IRT’s Janet Allen announces retirement after four decades of service
Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director to retire after the 50th Anniversary Season

Indianapolis, Ind.—After a forty-year career at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Janet Allen will retire from her position as the Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director on June 30, 2023, after the 2022–2023 Season. Allen’s final season will also be the IRT’s 50th Anniversary Season, resulting in a union of celebration, reflection, and anticipation for the future.

“After nearly 40 years of service to the IRT, it’s time for change, both for me and the institution,” said Allen. “I have had one of the most wonderful jobs on the planet—making art with amazing professionals from around the country, and sharing that art with the place I call home: central Indiana and its communities of all ages, backgrounds and viewpoints.”

Janet Allen started with the IRT in 1980 as the IRT’s Dramaturg/Literary Manager shortly after the organization moved to its current location in the Indiana Theatre. After a few years, Allen moved to New York City and then returned in the late 1980s as the Associate Artistic Director. After a decade in that role, Allen was promoted to Artistic Director in 1996 and has led the organization artistically and as the Co-CEO for more than 25 years.

Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney, Janet Allen’s Co-CEO for close to a decade, noted that the IRT will dearly miss Janet and recognizes the immeasurable impact that Janet has had on the organization, adding that her work will continue to propel the IRT into the future.

“Janet has been an amazing colleague and collaborator who opens her heart to all of us–from Board members to artists, from staff to patrons. We all will miss her inspirational enthusiasm for the art, and I will personally miss her mentorship, her friendship, and her larger-than-life presence,” Sweeney said.

For four of the five decades of the IRT’s existence, Janet Allen has been at the forefront of guiding the Theatre in its mission to provide inclusive, top-quality, professional theatre and community programming to engage, surprise, challenge and entertain.

“It’s so powerful to be celebrating the longevity of this amazing institution that I have been honored to co-lead, to watch artists rise to the occasion of challenging plays, and to witness audiences fall into stories that will stay with them long after they leave the Theatre,” Allen added.

Co-leading the Theatre for more than half the IRT’s history, Allen has been instrumental in its programmatic and institutional growth, creating work that reaches a racially and culturally diverse, multigenerational audience throughout Indiana and the Midwest. During Allen’s tenure, the Theatre has more than doubled the budget while quadrupling the Theatre’s endowment. Her passion for education has solidified a commitment to welcoming children to experience life-changing literature onstage, growing student matinee attendance to 40% of the Theatre’s service. Allen’s vision also inspired the creation of multiple new play development programs including the Indiana Series, the establishment of an endowed playwright-in-residence position, and a youth playwriting program. 

Allen has helped to lead two major capital campaigns which have supported renovations to every public area of the IRT’s historic, 3-venue building, in addition to upgrading theatrical equipment and significant contributions to the Theatre’s endowment fund. To honor and celebrate her work for and in the community, the family of Margot Lacy Eccles, a beloved local philanthropist and long-time supporter of Allen’s career, named and endowed the Artistic Director position.

Allen’s commitment to community has led to an exponential increase in the cultivation and hiring of local talent, truly making the IRT a gathering place for celebration and a launch pad for artists’ careers. IRT’s commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access has significantly deepened and broadened. This includes the creation of the INclusion Series which gives voice to playwrights of color and invites audiences into conversations around issues of historic injustice, making the IRT a place where civic debate grows out of art-making.

Through all of the institution’s successes and challenges, Allen’s focus has always been on the sustainability of the IRT. While her retirement approaches, the vibrancy, connectivity, and vitality of her tenure and the IRT’s commitment to Indiana will continue into the next 50 years.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the IRT blossom in its next chapter knowing that its base is strong and its staff and Board remarkable,” said Allen. “There is so much to look forward to in IRT’s future as we build on the 50 years of its strength and history.”

IRT Board Chair Mark Shaffer shared the Board’s enormous gratitude for Janet’s leadership and artistry.  “The IRT would not be where it is today if it weren’t for Janet’s contributions. Her legacy is profound, and while we will all feel her absence, we are excited to continue to move the IRT forward. Perhaps one of Janet’s greatest legacies is her stewardship, ensuring the Theatre is in a good place to welcome a new leader, and setting that individual up for future success.”

The IRT Board has hired a search firm to conduct an equitable national search to name the IRT’s next Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director. The successor is expected to be announced in early 2023.

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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971 and rooted in the heart of Indiana, the Indiana Repertory Theatre is committed to building a vital, vibrant and informed community through the transformational power of live theatre. The Indiana Repertory Theatre produces inclusive, top-quality, professional theatre and community programming to engage, surprise, challenge and entertain members of the whole community. irtlive.com

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA): The IRT strives to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful.

Strong and sassy Steel Magnolias blooms this May at Indiana Repertory Theatre
Season closer invites you to celebrate friendship with this pop culture favorite

Indianapolis, Ind.— The Indiana Repertory Theatre will close the 2021-2022 Season with Steel Magnolias, Robert Harling’s off-Broadway hit which inspired a blockbuster movie of the same name. Created with our co-producing partner, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the production runs May 10 – June 5, 2022 on the OneAmerica Mainstage.

In Steel Magnolias, six women from all walks of life experience the everyday joys and tears of small-town living while gathered at their favorite hair salon. When tragedy strikes, the play reveals the steely bonds of compassion and love that hold true friends together. The show brings to the stage the familiar and beloved characters, like the wise-cracking Truvy, her eager new assistant Annelle, curmudgeonly Ouiser, millionaire Miss Clairee, local social leader M’lynn and her truth-talking daughter Shelby.

“I think the familiarity of this story is one of its strengths,” said Director Laura Gordon. “The play is a perfect mix of warmth, honesty, and humor. I’m excited to share a story that embraces friendship through good times and bad that celebrates kindness and the resilience of the human spirit, all while having a good laugh. As Truvy says, ‘Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.’”

Led by Laura Gordon, the production was developed by an all-female design team. The creative team stayed true to the time period in which Steel Magnolias was originally set: the mid-1980s. Costume designer and Arkansas-raised Holly Payne used her experience growing up as a woman in the South to select authentic period costumes that are true to the era and location of the show. Complete with excellent design details, Steel Magnolias includes witty banter, memorable one-liners, and the timeless celebration of community that makes the story such a pop culture favorite.

“Now more than ever, we need a good laugh. Our season closer offers plenty of those, plus some good, healthy, cleansing tears,” adds IRT’s Resident Dramaturg Richard J Roberts. “The women who gather at Truvy’s beauty shop bond over a lot more than cuts and curls; they create a tight-knit family of many colors that gets them through everything from weddings to funerals. Steel Magnolias reminds us how friendship and community help us survive the hardest challenges that life can throw at us. For a play written in 1987, that sounds an awful lot like today, doesn’t it?”

Health & Safety Policy Updates: For Steel Magnolias only, the IRT will allow concessions in the Theatre, and the balcony seating area will now be a mask-optional area. Masks are required in the main level of Theatre seating, as well as anytime patrons are in the public Theatre spaces. All patrons on the main level should still use their masks when not actively eating or drinking. This change in policy for the balcony seating area to be mask-optional is because this area is farther away from the stage. The IRT’s policies about masks in public areas and providing proof of vaccination or negative test policies are still in effect.
 Tickets are available now for our strong and sassy season closer!

DETAILS

WHERE: Indiana Repertory Theatre, 140 W. Washington Street, OneAmerica Mainstage Theatre

RUN DATES:  May 10 – June 5, various times. Steel Magnolias is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. Tickets and performance schedule available at IRTlive.com.

TICKETS: Tickets start at $25. Click to buy.

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:

KATE ABBRUZZESE | Shelby Eatenton Latcherie
GINA DANIELS | Clairee Belcher
ANNIE FITZPATRICK | M’Lynn Eatenton
NAOMI JACOBSON | Ouiser Boudreaux
BRITTANY ANIKKA LIU | Annelle Dupuy DeSoto
SUSAN LYNSKEY | Truvy Jones


STEPHEN HARLING | Playwright
LAURA GORDON | Director
REGINA GARCÍA | Scenic Designer
HOLLY PAYNE | Costume Designer
JAYMI LEE SMITH | Lighting Designer
MELANIE CHEN COLE| Sound Designer
RICHARD J ROBERTS | Dramaturg
NATHAN GARRISON | Stage Manager
BECKY ROEBER | Assistant Stage Manager
STEPHANIE KLAPPER | Casting

For more information contact Kerry Barmann, Marketing Communications Manager at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.

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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.
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Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA): The IRT strives to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful.