of Marketing and Communications:  cell: 617-529-1670; JimTorres@SpeakEasyStage.com.

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About SpeakEasy Stage Company’s Leadership Team:

David Beardsley

(Executive Director) has decades of experience in senior leadership roles in for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, he served as Chief of Marketing and Audience Engagement for The Trustees of Reservations, a land conservation organization that stewards more than 120 properties of scenic, cultural, and ecological significance (27,000+ acres) for public use and enjoyment. In that role, David provided strategic leadership for Marketing, Communications, Membership, Public Programs and Events, and Visitor Experience. He joined The Trustees in 2011, first as Director of the Center for Enterprise and Engagement and then as statewide Director of Enterprise, overseeing earned-revenue generation on Trustees properties. He was Executive Director of Hill House, a community center that provides educational, recreational and sports programming for Boston-area youth. David spent more than 15 years in for-profit media, communications, and publishing, where he developed content-rich products and was often responsible for the strategic growth of organizations and product lines. David is also a playwright. (he/him)

Paul Daigneault

(Artistic Director) was the recipient of the 2014 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, which is presented by the Boston Theater Critics Association. Since founding the award-winning SpeakEasy Stage in 1992, he has produced over 150 Boston premieres. As a director, he is especially proud of his projects that have centered gay and queer stories as well as his passion for contemporary American musicals. His work as a teacher has brought him to Boston College, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Emerson College, and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He was honored in 2007 with the Boston College Arts Council’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement and served as the 2011-2012 Rev. J. Donald Monan S. J. Professor in Theatre Arts. (he/him)  

ANDREW FULLEM

(Board Co-Chair) has over 30 years’ experience working in public health, most recently served as the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at JSI, an international public health consulting firm.  With expertise in public health strategic planning and business development, he has a proven track record of successfully implementing high impact public health interventions in different development programs promoting applied technology; capacity development; health information monitoring and evaluation; health logistics; HIV and infectious diseases prevention and treatment; immunization; and maternal, newborn, and child health development. Mr. Fullem has worked in over 30 countries on four continents with a wide range of stakeholders and donors. During that time, he has been involved in a range of HIV, reproductive health, and primary health care programs in Zambia. He has also served on ad-hoc committees of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, addressing stigma and discrimination.  Mr. Fullem has a BS in international relations from American University and a MSPH in public health policy and management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (he/him) 

CONSTANCE GIST GUINDO

(Board Co-Chair) is a long-time theatre lover, but a more recent transplant to Boston.  SpeakEasy served as her introduction to Boston; its boldness was captivating and has continued to tell the stories of this great city and beyond.  Constance found insight and solace in theaters around the world: as an expatriate for over 20 years, she used theatres in her adopted home cities of Paris, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Montreal, and many other places in between to help understand the issues of her neighbors and friends in these locales through their stories on the stage.   She and her husband are parents to young adults: one of whom is a lifelong thespian and the other a football (as in soccer) lover!  Constance holds degrees in Computer Science from New York Institute of Technology, an MBA from Columbia University, and more recently returned to Harvard and earned a Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.   She is currently a Higher Education professional working at Northeastern University.  Constance loves to use the power of theatre as a teaching tool for young and old.  (she/her) 

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