Working Theater Appoints Colm Summers As New Artistic Director

Working Theater has appointed Colm Summers as its new Artistic Director. Summers brings a deep, personal commitment to Working Theater’s mission and legacy of making theater accessible and relevant to all.

"It's an honor to join Working Theater, a company which has long represented the best of the American Theater,” said Summers. “In a cardinal year for the labor movement in America, I plan to double down on our community programming and union alliances; creating access to the arts for more working New Yorkers than ever before. I look forward to strengthening the foundational programming that embodies the heart of Working Theater and putting the stories of working people center stage."

Summers comes to Working Theater with a distinguished career in theater, most recently serving as Director in Residence at The Geffen Playhouse. He’s a previous Resident Director at The Abbey Theatre (Ireland’s National Theatre) and a 2023 BRICLab Resident Artist. Known for producing thought-provoking and socially relevant new works, Summers’ vision builds on Working Theater's commitment to exclusively creating and producing new American plays for, about, and with working people.

"Colm impressed us with his passionate resonance to our mission, our programming, and the importance of working people’s stories,” shared Bill Henning, Board President of Working Theater. “We are excited to usher in this next great era of Working Theater with him at the helm as we continue to find new ways to create access to the arts for working people."

Under Summers' leadership, Working Theater looks toward furthering community engagement efforts, forging deeper connections between the theater and the diverse working communities within New York City, especially those which have been traditionally underrepresented in the arts. In its 39th Season, the company will continue to champion the stories and voices of working people with the expansion of the TheaterWorks! Program including a co-produced bi-lingual presentation with People’s Theatre Project directed by Reza Salazar, the development of two new one-act plays through the Mark Plesent Commission Fund, and a co-production with Keen Company of Fish by Kia Corthron directed by Adrienne D. Williams.

Working Theater looks forward to an exciting new chapter of artistic growth, innovation, and deepened community partnerships under Summers’ leadership.

For more information about Working Theater and its upcoming productions, please visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

About Working Theater

WORKING THEATER believes the transformative experience of live theater should not be a luxury, but a part of everyone’s everyday life. The Company offers artistic and educational programming for and about working people— Americans working in the industrial and service economies, who may be unable to afford commercial theater or feel that it does not resonate with their lives and experience. Toward that goal, Working Theater offers an accessible sliding-scale ticket pricing model, and tells stories that reflect a diverse population of the working majority, in hopes of uniting us in our common humanity. 

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