PROVINCETOWN, MASS.: The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival has announced that Jef Hall-Flavin will step down as executive director of the four-day international event, which will run Sept. 27-30 this year. Hall-Flavin will stay on through the festival’s annual dinner at Provincetown’s town hall on June 2. The move follows his decision to begin international graduate studies in the arts.

“For some time I have considered pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree,” Hall-Flavin said in a statement. “As it begins its 13th year, the festival is on such strong footing with a talented, passionate staff and dedicated board leadership. I feel this is the right time to step away from administration to open a new chapter in my life as a theatre artist.”

Prior to joining the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, Hall-Flavin worked as the associate producer of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minn., and as the associate director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. In 2007, Hall-Flavin joined the Provincetown festival as its producing director before moving to his current role the next year.

During his time at the festival, Hall-Flavin directed many productions including several world premiere Williams one-act plays including The Parade, Green Eyes, and The Enemy: Time. For the 2017 festival, Hall-Flavin directed Williams’ absurdist drama The Gnädiges Fräulein. After he steps aside as executive director, Hall-Flavin will regularly consult with the staff through the fall to help provide continuity.

“We will certainly miss Jef as executive director,” said the festival’s board president, Patrick Falco, in a statement. “He has made an indelible mark on this festival and on Provincetown, and we are thoroughly supportive of his choice to pursue this next personal and professional endeavor.”

David Kaplan and Charlene Donaghy will continue as the festival’s curator and producing director, respectively. In a statement, Kaplan, who has known Hall-Flavin since 1992, said that he’s “confident in saying that this is not really a goodbye, merely a shift.”

Donaghy, the producing director since 2008, will join the board of directors and manage much of the longtime core staff during the transition.

“I am first and foremost a theater director,” Hall-Flavin said in a statement. “As I move on, I’m encouraged that the board will be able to engage someone whose passion lies in administration and fundraising. I think this is a great moment in the festival’s growth.”