PORTLAND, ORE.: Profile Theatre has announced that Josh Hecht will be the company’s new artistic director, following a seven-month national search. Hecht will begin the position in February 2017. He will take over for Adriana Baer, who departed the position in 2015.
“Profile Theatre was honored to have more than 80 qualified applicants from around the world express interest in becoming our artistic director,” says Profile board member Richard Bradspies. “We are especially excited to have Josh Hecht join us because he brings outstanding experience coupled with a shared vision and passion for the unique place Profile fills in the Portland arts scene.”
Hecht previously served in senior staff positions at MCC Theater and Washington Ensemble Theatre. Hecht’s work as a director has received the Drama Desk award for unique theatrical experience and awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Dublin Arts Festival. He served on the faculty of the New School for Drama‘s MFA directing program, Fordham University‘s MFA playwriting program, and SUNY Purchase College‘s BFA dramatic writing program.
“I’ve spent my career guided by the belief that it is our writers who help us dream our culture forward,” Hecht said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to join Profile Theatre, whose distinctive mission uses one playwright’s vision as a lens to help us better understand ourselves and our world. And I am inspired by Profile’s commitment to artistic excellence, robust community engagement, and to presenting artists who reflect the diversity of our shared culture.”
Founded in 1997, Profile Theatre dedicates each one of its seasons to the work of a single playwright.
