The Theater At Monmouth Announces Dawn McAndrews as New Producing Artistic Director

Monmouth, Maine - The Theater At Monmouth’s Board of Trustees' President Linda Wilcox announced today the appointment of Dawn McAndrews as the Theater’s new Producing Artistic Director, succeeding David Greenham, who is stepping aside in October.

Dawn McAndrews is an accomplished director, producer, educator, and dramaturge who has worked at theatres across the country including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Portland Stage Company and as artistic director of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Recent directing credits include The Glass Menagerie and Three Days of Rain (1st Stage) Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice (The Orange Girls) and Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Antigone (Saint Louis University). Other regional credits include The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, At Twilight, and The Mousetrap at The Theater At Monmouth in 2009.

She has served as an arts education consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group, the Shakespeare Theatre Association, and the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative’s Ford Foundation Initiative among others. As founder of the Teaching Artist Training Lab, an initiative designed to increase the capacity of teaching artists working in both schools and community-based organizations, she has facilitated trainings on arts-integrated curricula and inclusive learning environments. From 1994-2007 she taught Arts Integration for Elementary School Teachers at UCLA Extension and recently served as Adjunct Faculty in the Performing Arts Department at Saint Louis University. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Directing and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance.

McAndrews produced the 2010 International VSA Festival in Washington, D.C. with VSA, the international organization on arts and disability. The festival presented artists with disabilities from 67 countries on six continents and presented over 47 events in 18 venues reaching audiences of more than 500,000.

“Dawn will be a wonderful and dynamic leader for The Theater At Monmouth,” said outgoing Producing Artistic Director David Greenham, “These are very exciting times for The Theater and I know Dawn will find the same wonderful support from the Board, staff and community that I have received during the years I’ve spent leading this great organization.”

“I am thrilled to return to Maine and especially to The Theater at Monmouth,” said McAndrews, “The Theater’s strong commitment to community and to supporting both established and emerging theater artists hooked me when I directed here two summers ago. I look forward to working with the board and company to continue the tradition of presenting great theater in Cumston Hall and throughout the state.”

McAndrews assumes the post of Producing Artistic Director in October 2011. Before starting her full-time duties, she will direct the Theater's fall musical On the Twentieth Century.The eight month search was conducted by a committee of Board members, Chair Robin Struck, Linda Wilcox, Paula Gaudet, and Patricia Jones.

"We found Dawn through an extensive national search and are so pleased to bring to the Theater someone of her caliber who loves Maine," said Wilcox.

About The Theater At Monmouth
The Theater At Monmouth is a year-round repertory company of professional theater artists from across Maine and the United States. Founded in 1970, the Theater was named The Shakespearean Theater of Maine by the Maine State Legislature in 1975. Performances are held in Cumston Hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings since 1976.

The mission of The Theater at Monmouth is to bring innovative approaches to Shakespeare and other classic plays through professional productions which enrich the lives of people in Maine at historic Cumston Hall, Monmouth and throughout the state.

The Theater At Monmouth is a constituent member of The Theater Communications Group, the Shakespeare Theater Association of America, The New England Theater Conference, The Association of Presenters of Northern New England, the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce and the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce.

From its inception, The Theater At Monmouth has maintained strong community partnerships, education programs, and humanities initiatives. Through collaborations with such institutions as the University of Maine at Augusta, the Maine Humanities Council, Arts Midwest, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission, The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Cumston Library Public Library, and schools across the state, the Theater provides exceptional educational, scholarly, and artistic experiences for Maine residents of all ages.

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