Vineyard Theatre Announces Jesse Cameron Alick as Associate Artistic Director

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern have announced that Jesse Cameron Alick will join the company in the newly created position of Associate Artistic Director. Jesse joins the Vineyard direct from The Public Theater where has spent 15 years in the artistic department focusing on new work development and most recently in the role of Company Dramaturg in charge of commissions, readings and workshops, the Emerging Writers group and production dramaturgy. He begins his new role at the Vineyard in September 2021.

Sarah Stern and Douglas Aibel said, "We are thrilled to welcome Jesse to The Vineyard as a key member of our leadership team. Jesse is a brilliant and devoted nurturer and producer of new plays, in New York City and throughout the country. For more than 15 years, he has brought great care, intellect and heart to shepherding new work by a wide range of adventurous artists, and has played an integral role in shaping vital programs for new project development. We are truly excited to be in collaboration with him every day, and to partner with him to help shape the Vineyard's future -- supporting daring artists and building our community."

Jesse Cameron Alick said, "I am truly thrilled to be joining the artistic team at the Vineyard. Sarah and Doug have a bold vision for this groundbreaking theatre and I look forward to adding in my dramaturgical know-how and helping to launch more new work into the world with the dedicated staff and Board. The Vineyard already works with some of my favorite artists and I can't wait to get into dialogue with them, the artists I don't know, the staff, and the community to hear what they need and how I can support them. As theatres move into this next phase of understanding how to return after the self-reflections of the pandemic and the illuminations of the Black Lives Matter movement, it's so important to work with people who share your values and hopes. I am grateful to the Vineyard for this adventure into the future!"

a??Alick will work closely with a??the Vineyard's artistic directors, helping to curate the Vineyard's seasons and to sustain and expand the company's artistic programs. He will also work directly with artists to guide projects in development.

Jesse Cameron Alick is a dramaturg, producer, poet, playwright, essayist, artistic researcher and science fiction expert. Born and raised Buddhist high in the mountains of Montana, Jesse is a first generation American born of Grenadian descent. He moved to New York City at 17, began working as a spotlight operator and over the course of his first three years in the city worked for a myriad of off off broadway companies doing everything from working as a box office manager, to lighting board op, to program folder, backstage crew, theater rental manager, and hip hop poetry teacher. Jesse co-founded the Subjective Theater Company at 19, moved on to become the company's first resident playwright and then eventually took the helm as Producer and Artistic Director. Jesse ran Subjective for 10 years and staged 15 full productions around Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Jesse was at The Public Theater for 15 years and for the last five was the Company Dramaturg, where he planned bespoke development paths for projects, from acorn to oak. He managed a commissioning program with over 20 ongoing projects, worked on readings and workshops, was a production dramaturg, and ran programs such as the Emerging Writers Group and Public Lab/Public Studio. Jesse was involved in all the artistic development that fed plays into the Public's season pipeline. Outside the Public, Jesse is an active freelance dramaturg at various Off Broadway theaters in the city, nationwide and in the UK.

Jesse studied writing with Adrienne Kennedy and has taught theater courses, lectured at classes and mentored students at a myriad of programs (Lewis and Clark, NYU, Goddard, UT Austin, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons school, Fordham).

The Vineyard's 2021-22 season will feature Is This A Room, conceived and directed by Obie Award winner Tina Satter; and the Center Theatre Group, Goodman Theatre and Vineyard Theatre production of Dana H., by Obie Award winner Lucas Hnath and directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters, on Broadway this fall at the Lyceum Theatre (149 W 45th Street, New York, NY), playing on a rotating schedule. The two plays were presented in succession as part of Vineyard Theatre's 2019-2020 season. In the winter of 2022, The Vineyard returns to its home in Union Square with the world premiere of Charly Evon Simpson's sandblasted, directed by Summer L. Williams who is making her New York directorial debut. sandblasted is a co-production with WP Theater. Obie Award-winning playwright David Cale returns to Vineyard Theatre in the spring of 2022 with the world premiere of Sandra, directed by Obie Award winner Leigh Silverman. This one-woman thriller reunites the Harry Clarke playwright and director and also features an original piano score by Matthew Dean Marsh. The season's additional offerings include part two of the critically acclaimed Lessons In Survival, in front of a live audience, created with and performed by The Commissary and directed by Tyler Thomas; and commissioned works from Vineyard favorites Ngozi Anyanwu, Kirsten Childs, Jared Mezzocchi, Polly Pen, and Madeline Sayet.