San Francisco's 3Girls Theatre Announces Two New Managing Directors

3Girls Theatre has announced the appointment of two new Managing Directors for the company, Zach Kopciak and Tanya Telson assumed their new titles/duties officially starting February 1.

Kopciak started with the company in 2016 and segues into managing director position where he will be responsible for programming and development from that of associate artistic director, while Telson first began working with the company as its first resident stage manager in 2015, and most recently was the company's operations manager.

In the reorganization of the company, founder AJ Baker who began the company while running her own law firm, will "move upstairs" as she puts it, as she becomes the Board Chair.

"Looking back, I could not be more proud of 3GT's artistic journey to date," says Baker. "Eleven years ago, I co-founded 3Girls Theatre for the express purpose of challenging the cultural bias that favors men's voices over women's on stage. Back then, very few in our industry were willing to confront the shameful fact that American theatre largely ignored plays written by women, or to acknowledge that artistic support for emerging women playwrights was virtually nonexistent. 3GT began with a single project, the Salon Reading Series, serving a small cohort of (mostly white) women playwrights over 40. From that modest start, the Company has grown into the unique artistic home it is today, offering multiple development programs, approaches and resources to our diverse gang of theatre-makers. And as our scope has widened, so has our outreach: our playwriting cohort has blossomed into a beautiful multiracial, multigendered and multigenerational sisterhood. We've come such a long way since 2011. I can't wait to see where 3Girls Theatre goes next!"

"As 2021 started, I actively paid attention to which companies wanted to enact real change and which appeared to be giving 'lip service,'" says Telson. "And it was clear to me that 3GT was already doing the work in practice to create space for traditionally suppressed voices to be heard. This alignment with my core belief to practice theater focused on reducing harm and giving access to a broader range of theatrical artists fired my enthusiasm to work in this field as well as give me a platform to practice the mindfulness of lessons learned in 2020. I am honored and humbled to be a part of this work and am grateful to AJ Baker for her vision and faith in elevating the people around her and giving me the tools to do the same."

"3Girls Theatre is not only a theatre company, but also a community," says Kopciak. "This year has been so difficult for everyone, especially those of us in the performing arts, but I am so grateful to have 3GT's community of theatre makers to keep me company and keep me feeling creatively engaged. Collaboration is at the heart of what 3GT's values and programming, and this new leadership model is just the logical extension/next step on our journey to put women's work on stage, where it belongs!"

• 2022 sees the company presenting 18 staged readings of scripts-in-development with a total of their Salon Series @ The Phoenix Theatre near Union Square @ 2pm on 2/13; 3/13; 4/10; 5/15; 6/23 as well as LezWritesBTQ also at The Phoenix Theatre 2pm on 6/4; 6/11; 6/18
  
• In March 2023, 3GT resumes their pandemic-delayed biennial New Works Festival at Z Below
  
• In addition, in the spring of 2023, 3GT is thrilled to present the pandemic-postponed world premiere of 'Tasha by Cat Brooks at Z Below
  
• Throughout 2023 3GT will continue to stage readings of its scripts-in-development: 9 readings from the Salon Series program for women playwrights over 40; 6 readings from the LezWritesBTQ program for lesbian, trans, queer, and gender-nonconforming playwrights; 2 readings from the 3GT Investigates program for BIPOC women playwrights and artivitsts

Learn more at 3girlstheatre.org.

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