KCRep Associate Artistic Director Marissa Wolf, Named New Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage at The Armory

Ted Austin, Chair of the Board of Directors at Portland Center Stage at The Armory in Portland, Oregon, announced today that Marissa Wolf has been selected as the next Artistic Director at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, after an eight-month, nationwide search. Wolf, who is currently the Associate Artistic Director/Director of New Works at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, previously served as the Artistic Director at San Francisco's innovative Crowded Fire Theater. Wolf will join Managing Director Cynthia Fuhrman as co-leader of Portland Center Stage and begins her role full-time on September 15, 2018.

"It is the dream of a lifetime to step into the Artistic Director position at Portland Center Stage at The Armory," said Wolf. "I am honored and thrilled to help co-lead this extraordinary company into the next chapter of growth and vitality. KCRep has been an incredible artistic home for me over the last three seasons. I have been inspired by the virtuosity and passion of our artists, staff, and board who make KCRep a top-tier theater, offering boundary-pushing work in our community. I am grateful that Eric Rosen hired me to cut my teeth as a leader at a major regional theater, and encouraged me to direct not only provocative new work, but 20th Century classics."

Marissa Wolf has served as the Associate Artistic Director/Director of New Works at KCRep for three seasons. In the 2015/2016 season, she and then Artistic Director Eric Rosen launched the OriginKC: New Works Festival, a program that supports the creation, development and production of new work from a diverse body of major national playwrights. As part of the 2016 OriginKC: New Works Festival, Wolf directed the world premiere of Fire in Dreamland by Rinne Groff (co-commissioned by The Public Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and went on to direct its Off-Broadway premiere at The Public Theatre in June, 2018.

Additional directing credits at KCRep include the world premiere of Man in Love by Christina Anderson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Diary of Anne Frank and A Raisin in the Sun, which she co-directed with colleague Chip Miller.

Prior to her three-plus years at KCRep, Wolf served as Artistic Director of Crowded Fire Theater in San Francisco for six seasons, where she directed numerous west coast and world premiere productions, including The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen, The Taming by Lauren Gunderson, The Bereaved by Thomas Bradshaw, Good Goods and DRIP by Christina Anderson, and Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven by Young Jean Lee. Other selected credits include the world premiere of 77% by Rinne Groff at San Francisco Playhouse, Precious Little by Madeleine George at Shotgun Players, Act II of The Lily's Revenge by Taylor Mac at Magic Theatre, and the Bay Area premiere of Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno at The Cutting Ball Theater.

Additionally, Wolf has directed workshops at The New Group, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Marin Theatre Company, and Playwrights Foundation. She was nominated for Best Director from Broadway World San Francisco and the Bay Area Critics Circle Award. Wolf previously held the Bret C. Harte Directing Fellowship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and has a degree in drama from Vassar College, with additional training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

"We applaud our colleagues at Portland Center Stage on their selection of Marissa Wolf as their new AD. We thank Marissa for the kindness, vision, collaborative spirit and infectious enthusiasm that she brought to our company as the Associate Artistic Director, and are proud to call her our colleague and friend. While we will miss our day-to-day interactions with her, we know that her extraordinary talents have the potential to make a game-changing impact on our industry in this new and exciting role," said KCRep's Interim Artistic Director Jason Chanos.

Marissa Wolf will still serve as director for two KCRep productions in the upcoming 2018/2019 season, Charles Dicken's A CHRISTMAS CAROL which runs from November 16 - December 30, and Kate Hammill much-lauded adaptation of Jane Austen's celebrated PRIDE AND PREJUDICE from March 22 - April 14. Wolf's last official day at KCRep will be Friday, September 14, 2018.

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