THEATER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Meet Michael Barakiva, get oriented with the course structure, and see how every assignment builds toward your final pitch as a theater's newly appointed Artistic Director.

• Instructor introduction
• Course structure and housekeeping
• Assignments and final project overview

Explore how U.S. theaters are structured and governed, and choose an institutional model that aligns your artistic vision with the dynamics of your board, staff, and community.

• Transitioning into senior artistic leadership
• Aligning personal taste with institution and community
• U.S. theater structures and institutional culture
• Board and staff relations
• Choosing the theater you'll lead

Learn how Artistic Directors are appointed in the U.S., from decoding job postings and reading a theater’s form 990 to writing cover letters and working through the interview process.

• Reading AD job postings
• Vetting a theater's finances through its Form 990
• Cover letters
• The interview process
• The concept of "The Factions"
• Case study: A theater that went out of business in the last decade

Build a full diagnostic of your theater's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by examining its history, its community, and how it measures up against national trends.

• Your theater's history
• Community assessment
• National trends vs. local specifics
• Untapped markets and opportunities

Assignment #1: SWOT Analysis
Step in as your chosen theater's new Artistic Director, research its history, mission, vision, and values, and perform a full SWOT analysis.

Discover current artistic trends and market positioning strategies, and see how programming choices can turn plays into events as you plan a season for a 2028 audience.

• Current artistic trends
• Programming as market positioning
• Standing out in a crowded cultural market
• Elevating plays into events
• Your season planning process

Assignment #2: Season Long List
Draft a list of twenty plays for your first season, grounded in your values, your aesthetic, and what your community needs to hear right now.

Master the financial side of artistic leadership, from partnering with a Managing Director in the co-CEO model to building a budget that balances ambition with realistic revenue.

• Partnering with your Managing Director
• Building a line-item budget
• Earned vs. contributed income
• Fundraising and donor relationships
• Grant cycles and commissioning funds
• Case study: A financially strong theater and what makes its model work

Examine scripts through an Artistic Director's lens, weighing artistic innovation against feasibility, ethics, and representation to separate high-risk projects from low-risk ones.

• Advanced script analysis
• Thematic and aesthetic cohesion
• High-risk vs. low-risk scripts
• Programming ethics and representation
• Dramaturgical leadership
• Cast size and rights feasibility

Assignment #3: Cost Analysis
Complete the Cost Analysis Template for three different-sized plays from your potential season and map the resources each one needs to succeed.

Learn the Artistic Director's role in contributed income, from federal grant applications and your theater's narrative to donor stewardship and making the ask with confidence.

• Federal grant applications
• Your theater's narrative
• Donor stewardship
• Making "the ask"

Discover how to hire directors and designers and build equitable, inclusive casting strategies, with insight from a Casting Director on how professional auditions really work.

• Hiring directors and designers
• Casting strategies across scales
• Inclusive and equitable hiring
• Conflict resolution in creative teams
• Workshop: How ADs, directors, and Casting Directors collaborate in auditions
• Real-life auditions: Watching actor auditions and roleplaying casting discussions

Tackle HR best practices and org chart design as an Artistic Director, from writing job descriptions and reading résumés to telling hurt from harm in the workplace.

• Writing job descriptions
• Résumé reading
• Finalist visit schedules
• Hurt vs. harm in the workplace
• Redistributing responsibilities and titles

Assignment #4: Org Chart Redesign
Map your theater's current org chart, then present a new one that redistributes responsibility around your values and priorities.

Explore how an Artistic Director supports a production from concept and design through rehearsal, tech, and previews, while keeping budgets, deadlines, and artist care on track.

• License and copyright
• Design and pre-production
• Line producing
• Supporting the director through tech and previews
• Constructive and critical feedback
• Care of artists and crew

Learn to partner with your Marketing Department to grow ticket sales, craft the story of your season, and shape the audience experience before and after the show.

• Crafting your season's story
• Institution-wide communications
• Responding to poster art
• Dramaturgical content
• Lobby experience
• Nonprofit partnerships

Assignment #5: Marketing Plan
Analyze your theater's current marketing plan, then propose a new one that reflects the personality you want your theater to project.

Revisit the values you set at the start of the course and use development, marketing, engagement, and production as a frame to narrow your potential season down to finalists.

• Re-evaluating your five core values
• Framing your season across departments
• SWOT analysis of your potential season

Master crisis response as an Artistic Director, from knowing when the institution speaks to drafting a neutral holding statement that keeps your board and public messaging aligned.

• Social media escalation vs. silence
• Navigating unexpected events
• Responding to public criticism
• Spokesperson basics
• Drafting a press statement and aligning with the board
• Workshop: Leading your theater through a crisis in 20-minute breakout rooms
• Case study: A high-profile public crisis in regional theater

Discover how to sustain a long leadership career through creative renewal, mentorship, and succession planning that protects both your longevity and your theater's legacy.

• Career longevity and creative renewal
• Mentorship and sponsorship
• Succession planning and exit handovers
• Adapting to shifts in U.S. theater
• Artistic legacy and institutional continuity

Build a strategic career development plan through professional networks, conferences, and digital positioning, then put it to work in a speed dating session with fellow students.

• Authentic professional relationships
• Titles, transitions, and opportunities
• Key industry events and conferences
• Online presence for digital networking
• Organizations like TCG, Drama League, and NAMF
• Workshop: Speed dating networking session between students

Assignment #6: National Network Outreach
Reach out to three national theater organizations that excite you and begin relationships that will support your leadership career in the years ahead.

Chart the plan that takes your theater from where it is to where you want it to be, from choosing moderators and forming committees to drafting a timeline.

• "Making the toast"
• The strategic planning process
• Strategic planning moderators
• Committee design
• Timeline drafting
• Case study: Analyzing a real theater's strategic plan

Final Project: Pitch Your Season
Record a 3-5 minute video pitching your inaugural season as Artistic Director: which plays you selected and why, how your institution and community shaped those choices, and how each title speaks to the world today. Make the case for who could underwrite the plays, the community engagement they open up, and the nonprofits you'd partner with.