Barrington Stage Company Co-Founder and Artistic Director Julianne Boyd will retire at the end of the 2022 season. The board of trustees is conducting a national search for her successor, who will assume leadership of the Berkshires venue in fall 2022.
Under Boyd’s leadership, BSC has produced 41 world premieres, 17 of which have moved on to New York or major regional theatre productions, including three on Broadway and 10 Off-Broadway.
“Seeing Barrington Stage Company grow from humble beginnings to the vibrant institution it has become has been one of the greatest joys in my life,” Boyd said in a statement. “I am proud of all we have accomplished—from producing innovative revivals to serving as an incubator of bold and challenging new plays and musicals. And just as important to me is the work we have done in the community, both in our educational programs and our productions—they have made a difference in the lives of youth and adults in Pittsfield and the larger Berkshire community. However, theatres need new blood, and after 27 years at the helm, I am ready—and excited—to support the next artistic director and the new era BSC will enter."
Boyd co-founded BSC in 1995, with the company originally performing in a high school in Sheffield, Massachusetts. The theatre received national recognition in 2004 for William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which premiered in the high school’s cafeteria and subsequently earned a Tony nomination for Best Musical in 2005. In 2005 Boyd led the company to purchase a former vaudeville house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Following a year of renovations, BSC opened the venue as a state-of-the-art theatre that has housed acclaimed productions of On the Town, The Pirates of Penzance, the world premiere of American Son, Company starring Aaron Tveit, West Side Story, and the recent world premiere of A Crossing. In 2009, BSC rented a former VFW building in Pittsfield for the company’s Stage 2. The building, which was purchased in 2012, is now the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Center.
Boyd has created several educational programs and initiatives at BSC, including the Playwright Mentoring Project, a program for underserved youth; the Musical Theatre Lab, to help young artists develop and create new musicals; the 10x10 New Play festival, now in its 11th season; and the Musical Theatre Conservatory, training pre-professionals for careers in musical theatre.
BSC was the first Equity theatre in the country to open during the pandemic in 2020 with Harry Clarke starring Mark H. Dold. This year, the company produced a six-show season, including three world premieres.
Another theatre company not far from Barrington—Williamstown Theatre Festival—also announced a leadership shakeup this month, with Mandy Greenfield stepping down as artistic director.
READ: Mandy Greenfield Resigns From Williamstown Theatre Festival
