For Immediate Release
April 7, 2016
COURTNEY SALE BIDS FAREWELL TO INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE, ASSUMES LEADERSHIP AT SEATTLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE
Courtney Sale, Indiana Repertory Theatre’s associate artistic director of three years, will direct the IRT’s season closer, The Mousetrap, before heading west to become the Artistic Director at Seattle Children’s Theatre located in Seattle, Wash.
Sale’s extensive directing background combined with a passion for creating and developing new works has led her to direct many productions including the world premiere of April 4, 1968: Before We Forgot How to Dream and And Then They Came for Me, both by IRT playwright-in-residence James Still, as well as work outside the IRT including On Clover Road (Phoenix Theatre), Not Medea (Contemporary American Theatre Festival) and Mr. Burns, a post electric play (Phoenix Theatre), to name a few.
“As a director of new plays, Courtney is everything that is bright and hopeful about the world of creating new, challenging and untested work,” said Still. “Writers love her for the sharp eye and big heart she brings to the process.”
As part of her leadership at the IRT, Sale has contributed to all aspects of the artistic process, with an emphasis on casting, education outreach programming and new artistic projects. She is the co-director of IRT’s Summer Conservatory for Youth serving ages eight through eighteen and in 2015 produced Write Now, a national conference for playwrights focused on youth.
“I am so proud of the work I made at IRT. I have been fortunate to work with so many talented artists, an engaged board, thoughtful audiences and so many young Hoosiers,” said Sale. “Those experiences have enriched me in ways I will continue to discover as I begin this next chapter.”
Seattle Children’s Theatre is one of the largest and most revered youth serving theatres in the country and this new role will allow her passions to endure.
“I look forward to ensuring high quality artistic programming for the young audiences and their families in Seattle. Alongside Karen Sharp, SCT’s Managing Director, I am excited to build mission-aligned goals for the organization and make significant contributions to the Theatre for Young Audiences canon,” said Sale.
Janet Allen, IRT’s executive artistic director and CEO, considers Sale’s selfless ability to immerse herself into the greater theatre community of Indianapolis a testament to her passion for her craft and her belief in the power of sharing ideas and building community.
“We have been so privileged to have benefited from three years of Courtney! She has brought prodigious education skills and strategic innovation, as well as fierce directing chops, amazing collegial spirit and enduring positive energy to the IRT over that time,” said Allen. “We wish her the very best in Seattle, and know that the arts community there will benefit as we did from her presence and commitment.”
Sale’s legacy includes being one of fourteen emerging directors to participate in Peter Brook's workshop in conjunction with his tour of Hamlet, receiving the prestigious continuing fellowship through the Graduate School at University of Texas, serving as a guest lecturer at the IUPUI, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Texas at Austin, Seattle Children's Museum, Summer at Cornish, Cornish College of the Arts, Booker T. Washington High School of Performing Arts (Dallas) and at Temple College and most recently, being awarded the Indiana Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award.
Selected directing credits include uncertain terms (NW Playwrights Seattle Repertory Theatre), Sagittarius Ponderosa (New Harmony Project), The There There (New Harmony Project), Birdsong (Write Now), Zen Prayers and Songs (Fusebox Festival), The Tempest (Heartland Repertory), The Zoo Story (Secondhand Theatre), Plays for Horses (Performance Studies International at Stanford University), the world premiere of Steven Dietz's 360 (round dance) (UT Austin), Dream of Perfect Sleep (UT Austin), Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls (The Management), The Chalk Boy (The Management), and A Bright Room Called Day (Strike Anywhere Productions). As co-artistic director of The Duplicates, she's co-created/directed The Poison Squad (2013 Austin Critics Award), The Fictional Life of Historical Oddities, Static (2012 Austin Critics Nominee), september play and The Man with the Dancing Eyes. Her production of Kristen Kosmas' The Scandal! was nominated for the New York Innovative Theater Award and featured in American Theatre Magazine. Additionally, her work has been recognized in the Austin Chronicle, Dramatist Magazine, UT Know, and The Daily Texan.
Founded in 1971, the IRT is the largest and fully professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and has grown into one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of IRT is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.
###
