Lee Sunday Evans Named New Artistic Director of Waterwell

Waterwell has announced that Obie Award-winning director Lee Sunday Evans has been named its new artistic director following a national search. Evans is both a director whose work has been produced at venues including the Public Theater and Playwrights Horizons. She is a longtime Waterwell collaborator, beginning as a teacher, director, and mentor of young artists in the Waterwell Drama Program.

Evans succeeds Tom Ridgely, who cofounded Waterwell with Arian Moayed in 2002 and served as artistic director until earlier this year when he accepted a new position as the executive producer at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Her appointment completes Waterwell's new leadership team, which includes Moayed, managing director Adam J. Frank, and director of education Heather Lanza.

"Lee Sunday Evans has a strong commitment to civic engagement in all her work, as a director, educator, and leader," said Moayed, Waterwell's cofounder and board chair, in a statement. "Waterwell works with artists and educators to create socially conscious and civic-minded entertainment. Lee is exactly the visionary artist to help us do more of that work, and it is inspiring to have her take the helm as artistic director. Waterwell is about combining art and empathy, and that is exactly what Lee brings to our theater and our community."

Waterwell's next artistic project, led by Moayed and Evans, will bring audiences closer to the immigration process. Details to be announced soon.

Through entertainment and arts education, Waterwell aims to inspire audiences and students to change their lives and the world in which they live. The company's two most recent productions were a dual-language, English-Farsi Hamlet, and Blueprint Specials, a collection of short musicals written during WWII performed by cast comprised of veterans and professional actors.