Jennifer Kiger Concludes Run at Yale Repertory Theatre; Chantal Rodriguez Appointed Associate Artistic Director

Yale Repertory Theatre has announced that Jennifer Kiger, Associate Artistic Director at Yale Rep and Director of New Play Programs, is stepping down from these roles effective June 30, 2023. She will continue to serve on the Playwriting faculty at David Geffen School of Drama. 
 
In her 18-year tenure, Jennifer Kiger has overseen the producing of more than 90 plays and musicals at Yale Repertory Theatre. For 12 seasons, she curated Yale Rep’s No Boundaries series, a program that presented theatre, dance, and performance art from the United States and around the globe. Under her direction, Yale Rep’s new play program, the Binger Center for New Theatre, has supported the work of more than 70 commissioned artists. With the developmental resources of the Binger Center, 45 commissioned plays and musicals have been completed, 27 of which have gone on to production at theatres across the country. 
 
At Yale Rep, the Binger Center has supported the production of 35 new plays, including the following world premieres: Notes from Underground and In a Year with 13 Moons adapted by Bill Camp and Robert Woodruff; Pop!, book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman, music by Anna K. Jacobs; Compulsion by Rinne Groff; Indecent by Paula Vogel; We Have Always Lived in the Castle, book and lyrics by Adam Bock, music by Todd Almond; Bossa Nova by Kirsten Greenidge; Belleville and Mary Jane by Amy Herzog; Good Goods by Christina Anderson; The Realistic Joneses and The Plot by Will Eno;  Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi; Dear Elizabeth and Scenes from Court Life by Sarah Ruhl; These Paper Bullets! by Rolin Jones; The House that will not Stand by Marcus Gardley; War and Girls by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Familiar by Danai Gurira; Elevadaby Sheila Callaghan; The Moors by Jen Silverman; Imogen Says Nothing by Aditi Brennan Kapil; Field Guide by Rude Mechs; El Huracán by Charise Castro Smith; Good Faith by Karen Hartman; Cadillac Crew by Tori Sampson; and The Brightest Thing in the World by Leah Nanako Winkler.
 
“It has been my honor to serve as Associate Artistic Director of Yale Rep for 18 years, and to have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre since its inception. I have found my deepest purpose in being of service to the artists, managers, and technicians who tell stories that have the power to move the human spirit and to impact our field for decades to come,” said Jennifer Kiger. “As I look forward to starting the next chapter of my career, I’m very happy to continue teaching at the David Geffen School of Drama.”
 
“Working with Jennifer Kiger has been one of the most meaningful collaborations of my career. From her vision for supporting new work made by distinguished artists to her sensitive and high-minded attention to professional production in a conservatory setting, she has inspired generations of colleagues and students while demonstrating field leadership of the most admirable standard,” said Artistic Director James Bundy. “No one, over the last eighteen years, has worked harder to maintain the artistic integrity of our theater, and we are fortunate, indeed, that she will continue to serve on the David Geffen School of Drama faculty.”
 
Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean at David Geffen School of Drama, will serve as Associate Artistic Director at Yale Rep, effective July 1. With this appointment, Chantal Rodriguez joins her fellow deans at the Geffen School with formal leadership roles at Yale Rep: James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean/Artistic Director; Florie Seery, Associate Dean/Managing Director; and Carla L. Jackson, Assistant Dean/General Manager.
 
Prior to coming to Yale in 2016, Chantal served as the Programming Director and Literary Manager of the Latino Theater Company, operators of the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), a multi-theater complex in downtown L.A. At the LATC, she helped produce many seasons of culturally and aesthetically diverse work including the historic Encuentro 2014 festival. Chantal is the co-editor of Seeking Common Ground: Latinx and Latin American Theatre and Performance (Methuen Drama, 2021), “What’s Next for Latinx” volume 49.1 of Yale’s Theater Magazine (2019), and Encuentro: Latinx Performance for the New American Theater(Northwestern University Press, 2019). She is the author of “The Latino Theatre Initiative/Center Theatre Group Papers” (UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press, 2011), which was nominated for three Latino Literacy Now International Book Awards. She is a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons Advisory Committee, and the National Advisory Board for the 50 Playwrights Project. Chantal is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television where she earned a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies, and Santa Clara University where she earned a B.A. in Theater and Spanish Studies. 
 
“Over the past seven years, Chantal Rodriguez has proven herself an invaluable colleague and transformational leader in the Geffen School community and the field of training: I am delighted that she has accepted the invitation to return to artistic production, where her talents as a dramaturg and producer will illuminate a bright future for Yale Rep,” said James Bundy. 
 
"I am deeply honored to be appointed Associate Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre. Throughout my career, I have strived to balance my work as a theater practitioner and educator, so this role is truly a lifelong dream come true,” said Chantal Rodriguez. “Yale Rep is an incredible place where professional practice and graduate conservatory training meet in the most vibrant and dynamic ways. I look forward to helping steward the work of Yale Rep, in collaboration with the Geffen School, and I am so grateful to the community of amazing artists, audiences, staff, faculty, and students that will continue to be the bedrock of this historic institution.” 
 

ABOUT YALE REPERTORY THEATRE
 

Yale Repertory Theatre, the internationally celebrated professional theatre in residence at David Geffen School of Drama, has championed new work since 1966, producing well over 100 premieres—including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists—by emerging and established playwrights. Seventeen Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award nominations and ten Tony Awards. Yale Rep is also the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Established in 2008, Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre has distinguished itself as one of the nation’s most robust and innovative new play programs. To date, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 70 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of more than 30 new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theaters across the country—including next season’s Wish You Were Here by Sanaz Toossi, The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers, and The Far Country by Lloyd Suh.
 
Yale Repertory Theatre receives major support from CT Humanities, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Shubert Foundation.