Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten to Step Down

It was announced today that Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten will step down at the end of the year to become Executive Director of Friends of the Highline, the non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and re-use of an elevated railway that has become a renowned public space in New York City. While the search is underway for a new Artistic Director, WTF's 2014 summer season will remain under Gersten's Artistic Direction; she will curate and oversee the season to ensure a seamless leadership transition.

Gersten said in a statement: "It's with a heavy heart that I prepare to leave the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which has been my home for many years. However, the opportunity to work at the High Line provides me a way to offer service and imaginative programming to a very special part of a city I love-- my hometown. It was irresistible. I'm thrilled to be able to stay on to oversee the 2014 season artistically. It promises to be a very special summer, and I'm happy to keep ties to a place I hold dear."

Matthew Harris, President of the Williamstown Theatre Festival Board of Trustees, commented: "Jenny has been an amazing leader and friend, and she will be dearly missed. We wish her great success in her exciting new endeavor, where we know she will continue to enrich the cultural landscape for all of us."

Gersten became Artistic Director of Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2010, and oversaw three exciting and record-breaking seasons that includedthe workshop production of David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim's Here Lies Love (directed by Alex Timbers) at MASS MoCA, the World Premieres of Far From Heaven, The Bridges of Madison County, Katori Hall's Whaddabloodclot!!! the American Premiere of Ten Cents a Dance (conceived and directed by John Doyle), the much-buzzed-about production of The Elephant Man (starring Bradley Cooper and Patricia Clarkson), and more.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski