PITTSBURGH: Pittsburgh Public Theater (PPT) has announced that producing artistic director Ted Pappas will depart the company on Aug. 18 at the end of the 2017-18 season. At the time of his departure, he will have been at the helm of the theatre for 18 years, serving as both the artistic and managing director for the last 15 years. A task force will soon be appointed to search for a successor.

“Thanks to his insightful management, we are well-positioned for the next decades of producing the highest quality theatre possible,” said board president Michael H. Ginsberg in a statement. “We will continue the tradition that Ted has instilled in us: extraordinary theatre in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Prior to being on staff at PPT, Pappas directed at the company for the previous seven seasons. In his first season leading the company, he worked with Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber on By Jeeves, which transferred from PPT to Broadway. During his tenure, he also produced the world premiere of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’s The Glorious Ones, which moved to Lincoln Center Theater, and brought classic plays and Greek tragedies to the theatre with Medea, Oedipus the King, and Electra. He also advocated for female directors, served as the president of the Directors and Choreographers Society, and successfully rallied financial support for the company.

“I will continue my work as a director, but without the rigors of running a major theatre company,” said Pappas in a statement. “This will afford me the luxury of spending more time with my family in Greece. The tremendous support, trust, and affection I have received over the years from the Public’s board of trustees, the company’s superb staff and artists, the city’s foundation community, and the theatre’s patrons have made every day as Pittsburgh Public Theater’s leader a happy adventure.”