Long Wharf Theatre selects artistic director
New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre has selected Jacob G. Padrón, a major force in new play development, especially among minority writers, as its new artistic director. He begins his new job in February of next year.
In his first interview regarding his new job, minutes before the news was posted on the Long Wharf website Thursday morning, Padrón expressed “excitement and gratitude for this opportunity.”
Two years ago Padrón founded the Sol Project, a national arts initiative whose mission statement explains that it “works in partnership with leading theater companies to amplify the voices of Latinx playwrights and build artistic homes for artists of color in New York City and beyond.” One recent production with which the Sol Project was involved was the new play “El Huracán” by Charise Castro Smith, which premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in September.
Padrón could not divulge many specifics yet about future programming at Long Wharf, but he did mention several contemporary playwrights whose work he “cares deeply about.” They include Tarell Alvin McCraney (“The Brother/Sister Plays), Charise Castro Smith (“El Huracan”), Shaina Taub (known for her Shakespeare adaptations), Hilary Bettis (“Alligator”), Suzan-Lori Parks (“Father Comes Home from the Wars”) and performance artist/playwright Luis Alfaro.
Padrón says that he intends to continue Long Wharf’s new-works reading series but also sees “a potential to expand and reach new artists” through other new-work development programs.
“There will certainly be new work. We will also breathe new life into classic texts. I am deeply interested in plays that are in conversation with New Haven and in conversation with the world. That’s what theater should be for.”
Padrón, 38, knows the New Haven area well. As a student at the Yale School of Drama a decade ago, Padrón was managing director of the studentrun Yale Cabaret. He now teaches artistic producing for the YSD’s theater management program.
Padrón has worked at some of the most famous theaters in the country, including as the senior line producer at the Public Theater in New York City.