Theater News

Jon Jory Steps Down as Louisville Director

Jon Jory, the producing director at the Actors Theater of Louisville, has decided to step down after 31 years of service. In his three decades at Louisville, Jory increased the theater’s annual budget from $244,000 to $8.3 million, becoming one of America’s most important and influential non-profit theaters in the process, capped by a special Tony Award honoring their achievement. The author of several plays as well as an upcoming book, Tips: Ideas for Actors, Jory will reportedly spend more time pursuing his writing career, and has decided to leave Louisville now while the theatre remains so strong.

Jory bows out right after the company’s 24th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. The Festival, for which the Actors Theatre of Louisville is perhaps best known, has consistently been one of the most reliable sources for new and exciting plays from new and exciting playwrights, including Pulitzer Prize winners Marsha Norman and Beth Henley. Starting this fall, Jory will also teach acting and directing through the graduate program at the University of Washington in Seattle.