The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has named Hana Sharif as artistic director to replace Steven Woolf.
Sharif, who is associate artistic director at Baltimore Center Stage, will take The Rep post at the end of the 2018-2019 season.
Sharif’s career includes working as a director, playwright and producer. She is the first African-American woman to head a large professional theater organization in St. Louis.
In Baltimore, she has won acclaim for productions of “Pride and Prejudice" and “The Christians,” worked on community engagement and helped oversee a building renovation and rebranding campaign.
Woolf is retiring after more than 30 years as The Rep’s artistic director. In a news release, he praised the choice of his successor.
“I am enormously happy with this selection,” Woolf said. “I’d like to commend our search committee and its chair, Ann Cady Scott, for choosing Hana. She will be an excellent leader for The Rep moving forward.”
Through the rest of this season, Sharif will work closely with Woolf and Mark Bernstein, The Rep’s managing director, before beginning her first season as artistic director in June 2019.
In this Oregon Shakespeare video, Sharif talks about why she chose theater as her professional realm.
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