Ari Roth.
Artistic Directors come and go. Most of the time the transition is a quiet and peaceful one. In the case of the dismissal of Ari Roth, the former Artistic Director of Theater J in Washington, D.C., much drama unfolded over his termination which resulted in a transition that was anything but quiet and peaceful.
The termination of Ari Roth ignited many groups to respond in protest including statements from Association for Jewish Theatre and The Artistic Directors of the American Theater.
Ari Roth is continuing his artistic mission, forming the Mosaic Theatre Company which will begin its season in the fall at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in D.C.
I spoke with Theater J’s Managing Director, Rebecca Ende and Acting Artistic Director, Shirley Serotsky about the recent events involving Ari Roth and the future of Theater J.
Rebecca Ende, Managing Director of Theater J.
Mark Beachy: Were you expecting the nationwide outpouring of support for Ari Roth after he was terminated as Artistic director from Theater J?
Rebecca Ende: Ari has built a reputation for himself nationally and internationally as an Artistic Director with vision and integrity. We were certainly expecting there to be an outpouring of support from the local and national communities, as well as in Israel where he has many deep artistic ties. However, the amount of press coverage this issue has received and the lack of nuance with which the press has approached the issue has been surprising.
Mark Beachy: In an open letter signed by over 60 Artistic directors from leading theatres in the U.S., they stated that “The actions of the JCC, in terminating him for blatantly political reasons, violate the principles of artistic freedom and free expression that have been at the heart of the non-profit theater movement for over half a century.” What is your response to that?
Rebecca Ende: Although the letter frames this issue as one of censorship, ultimately Ari was fired by the DCJCC for a range of personnel issues that are confidential. Ari himself has publicly stated that the reason was insubordination. Ari also had very public plans in place to leave Theater J sometime this spring in order to launch a new theater company. The tension between Ari and the DCJCC has been shared publicly in the news media as of late, so it’s certainly easy to draw the conclusions reached in the open letter. But the authors were wrong. The situation is more complicated than that.
Mark Beachy: Would it be easier for Theater J to produce controversial plays if it was not affiliated with the JCC?
Rebecca Ende: Theater J has been able to produce controversial work about many subjects ranging from Israel and the conflict in the Middle East to race in America, abortion rights, the genocide in Darfur, and scandals within the American Jewish community. It’s hard to talk about a theater company in the abstract, because all theater companies must balance the views of their artistic leadership, board members, funders and audiences, just as Theater J would still have to do if it were independent.
Mark Beachy: What part of Ari Roth’s philosophy will continue at Theater J? What new ideas would you like to see at Theater J?
Rebecca Ende: Theater is a collaborative art and Ari has worked with our entire staff to develop a unique identity for Theater J. As a playwright himself, Ari built a theater that is a nurturing home for playwrights and prioritizes the development of new work, through our Locally Grown program and beyond it. He also established an incredibly close-knit and supportive working environment for all of our artists. Theater J continues to expand what it means to be a Jewish theater and to do work that resonates with the Jewish cultural legacy through work like David Mamet’s Race, David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face, Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros’s The Argument, Winter Miller’s In Darfur and coming up later this season Tanya Barfield’s The Call. Continuing the conversation beyond the stage through post-show talkbacks and panel discussions is also integral to our work. For years, Theater J has been recognized for employing gender parity in our playwrights and directors. All of that is integral to the heart of our company and we remain committed to maintaining and building on it. We also will continue to do work from and about Israel, working with Israeli partners. As far as new ideas, a new Artistic Director, may certainly bring a fresh perspective to our programming, but will not change out core values.
Mark Beachy: Change isn’t easy. Ari Roth has been the pulse of Theater J since 1997. Moving forward, how will Theater J restore confidence with its audience and continue to be a relevant theatre company in Washington, D.C.?
Rebecca Ende: A change in artistic leadership is always a difficult transition for a theater, however, it’s one that all theaters must go through eventually in order to sustain themselves. We will launch a nationwide search for a new Artistic Director shortly. First and foremost, we’ll be looking for someone with a track record of producing outstanding theater and a strong artistic vision. We know that the only way to regain the trust of the community is through the choices we make in our programming. We ask audiences to give us the opportunity to prove our commitment to remaining a thought-provoking, relevant theater with the announcement of our upcoming season.
Shirley Serotsky, Acting Artistic Director of Theater J.
Mark Beachy: You are quite brave to be taking on the role of Acting Artistic Director of Theater J. Ari Roth would be a tough act to follow even under the best of circumstances. What positive qualities does Ari Roth have that you would like to emulate?
Shirley Serotsky: To be honest, I never considered any route other than continuing to produce a season of which I am very proud—especially as we’re on the cusp of two world premieres from writers that I feel very personally connected to. Aaron Posner was one of the first artists I worked with when I moved to DC thirteen years ago–he’s been a long time mentor and friend. And Renee and I grew up about twenty minutes away from each other in west side suburbs of Rochester, NY. She’s a writer and theater maker that I have a huge artistic crush on and it would break my heart not to personally see her play through to production. Following that, our production of The Call (by Tanya Barfield) was a play that I championed for aggressively during our season planning sessions. The subject of “non-traditional family building” (though really, what does “traditional family building” even mean any more?) strikes me as a topic for our time, and specifically for my generation (either late Gen-X or very early Gen-Y, depending on who you ask). It also continues to bring a diversity of voices to our stages, a trend I’ve been very proud of during my tenure at Theater J. And finally we get to close out with a sneakily subversive comedy (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife)—and who doesn’t love a comedy as we head into summer? But to get more directly to your question—I think what you perceive above is actually a major attribute I observed in Ari Roth, and that is a deep and authentic connection to the work and the artists we collaborate with. There’s no “phoning it in” at Theater J. Ari’s commitment to work that asks big questions and inspires dialogue and discussion within an audience is something I absolutely intend to continue—that’s always been part of my personal artistic mission statement, it’s what first attracted me to Theater J.
And that includes Beyond-the-Stage programming as well. Ari and I have worked together for six and a half years to program upwards of fifty post-show discussions and panels a season. This work was relatively new to me when I came to Theater J (with a background primarily as a freelance director) but the time I’ve spent putting together and executing these events has been some of the most rewarding work I’ve done. It constantly reminds me of why it’s awesome to be a theater-maker in DC—we have access here to some of the smartest, most forward thinking minds on nearly every topic under the sun.
Mark Beachy: The letter from Artistic directors, including the Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse and the Guthrie Theater stated that “A free people need a free art;
debate, dissent, and conflict are at the heart of what makes theater work, and what makes democracy possible.” What are your thoughts on that?
Shirley Serotsky: Yes. I agree with that statement 100%. That said, as Rebecca elaborates in her statement above—the turn of events that led to Ari’s dismissal don’t actually correlate with that statement.
Mark Beachy: Change isn’t easy. Ari Roth has been the pulse of Theater J since 1997. Moving forward, how will Theater J restore confidence with its audience and continue to be a relevant theatre company in Washington, D.C.?
Shirley Serotsky: I think the only way we can restore confidence in our audience and in the DC (and National) theater communities is by continuing to produce engaging, thought-provoking, politically and socially relevant work at the level of quality that people have come to expect of us.
I know that the events of the past few weeks have been tumultuous for everyone—we’ve felt that deeply and personally as a staff and community of artists. Theater J has asked many times over the years—how do we heal from trauma, and what role does art play in this healing process? It’s nearly a cultural imperative within the Jewish community. Well that question is as important now as ever before. We are here as a staff to respond to any questions or concerns that people might have, and we are doing our best to keep up with the flow of conversation we are receiving from our patrons, our artists, and our community. We encourage people to reach out to us if they are compelled to do so.
