Michael Barakiva.
CLEVELAND: Cleveland Play Home (CPH) has named Michael Barakiva to be their new inventive director. Barakiva, who not too long ago directed CPH’s manufacturing of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, will instantly exchange Mark Cuddy, who has served as interim inventive director since June 2022.
“Cleveland Play Home is thrilled to welcome Michael Barakiva because the tenth inventive director in its storied 108-year historical past,” board chair Michael Meehan stated in an announcement. “Michael’s infectious enthusiasm, extraordinary expertise, and nationwide recognition will additional allow this iconic group to supply nice theatre and humanities schooling programming in Northeast Ohio.”
Barakiva is a director, producer, and novelist whose work has been seen on the Oregon Shakespeare Pageant (OSF), Syracuse Stage, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. He beforehand served as inventive director of the Hangar Theatre and based the theatre firm the Upstart Creatures. Barakiva is the recipient of three Drama League directing fellowships and OSF’s Phil Killian directing fellowship and was an artist-in-residence on the College of California Davis. He beforehand served because the readings and workshops coordinator at New York Stage and Movie, and his playwriting work has been commissioned by Purple Bull Theater and the EST/Sloan Venture. Barakiva can be a younger grownup novelist and is a graduate of Vassar Faculty and the Juilliard Faculty.
“I fell in love with Cleveland and CPH final spring, once I first got here to work right here, and fell in love over again once I was fortunate sufficient to return and direct Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” Barakiva stated in an announcement. “I’m eagerly anticipating working with managing director Rachel Fink, CPH board chair Mike Meehan, and the complete CPH board and workers to steer this establishment into its subsequent chapter.”
Barakiva replaces Cuddy, who took over after the resignation of longtime inventive director Laura Kepley. CPH has since confronted a number of controversies involving the postponement and cancelation of productions and considerations about artist security. In October 2022, CPH canceled the vacation manufacturing Gentle It Up!, which that they had commissioned the earlier yr, attributable to “artistic conflicts.” Final February, Charly Evon Simpson pulled the rights to her play I’m Again Now: Returning to Cleveland after director Stori Ayers resigned from the manufacturing in protest over the theatre’s dealing with of the sexual assault of one of many present’s actors in a housing advanced for CPH artists. Different artists who spoke to American Theatre described CPH management as responding inadequately or inappropriately to incidents of violence within the neighborhood across the theatre and artist housing.
In an announcement about Barakiva’s hiring, CPH didn’t supply a timeline of their seek for a creative director or the way it was carried out.
Cleveland Play Home was based in 1915 and is devoted to its mission to encourage, stimulate, and entertain various audiences in Northeast Ohio by means of productions and teaching programs. As of 2022, the theatre had a finances of roughly $10.5 million.
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