Oscar Winner Tarell Alvin McCraney Named Artistic Director of Geffen Playhouse
(© Erik Carter)
Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Moonlight and Tony nominated playwright of Choir Boy, has been named the artistic director for the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. He succeeds Matt Shakman, who stepped down in Februar, 2023. McCraney begins his new role immediately, building the 2024/2025 season.
McCraney’s play Choir Boy made its West Coast premiere in 2014 at the Geffen’s Gil Cates Theater. He continued his relationship with the Geffen in February, 2020, as part of the new Geffen Playhouse artist residency with Cast Iron Entertainment, along with Sterling K. Brown, Glenn Davis, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, and André Holland. In his new role as artistic director, McCraney will program new works and re-envisioned classics, in keeping with Geffen Playhouse’s mission, with a focus on innovative storytelling, community engagement, and audience experience.
The Geffen Playhouse is currently presenting Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe and starring Daniel K. Isaac through October 15. The season continues with the west coast premiere of The Engagement Party by Samuel Baum featuring Wendie Malick, Jonah Platt, and Lauren Worsham.
