Jill Rafson Appointed Producing Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company

Classic Stage Company announced today that Jill Rafson will succeed John Doyle as Producing Artistic Director of the company. Rafson will assume the role beginning June 21, 2022.

"The CSC Board of Directors is thrilled to announce Jill Rafson as our new Producing Artistic Director," says Board Co-Chair Emma Taylor. "Jill has been a trailblazer in her support of the next generation of playwrights whose work can be considered modern classics. It's only fitting that the next leader of Classic Stage Company so wholly understands why committing to the writers of today leads to the classics of tomorrow. We look forward to seeing her perspective on what defines classic theater and how this new vision will bolster CSC into 2023 and beyond."

"I'm so grateful to join the team at Classic Stage," shared Rafson. "The conversations with staff and board have been inspiring, and we have so much to look forward to together. I can't wait to revisit and reinvigorate some of theater's most beloved works, give a platform to plays that should be considered canon, give today's most thrilling voices the chance to do work inspired by and in conversation with that canon, and add to the canon by producing the classics of the future."

Jill Rafson has been with Roundabout Theatre Company since 2005, most recently serving as the company's Associate Artistic Director as well as Artistic Producer for the Roundabout Underground program in support of emerging playwrights. She has developed dozens of new works for Roundabout (including Stephen Karam's Tony-winning The Humans, Steven Levenson's If I Forget, Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews, and Ming Peiffer's Drama Desk-nominated Usual Girls).

Jill has been a dramaturg for the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference, CollaborationTown, The Playwrights' Center, Fault Line Theatre, and the Flea Theater's acclaimed 48-playwright epic reimagining of the Bible, The Mysteries, and in the commercial space, she has served as dramaturg for artists including Candace Bushnell, Zoe Sarnak, and Iris Rainer Dart. Jill has worked with The Broadway League, New York City Center, and ART/NY. She was a member of NYFA's Emerging Arts Leaders program and has taught/lectured for the Commercial Theatre Institute, ESPA, Kenyon College, Columbia University, Hunter College, and others. She currently serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theater. Jill received her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a Graduate Certificate in Fundraising Management from Boston University.

Next up at Classic Stage is Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's Snow in Midsummer, directed by Zi Alikhan. Snow in Midsummer is a thrilling murder mystery adapted from the classical Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth by Guan Hanqing. When a wealthy businesswoman takes ownership of a factory in a remote drought-devastated town, she learns of a curse placed on the town by a woman executed for a crime she did not commit. Weaving together parallel stories in a community torn apart by injustice and ecological disaster, Snow in Midsummer is a spellbinding ghost story that explores the weight of generational trauma and restorative justice. Performances begin on Thursday May 19, with opening night set for Wednesday June 8 for a run through July 9, 2022.

ABOUT Classic Stage Company

Classic Stage Company (CSC) is committed to reimagining classic stories for contemporary audiences. It is a home for New York's finest established and emerging artists to grapple with great works of the world's repertory that speak directly to the issues of today.

In 1967, director Christopher Martin founded CSC Repertory in a 100-seat theater at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on West 73rd Street. Following short stints in small spaces, CSC grew to the point where it needed a permanent home. In 1973, the theater moved to its present premises on 13th Street, an intimate space that was formerly an East Village carriage house.

In the 55 years since, CSC has become a leading Off-Broadway theater that is a home for new and established artists, as well audiences seeking epic stories intimately told. Productions have been cited by all major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.

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