Artists Rep's Allen Nause Plans to Retire in 2013

By the time Allen Nause retires in June 2013, he will have been at the helm of Artists Rep for 25 years, leading the theater by bringing Portland the newest and most challenging plays, featuring the highest caliber local theater artists, and creating a highly regarded mid-sized theater that attracts enthusiastic and dedicated theater audiences.

 “Now is the time for me to put my retirement plans in motion,  Artists Rep is healthier than ever these days helped by the strongest start to a season ever thanks to a clarity of artistic vision supported by a dedicated, professional staff,  a  committed Board of Directors, and a growing, adventurous audience, said Allen Nause. "These factors allow me to retire with the confidence that Artists Rep will continue to serve our community with provocative, challenging theater for many years to come." Nause continues, "It has been an honor and privilege to serve as Artistic Director of a theater I love so much, it has been an incredible journey and this next step holds great opportunity for Artists Rep’s future.”

On the threshold of Artists Rep’s 30th year of challenging artists and audiences with adventurous and provocative plays staged in intimate environments, the theatre’s Board of Directors will seek a new Artistic Director to begin in 2013.  Artists Rep’s Board of Directors ‘Artistic Director Search Committee’ will begin a national and international exploration of candidates beginning in January 2012.  Nause will lead the play selection in the 2012-13 season with Associate Artistic Director Jon Kretzu and Literary Manager Stephanie Mulligan, and will remain at his post until the end of the 2012-13 Season, likely overlapping time with the incoming Artistic Director.

“Our key quest is to find a leader who is a ‘fit’ for Artists Rep,” said Kris Olson, Artists Repertory Theatre Board Chair.  “We want someone who can stand comfortably on the considerable shoulders of Allen Nause, as the company enters its fourth decade of intimate, challenging theater.” 

Locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, Nause is well-respected for his artistic leadership, as well as his strong abilities as a director and actor. Nause says he will work with the Board of Directors to find the best person for Artists Rep with both leadership and artistic strengths that complement both the professionalism and philosophy of Artists Rep.

“Allen Nause is one of the most talented and influential leaders in American regional theater today, having built Artists Rep into a highly respected company producing consistently exciting and thought-provoking plays that engage the audience,” said Ronni Lacroute, Artists Rep donor and patron. “Allen has a talent for finding compelling scripts and attracting superb actors as well as highly creative technical theater professionals, so I am thrilled to have been invited to underwrite productions at Artists Rep since 2005,” Lacroute continues, “what sets Artists Rep apart is the connection that patrons feel to the company, which feels more like an extended family.” 

About Allen Nause

Allen Nause has been Artists Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director since 1988. He has performed in many plays at Artists Rep including: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune, Breaking The Code, Art, The Drawer Boy, Death Of A Salesman, Blackbird,Vanya and most recently No Man’s Land. Allen has appeared in many other Northwest theaters including: Portland Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Empty Space, A.C.T. Seattle and the Intiman Theatre. Nause joined Artists Rep as the company’s first Artistic Director in 1989 and has directed many of its most Popular Productions. He directed Our Town with Mahesh Dattani in Bangalore, India and led two international tours to Africa and the Near and Middle East, representing American regional theater for U.S.I.A. Arts America. In 2000, Nause traveled to Vietnam and co-directed a bilingual, bicultural production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a Vietnamese production of A Glass Menagerie as part of the Vietnam/America Theater Exchange. In May 2007 he directed All My Sons with the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem. Nause recently returned from Islamabad, Pakistan where he directed The Odd Couple.

About Artists Repertory Theatre

At the heart of Artists Rep’s almost 30 years is its mission of challenging artists and audiences with adventurous and provocative plays staged in an intimate environment. Audiences are asked to examine assumptions, biases, and comfort zones, and be open to a theatrical experience that illuminates the human condition, in all its beauty and difficulty. Due to Allen Nause’s commitment to theater artists, Artists Rep has a four-member resident Acting Company, who work on substantive, challenging roles throughout the season. Artists Rep is also deeply committed to nurturing the development of new plays and emerging writers.

Intimacy is a key component in Artists Rep’s work and identity in the theater community. Artists Rep owns its newly renovated facility, which encompasses a full city block and includes two theater venues: The Alder Street Theatre (220 seats) and the Morrison Street Theatre (164 seats);  and two beautiful lobbies, including two new bars. With such close physical proximity, the emotional and intellectual divide between the audience and the play narrows, and the experience becomes all the more rewarding with the feeling of a shared experience both on stage and in the seats. It’s what our patrons cite again and again as their favorite thing about Artists Rep: The opportunity to experience top-caliber stagecraft up close. That sense extends to our “extracurricular” activities too. Artists Rep audiences enjoy an access to our artists unparalleled in the regional theater world.

Actors, directors and designers participate enthusiastically in small educational and social gatherings from pre-show chats to post-show receptions and panel discussions, and they often can be found having conversations with patrons in the lobby.

Artists Rep has a year-round staff of 20 (of whom nine are artistic/production staff), an Acting Company of four, and an annual budget of $2.2 million. It operates under a Small Professional Theatre 8 contract with Actors Equity Association. The theater is governed by a Board of Directors of 15. The Artistic Director and Managing Director are co-equal partners in the management of the theater and both report directly to the Board of Directors.

For more information about our current season, our history and other aspects of Artists Rep, including a complete list of all our productions since 1982, visit www.artistsrep.org.