Labyrinth Theater Company has announced that Mimi O’Donnell will step down as artistic director at the conclusion of the 2016–2017 season this summer. O’Donnell, who served as the Off-Broadway company’s co-artistic director with Stephen Adly Guirgis and Yul Vázquez for four years, has been the sole artistic director since 2013.
According to a statement from the company, O’Donnell has chosen not to renew her contract in order to pursue directing projects outside Labyrinth. Lynn Nottage’s This is Reading, a site-specific multimedia performance piece which will be performed in July in Reading, Philadelphia, will mark the end of Labyrinth’s 2016-2017 season and O’Donnell’s tenure at the helm.
“My eight seasons as Labyrinth’s artistic director have been some of the most fulfilling times of my professional life,” said O’Donnell in a statement. “It will be hard to say good-bye, but I know I’m leaving the Company in the hands of determined, passionate and fearless artists who will carry on its legacy of bold, brave and thought-provoking storytelling.”
The search for a new artistic director is underway. Labyrinth co-founder John Ortiz, company member Elizabeth Canavan, and former producing director and company member Marieke Gaboury will serve as interim leadership during the selection process.
Under O’Donnell’s leadership, Labyrinth produced Dominique Morisseau’s Sunset Baby, Melissa Ross’ Nice Girl, and Jordan Seavey’s Homos, or Everyone in America.
O'Donnell directed the world premiere of Thinner Than Water and was nominated for a Tony Award as a producer of the Broadway debut of The Motherf**ker with the Hat. She has designed costumes for The Motherf**ker with The Hat, Jack Goes Boating, The Little Flower of East Orange, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and the Off-Broadway, West End, and Donmar Warehouse productions of Jesus Hopped The ’A’ Train.
Labyrinth Theater Company, which is dedicated to producing new works, was founded by a group of actors in 1992. For more information visit Labtheater.org.
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