REP Founder Sanford (Sandy) Robbins to Step Down

After 32 years of working devotedly as the Producing Artistic Director of the Resident Ensemble Players (REP), Founder and Director of the Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP), and Theatre Department Chairperson at the University of Delaware, Sanford (Sandy) Robbins has announced that he will complete his leadership of the REP and Theatre Department on August 31, 2022.

Steve Tague, a founding member of the REP acting company, frequent REP director, and Theatre Department faculty member, has generously agreed to serve as the interim Producing Artistic Director of the REP and Chairperson of the Theatre Department for one year as the University of Delaware administration, in consultation with the Theatre Department faculty, conducts a search for a successor.

Sandy Robbins says, "Steve Tague is an outstanding actor, director, and educator, and I am confident that he is the right person to head the REP and Theatre Department in the interim year between my departure and the beginning of new leadership."

Readers are invited to read Sandy's full announcement on the REP's website at www.udel.edu/008575

Under Mr. Robbins' leadership the REP has offered thirteen seasons of theatre, including seven new adaptations of classic plays, five world premieres of plays written expressly for the REP, and, during the pandemic, seven new audio plays and a Zoom play. These productions have featured the REP's outstanding resident actors, exceptionally gifted guest actors from the top tier of the profession, some of the world's foremost directors and designers, and the talented resident design and production staff.

Robbins is also the founder of the Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP). The PTTP began at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where it operated for twelve years before being aggressively recruited by the University of Delaware administration. In 1989, the entire program relocated - faculty, production staff, administrative staff, and clerical staff - to the University of Delaware, an unprecedented move that remains singular in the history of American theatre training programs. During its 22 years of operation at the University of Delaware, the PTTP was consistently rated one of the top 10 theatre training programs in America by U.S. News and World Report and one of the top 25 in the English-speaking world by Hollywood Reporter.

"Throughout my time in Delaware, I have been privileged to collaborate with extraordinarily talented, committed, and big-hearted people in our organization and in our guests." Robbins says. "I will always deeply appreciate the gift it has been to participate with you. In the meantime, I am very much here until this time next year and very much looking forward to the upcoming theatre season and academic year."

The REP's upcoming 2021-2022 season includes a sensational selection of virtual audio offerings in the Fall and a much-anticipated return to live performances in early 2022. Box office and ticketing information for live performances will be made available in the Fall. The latest information can be found online at www.rep.udel.edu.

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