SEATTLE: Taproot Theatre Company has announced that founding artistic director Scott Nolte will retire on Dec. 31, 2020. Co-founder Pam Nolte, his wife, will also retire from her administrative role with the company. Taproot Theatre Company was founded in 1976 by the Noltes and four other friends. Five of the co-founders were graduates of Seattle Pacific University.

“Scott and Pam’s retirement has been a board discussion for the last several years and is part of our ongoing process of strategic planning,” said board president Larry Bjork in a statement. “We celebrate their years of commitment and vision and are excited about the next chapter in the life of Taproot Theatre Company.”

Over his 43-year tenure with the company, Scott Nolte has directed more than 90 plays at Taproot Theatre including The Odyssey: A Play to Smoke on the Mountain and more recently Kim’s Convenience (with co-director David Hsieh). In his final season at the helm, Nolte will direct Babette’s Feast, The Spitfire Grill, and The Old Man and the Old Moon. Nolte has also served as adjunct faculty at Seattle Pacific University and has taught theatre in Spain. He served as the president of both Theater Puget Sound and the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. In 2011, Scott and Pam were both named Seattle Pacific University Alumni of the Year.

“Our incredibly talented staff and committed board members continue to embrace Taproot’s mission to be a ‘theatre of hope’—a vision which began as a seed with six college students in 1976 and which has grown more than I ever imagined possible over the past four decades,” said Scott Nolte in a statement.

An earlier version of this article stated that Pam Nolte will retire from her role as an educator at Taproot Theatre Company. That is incorrect. She will step aside from administrative duties in December, but continue teaching.