Williamstown Theatre Festival Launches New Long-Term Artistic Model

Williamstown Theatre Festival has launched a new long-term artistic model designed to expand its reach, deepen its impact and secure its future.

As part of this evolution, Williamstown will adopt a biennial model for its next full summer Festival (W72) in 2027 and will use the intervening period to activate a new phase of artistic research, development, and year-round engagement. This strategic decision is designed to support a vision for a year-round eco-system of programming, of which the flagship summer Festival is a cornerstone, as well as a more sustainable, resilient future for the institution and the artists and staff who make its work possible. The expanded approach also includes a major investment in the creation of new and original work across theatre and adjacent storytelling forms, as well as new programs that support artists and audiences both in the Berkshires and beyond.

W71 was a season of firsts for Williamstown with sold-out performances, national critical attention, and the most diverse audiences in the Festival’s history. It was also a season of firsts: the first opera and first ice performance in the Festival’s history, and the opening of the first Festival-owned venue outside the Williams College campus, reaffirming Williamstown Theatre Festival’s role as a vital incubator for ambitious artists who are defining the future of American theatre and as a destination for adventurous audiences for generations to come.

There will also be dedicated efforts to explore Next Generation Learning Programs as well as new business and revenue-generating structures including a for-profit producing entity and a digital subscription model that connects a global theater community. 

Throughout the creative development leading up to W72 in 2027, Williamstown Theatre Festival will continue to engage artists, audiences, and partners through programming and special events in Williamstown and beyond. Additionally, several core projects from last summer being brought to new audiences will include Heartbeat Opera’s Vanessa in NYC in May, with transfers of Not About Nightingales, Spirit of the People, and The Gig also in discussions. Jeremy O. Harris will return as Director of the Creative Collective for W72, with the remainder of the collective to be announced later this year. Additional programming details for W72 will be announced in the coming months.