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The Seattle Repertory Theatre has just announced its artistic director, David Esb...Esbjornson has decided not to renew his contract. When it expires on June 30, 2009, so will he. Esbjornson joined Seattle Rep in 2005, and we still have trouble with his name.
"Though we are genuinely disappointed with David's decision, we understand that a complex series of factors informed his thinking." said Marty Taucher, President of the Board of Trustees. "David is well into developing the 2008-2009 season and will continue working through to its successful completion.We are disappointed, too. Why are artistic directors fleeing Seattle like they know when the next big quake is going to hit? We refer, of course, to Bart Sher's recent decision to extend his Intiman contract by one whole year, to 2009. (In fairness, Sher is said to be "open" to another contract extension.)
Meanwhile, the show must go on; Esbjornson says, "The next season will celebrate Seattle's vibrant artistic community. I look forward to presenting an exciting lineup of plays and continue what promises to be a rich and important dialogue about the future." Just so long as it's not a dialogue or future that includes him. Why's he leaving? We remember this ominous intro from a Seattle Weekly profile: "Considering how much work is available for this director in New York and elsewhere..."
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He never seemed to have left New York behind. In the program for Miss Witherspoon, a (much) lesser Edward Albee play Esbjornson directed in 2006, his bio was twice as long as anyone else's and dropped so many names it read like a gossip column. I remember thinking then that he wasn't likely to stick around very long....
Good riddance - while marginally better than Ott, his tenure has been one lame production after another - look no farther than this season's The Cook, Imaginary Invalid, and Waters of Babylon. Add to that the conceit of 'Twelfe Night'
An extra sleazy trick was the Rep calling me to donate to their funding program yesterday after this news had been leaked, but before it was general knowledge.