Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre Announces Three New Women Leaders

Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre has announced three new dynamic women leaders in the roles of Artistic Director, Managing Director, and Director of Production. Mary Candler (she/her), founding Artistic Director explains, "Shifting from a founder-led company to a three-leader model emulates our commitment to ensemble and follows our values of flattening hierarchy. I look forward to supporting these leaders and their efforts to Expand the Canon in my new role as Chair of the Board."

The incoming Artistic Director is Emily Lyon (she/her), former Associate Artistic Director of Hedgepig and member of the ensemble since 2013. Lyon, who created the Expand the Canon program with Candler, will helm that project in her new role. An experienced director and dramaturg, Lyon has directed 8 shows for Hedgepig, including All's Well That Ends Well, Mary Stuart, A Taste of Shakespeare, and Secret in the Wings. Lyon is a director, dramaturg, and producer working at the intersection of storytelling and social change. She curates Expand the Canon and hosts the podcast, founded Future Facing Films, helped develop the 2021 Hollywood Climate Summit, and created an environmental justice card game with The Civilians R&D Group. As a freelance director, Lyon has directed 8 world premiere plays, and worked with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre, The Old Globe, LaMaMa, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Folger, University of Michigan, and others. As a freelance dramaturg, she's worked with writers on shaping 25+ new plays, as well as editing classical texts, including The Tempest for Shakespeare in the Park.

Shannon Corenthin (she/her) will join her as Hedgepig's first-ever Director of Production. Corenthin has been an ensemble member with Hedgepig for two years, a curator for the Expand the Canon program, and a host of This is a Classic: The Expand the Canon Theatre podcast. She is a New York based creative actively working towards making theater and performing arts accessible to all. Since moving to New York in 2017, she has worked with notable theater companies such as The Vineyard Theater and the Drama League allowing her to truly develop as a producer. Corenthin holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Performance from Chapman University. There, she co-founded a Cross-Departmental Student Production Organization that produced full scale musicals for the entire student body. She also received a grant to do research on African American Women playwrights and their production history over the last century. As a performer, director and producer, Corenthin enjoys collaborating and learning from the artists around her to build and tell a fully developed story. In her pursuit of accessibility and representation in the arts, she is resilient and focused. As a black woman with a dual French and Canadian nationality, she is able to approach situations with new perspectives and creatively problem-solve.

Rounding out the team, Corri Oster (she/her) brings her depth of experience from the Manhattan Theatre Club and McCarter Theatre to the role of Managing Director. Oster is an arts manager and data analyst whose personal mission is to support artists and their brilliant ideas. Upon being introduced to Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre, she was immediately taken with their mission to support gender equity through the classics. Through her new role as Managing Director, she looks forward to working with the ensemble to expand their reach and also expand her own knowledge on female playwrights. Oster is thrilled to be joining the all-female leadership team at Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre in preparation for their milestone 10th anniversary season. As Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis says, "If she can see it, she can be it."

Under Candler's leadership, Hedgepig Ensemble has built an ensemble of excellent and socially conscious artists, produced 10 plays and 2 festivals, commissioned 2 new works based on classics, and created the groundbreaking Expand the Canon project. Expand the Canon has been featured in Playbill, the New York Times, American Theatre Magazine, and others. Hedgepig's shows have won "Best Ensemble" and "Best Actress" awards in various festivals. Dedicated to gender equity and representation, Hedgepig's teams have always been made up of 80% women and non-binary artists. The company has partnered with like-minded organizations like Classical Theatre of Harlem, SOLfest, American Players Theatre, and Ma-Yi Theatre Company to further its mission of intersectional gender equity in the canon.

Emily Lyon says, "If Expand the Canon has taught us anything, it is that women's voices and leadership have been enduringly present through history -- though constantly undervalued. I am honored to be stepping into this position, celebrating the legacy of our founding artistic director, and building towards the intersectional, feminist theatre landscape that we've always needed and deserved."

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