The executive and artistic director of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis is resigning to take another job.
Rick Dildine will become artistic director of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival on Aug. 1.
Dildine, who joined the St. Louis organization in 2009, resigned once before, in 2014. He took a similar position in Lennox, Massachusetts and returned one year later.
At that time, he told St. Louis Public Radio, he was grateful to come back to a job he loved.
"I’m very lucky the board of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis has given me the opportunity to return," Dildine said in 2015.
Through a publicist, the Arkansas native said Thursday that he’s “sorry to be leaving my beloved St. Louis.”
“I have so many great memories within this community,” Dildine said. “St. Louis is such a vibrant theater town and it has been such an incredible honor to be a part of it.”
Dildine is known for expanding the organization with “Shake 38,” a five-day celebration of various Shakespearean productions, and the annual “Shakespeare in the Streets,” based on the personal stories of different St. Louis neighborhoods.
During Dildine's tenure, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis has won accolades including the 2017 Arts Organization of the Year award from the Missouri Arts Council.
Follow Nancy on Twitter: @NancyFowlerSTL
