Strategies

Passing the Baton

When changes in leadership loom, time and familiarity can smooth the bumps

by Eliza Bent

The Challenge: Every four years the U.S. presidential elections are held. What if that happened with artistic directors of theatres? Would there be quadrennial crisis? Imagine: a lame duck managing director! What is it about a shift of power that sends shivers up our spines? Is there a way to avoid the potential trauma of a change in leadership and organizational structure? How does one best pass the baton?

Recently the Oregon Shakespeare Festival of Ashland, one of the oldest and largest professional not-for-profit theatres in the U.S., navigated an important transition in leadership. In fact, until last year only four artistic directors had led the 73-year-old organization.

When former artistic director Libby Appel, who guided the theatre for 12 years, folded up her director's chair to make way for the incoming Bill Rauch, she knew "he was going to cleave a path that was right for him." That path included restructuring some major positions in the organization. After taking over, Rauch fused the jobs of two associate artistic directors (formerly held by Tim Bond and Penny Metropulos) into one position (now held by set and costume designer Christopher Acebo). "I wanted to get artistic leadership from other places, and it seemed like having a designer in a leadership role was really essential because of the high production values here," Rauch reasons. He also eliminated the resident scenic designer position, split the producing director position into two associate producer positions and created a new slot for a director of casting and company development. "There are a lot of people who care deeply about this organization," Rauch says. (OSF has an annual attendance of more than 400,000.) "We've tried to be very transparent throughout this change."

The Plan: Appel gave her notice far in advance. "I was ready for this," she emphasizes. "I signed my final three-year contract in 2004 knowing I was ready to go." Rauch, who co-founded Los Angeles's Cornerstone Theater Company more than 20 years ago, was also ready for a change. "I announced I was leaving Cornerstone a year before my last day," he says. The changeover at OSF was a three-step process. The search was conducted in 2006; 2007 served as an overlap year between Appel (who chose the season) and her successor; the new artistic director would choose the season in 2008.

Key Players: Albert Hall & Associates, a consulting group that specializes in the not-for-profit arts sector, oversaw the changes in leadership at both Cornerstone and OSF. Appel and Rauch praise OSF's board as having been extremely helpful in the transition. Paul Nicholson, OSF's executive director, oversaw the year of overlap between Appel and Rauch. A team of representatives from all departmental areas at OSF met bimonthly at the start of Rauch's tenure and disseminated copious notes from meetings to all staff members to ensure clarity. And if time be a player, as Appel and Rauch insist, it has served everyone well.

What Worked: The three-year span of the transition was important. "Libby generously gave so much notice," Rauch says. "Both my leaving Cornerstone and Libby leaving OSF were unusually long, thoughtful and open processes. Libby was retiring and had the best interests of the organization at heart; and because I'd founded Cornerstone, I wanted to exit carefully and lovingly." Rauch admits that the luxury of such time is not always possible for theatres. "So often changes can be violent or awkward," but such was not the case at OSF. "Two things made this transition easy," Appel confides. "My warm feelings for Bill, whom I love and respect, and the total certainty I had that I was ready to leave." Moreover, Rauch didn't enter the position as a stranger. He guest-directed at OSF four summers in a row and created strong relationships with many colleagues before ever applying for the job. This provided Rauch with a multifaceted understanding of the organization: "Libby has been amazing in terms of giving me advice and letting me come to terms with my own ideas. She manages to strike an exquisite balance between counsel and space."

What Didn't: "On a personal level, it was really challenging to think structurally because there were deep friendships here," says Rauch. Nevertheless, he insists he has no regrets-apart from not being able to work with the colleagues who left in the restructuring. (Bond went on to become producing artistic director of New York's Syracuse Stage; Metropulos and former resident set designer William Bloodgood are pursuing freelance careers.) When Appel entered OSF in 1995, she too did some rearranging. "Yes, it hurts some people, but you must have in place what's right for you and not be constrained by the structure in which you're working," she says.

What's Next: With staff in place and the 2008 season selected (OSF seasons run February-November), Rauch aims for a greater variety of directorial voices to emerge from the festival. Over the next decade, OSF will undertake a U.S. history initiative, spearheaded by Alison Carey (who co-founded Cornerstone with Rauch), from which up to 50 new plays will be created. Rauch also anticipates the re-envisioned "Green Show," a community-based endeavor overseen by Claudia Alick.

Quadrennial shifts in power certainly aren't necessary to ensure the artistic well-being of theatres-but it's good to know that now and again change can be accomplished with grace.

Strategies is a new column featuring initiatives relating to theatre finance, marketing, fundraising, education, audience development, governance, architecture and artistry. Send your strategies of note to at@tcg.org, with "strategies" in the subject line.