Jeffrey Eric Jenkins Named Director of Theatre Studies at NYU

Best Plays Theater Yearbook editor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins has accepted the position of Director of Theatre Studies in the Department of Drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. A 13-year veteran of the Drama Department's Theatre Studies faculty, Jenkins will remain editor of the Best Plays series and will be assisted by Jennifer Ashley Tepper (jatepper@bestplays.org), who has been named Managing Editor. Jenkins also appointed Julie York Coppens and David Cote as members of the editorial board.

Elizabeth Bradley, Chair of the Department of Drama, said, "Professor Jenkins brings essential attributes and expertise to the important role of Director of Theatre Studies in Tisch Drama. He is a scholar whose depth and caliber enriches students' critical learning. But he is also a theatre professional whose profound understanding of the field and practical theatre process allows him to fully engage emerging artists. Finally, his judgment and commitment to furthering the established excellence in Drama at Tisch makes him a valued member of the leadership group."

"The expansion of my academic duties over the past several years," said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, "has meant that Best Plays, an annual book with unceasing deadlines, tens of thousands of data entries and indices that comprise nearly 20 percent of each volume, has been subject to production delays. With the appointment of my former theater history student, Jennifer Ashley Tepper, I believe that we have taken an important step in the right direction. As Jennifer has worked on the last two volumes with me, it has become clear that her immersion in the theater and her attention to detail will serve our future readers and, indeed, theater history." Tepper will be joined by an assistant editor, MargaRet Turner White (mtwhite@bestplays.org).

"I am grateful to Professor Bradley," Jenkins said of the department's chair, "for giving me an opportunity to serve our students, faculty and institution in new and exciting ways. There are many challenges before us, especially in light of our department's progressive leadership in artist training and education, but I have every confidence that our team is up to the task ahead."

The new members of the editorial board, Julie York Coppens and David Cote, are, according to Jenkins, "two of the most significant young voices among arts writers working today." Coppens, a former staff critic with dailies such as the South Bend Tribune and The Charlotte Observer, now serves as associate editor of Dramatics magazine and Teaching Theatre, a journal. Cote is theater editor of Time Out New York, the influential print and web publication, serves on numerous awards committees and teaches arts criticism at Brooklyn College.

Of the new board appointments, Jenkins said, "we are delighted to be joined by such rich talents as Julie and David. Both of them have written for Best Plays in the recent past and their knowledge of the art form will be an asset to the series going forward. I have known and admired their work for the past decade, and I expect they will be strong advocates for the best in new playwriting as we seek to honor plays in New York and around the United States."

The Best Plays Theater Yearbook was founded in 1920 by drama critic Burns Mantle. The annual chronicle of United States theater, it is an ongoing theater history project that features critical essays on the best new works along with a comprehensive collection of facts and figures about theatrical year in New York and across the United States. In addition to essays on the season on, Off and Off Off Broadway, the series honors 10 new works that have premiered in New York each season. Best Plays also honors three regional plays cited in the Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Awards and Citations competition, which is administered by the American Theatre Critics Association. The Best Plays are chosen from Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway productions of new plays that open between June 1 and May 31. Choices are made by the editor after consultation with the Best Plays Theater Yearbook editorial board: Misha Berson, Julie York Coppens, David Cote, Christine Dolen, Sylviane Gold, Robert Hurwitt, John Istel, Chris Jones, Charles McNulty, Julius Novick, Christopher Rawson, Alisa Solomon, Jeffrey Sweet, Anne Marie Welsh, Linda Winer and Charles Wright. Robert Brustein is consulting editor to the series.