Theater News

Jessica Wanamaker Announced as New Executive Director of The Drama League

New York City
Drama League president Patricia Follert announced today that Jessica Wanamaker, who has served as an arts administrator with such theatrical organizations as The Wooster Group, The Builders’ Association, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, has joined The Drama League as executive director effective November 22, 2004. In addition to her broad experience as an arts administrator in New York and London, Wanamaker has been a city official and a U.K.-trained lawyer.


The youngest daughter of American actor/director Sam Wanamaker and the sister of acttess Zoë Wanamaker, Jessica Wanamaker assisted her father for many years in rebuilding Shakespeare’s Globe in London. She moved to New York nearly four years ago from London, where she had worked with a number of arts organizations including Grange Park Opera, Southwark Playhouse, the Royal Opera House, and the British Youth Opera. She originally trained as a political economist specializing in Modern China and subsequently practiced as an attorney in London before gaining highest academic honors in the course of earning her M.A. in Theatre Arts Administration.


Said Wanamaker, “I am looking forward to building on the accomplishments of The Drama League to promote a greater appreciation of the full range of theatre in this city, from performance art to Broadway, and a greater dialogue between audiences and artists.” For more information on The Drama League, click here.