Trinity Rep Names New Artistic Director
Meredith McDonough will fill the role exited by long-serving Artistic Director Curt Columbus this August.
Trinity Rep has named Meredith McDonough as its new artistic director. (Photo by Justin Philalack)
For the first time in its history, Trinity Repertory Company will have two women at the helm.
Meredith McDonough, a theater professional and arts administrator from Brooklyn, New York, will begin as the theater’s next artistic director in August. McDonough will lead alongside Executive Director Katie Liberman, who has led Rhode Island’s official state theater since 2022.
“This is a joyful moment for Trinity Rep and for everyone who calls this theater home,” Liberman says. “Meredith McDonough is an extraordinary artist whose vision, humanity and commitment to stories that challenge and unite us make her the perfect steward of Trinity Rep’s next chapter. Meredith understands that theater at its best cracks your heart open and makes you feel less alone. From the moment we met her, it was clear she doesn’t just want to run a theater; she wants to be in real relationship with this community.”
McDonough is the former associate artistic director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, a Tony Award-winning theater that serves as the official state theater of Kentucky. There, she served as a producer of the Humana Festival of New American Plays and was known for championing and directing new works, including the world premieres of Dot by Colman Domingo, brownsville song (b-side for trey) by kimber lee, The Delling Shore by Sam Marks, This Random World by Steven Dietz, Marginal Loss by Deborah Stein and Airness by Chelsea Marcantel.
Prior to her work in Louisville, she was the director of new works at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California, and collaborated frequently with Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, directing the premieres of both Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly and Georgiana and Kitty at Marin Theatre Company. She also collaborated with Taylor Mac and maintained an active freelance directing schedule, directing works at The Guthrie, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Denver Center, Dallas Theater Center, The Huntington Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival and others. In New York City, she developed work with Playwrights Horizons, Red Bull, Keen Company, Atlantic Theater Company, the Women’s Project Theater and Ars Nova.
“I fell in love with Trinity Rep the first time I visited Providence and experienced the power of the work happening on that stage,” McDonough says. “The theater’s extraordinary company, its deep connection to the community and its commitment to creating space for conversation and discovery make it a truly special place. I’m honored and excited to join this remarkable artistic family and begin our next chapter together.”
McDonough was selected following a nationwide search led by Management Consultants for the Arts. Bill Foulkes, a member of the theater’s Board of Trustees, chaired the search committee, which included thirteen representatives from among the organization’s staff, artists and trustees.
“Meredith McDonough is a highly skilled director with an impressive resume of work at the best theaters in America,” says Kibbe Reilly, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Her experience, coupled with the complete joy she finds in being an artistic leader, is why we chose her as our next artistic director. I look forward to collaborating with her and supporting her as she guides Trinity Rep into an exciting future, including the opening of our renovated and expanded theater.”
McDonough replaces Artistic Director Curt Columbus, who announced last August he was stepping down from the role after twenty years leading the arts organization. He’s the second-longest serving artistic director in the theater’s sixty-two-year history after founding Artistic Director Adrian Hall. Columbus saw the theater through the COVID-19 pandemic and also kicked off a renovation process that began in 2017.
“I have often said that artistic endeavors require renewal, and so I am incredibly pleased to welcome Meredith McDonough as the next artistic director,” Columbus says. “Meredith is a remarkable advocate for new plays, training and community, as well as being a nationally celebrated director. She is the perfect person to lead Trinity Rep into the future.”
That renovation process, supported by a $40 million capital campaign, is currently underway. The major renovation is expected to modernize the theater, improve accessibility and add 12,000 square feet to the historic Lederer Theater Centre.
McDonough says she looks forward to developing new plays and musicals in Rhode Island, reexamining classic works and educating the next generation of artists.
“I believe great theater grows out of collaboration between artists, institutions and the communities they serve,” she says. “I’m excited to bring my experience championing new voices, nurturing emerging artists and building vibrant artistic partnerships to Trinity Rep and the state of Rhode Island.”
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