Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr to Become Artistic Director of Village Theatre

The Edlavitch DCJCC has announced that Adam Immerwahr, Theater J's Artistic Director since December 2015, will be departing in July to be the Artistic Director of Village Theatre in Issaquah, WA. Since joining Theater J, Immerwahr has been instrumental in the theater's emergence as the nation's preeminent Jewish theater, selecting seven seasons and producing over 30 plays during his nearly seven years at the theater.

Immerwahr's many notable accomplishments at Theater J include:

• Launching Theater J's Yiddish Theater Lab, a program dedicated to uncovering and re-interpreting nearly forgotten classics of the Yiddish theater. The Lab has presented seventeen readings, one full production and an audio play.

• Initiating Theater J's Expanding the Canon program, which has commissioned seven Jewish playwrights of color over three years to write seven new plays that center the stories of ethnically and racially diverse Jewish people.

• Establishing two annual new Jewish play prizes, including the Trish Vradenburg Prize for an established playwright and the Patty Abramson prize for a promising emerging woman playwright

• Creating Theater J's Classes for Theater Lovers, giving audience members the opportunity to learn with Theater J leadership and artists. During the height of the pandemic, classes were moved online and provided over $40,000 in teaching fees to artists who were otherwise unable to work when the theaters were closed.

Many of the recent Theater J productions produced under Immerwahr's tenure will be presented at theaters across the country, including Becoming Dr. Ruth, which will be remounted by Cleveland Play House, Tuesdays with Morrie, which is expected to tour Michigan this year, and The Wanderers, which was developed and produced at Theater J and will be produced at the Roundabout Theatre in New York.

"I am hugely grateful to Adam for the strength of his character, his outstanding artistry, and his unrelenting impact on the growth and development of Theater J," says EDCJCC CEO Dava Schub. "Adam has been a wonderful partner to me since my arrival here as CEO just two years ago. Both personally and professionally, Adam will be deeply missed in our community."

Theater J Managing Director David Lloyd Olson says, "Adam's vision has carried Theater J to new heights. Because of his leadership, the future is bright for Theater J. We wish him Mazal Tov and all the best at Village Theatre."

In his new role at Village Theatre, Immerwahr will oversee programming for one of the Seattle region's leading producers of musical theater. Operating venues in both Issaquah, WA and Everett, WA, Village Theatre has nearly 220,000 visitors per year along with educational programs that serve over 56,000 young people and their families annually.

Immerwahr will be returning to Theater J in the 2022-2023 season to direct Two Jews Walk Into A War... by Seth Rozin, with performances scheduled to run January 11 through February 5, 2023.

The Edlavitch DCJCC has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to conduct an international search for the next artistic director for Theater J. A search committee has been formed made up of EDCJCC Board Members, Theater J Council Members, and artists. Interested candidates should reach out to David Mallette and Shruti Adhar at MCA at info@mcaonline.com.

Theater J is grateful to Immerwahr for his many years of service, and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

About Adam Immerwahr

Adam Immerwahr served as the Artistic Director of Theater J from 2015 to 2022. He is the former Associate Artistic Director at McCarter Theatre Center, a Tony Award-winning theater in Princeton, NJ, where his directing credits include Sleuth, The Understudy, The Mousetrap, and a now-annual production of A Christmas Carol, and his producing credits include world premieres by Edward Albee, John Guare, Will Power, Christopher Durang, Marina Carr, Danai Gurira, and many more. He was the Resident Director at Passage Theater in Trenton, NJ, and the Artistic Director of OnStage, a company of New Jersey senior citizens who collected and performed the stories of their community. Adam has directed at some of the top theaters in the country, including The Public and Theater Row (both for Summer Play Festival), Ensemble Studio Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, McCarter Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, Theater J, Passage Theater, Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage, Hangar Theater, Bristol Riverside, and many others. Internationally, he directed the African premiere of The Convert (nominated for Zimbabwe's National Arts Medal). He was the recipient of 2010 NJ Theatre Alliance "Applause Award" and 2014 Emerging Nonprofit Leader Award presented by Fairleigh Dickinson University. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Alliance for Jewish Theater, and is an inaugural member of the Drama League Director's Council. Adam is a graduate of Brown University, where he studied both Theater and Renaissance/Early Modern Studies.

About Theater J

Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.

Theater J is a program of the Edlavitch DCJCC. Theater J performs at the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater, located at 1529 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC, four blocks east of Dupont Circle.

About the Edlavitch DCJCC

Theater J is a proud program of the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (EDCJCC). Guided by Jewish values and heritage, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center engages individuals and families through its cultural, recreational, educational, and social justice programs by welcoming people of all backgrounds to connect, learn, serve, and be entertained together in ways that reflect the unique role of the Center in the nation's capital.

The Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.

About Village Theatre

Based in Issaquah, WA, with operations in Everett, WA, Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. Producing entertaining, quality productions since 1979, Village Theatre has grown into one of the region's best-attended theatres, with just over 18,000 Mainstage season subscribers and 220,000 projected total attendance each season. Through its Village Originals program, Village Theatre is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new musicals, having supported the creation of over 175 new works to date. Village Theatre also takes pride in nurturing tomorrow's audiences through its Youth Education programs, serving over 56,000 young people and their families annually.

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