MALVERN, PA.: People’s Light has announced that Steve H. Broadnax III will join the company’s artistic leadership as resident director beginning in March 2021. Broadnax, who will remain the head of the MFA acting program at Pennsylvania State University, will participate in season planning and other artistic decisions and will direct at least one production per season.
“We are thrilled to have Steve join us as a leading voice in our plans and operations,” said People’s Light producing director Zak Berkman in a statement. “As a multitalented, multifaceted artist and educator, his ebullient passion for what’s possible is uplifting and radical, especially now. It’s no wonder so many outstanding artists from around the country are eager to work with him again and again.”
Broadnax’s past People’s Light productions include Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop and two plays from Dominique Morisseau, Skeleton Crew and Mud Row. Broadnax is also one of 11 writers who were commissioned through People’s Light’s New Play Frontiers. His play, Bayard Rustin: Inside Ashland, had been scheduled to premiere in May of this year and has been rescheduled for the 2021-22 season.
“I have considered People’s Light an artistic home since I first directed The Mountaintop,” said Broadnax in a statement. “I deeply align with the theatre’s mission to create opportunities for diverse communities to discover and celebrate our shared humanity. I am honored to be of service to the theatre and community as resident director. As an artist and educator, I aim to continue People’s Light’s core values and mission as a light of and for the people.”
Steve H. Broadnax III has directed extensively throughout the United States and beyond. Credits include the upcoming Broadway-bound Thoughts of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott II (produced by Brian Morland, Ron Simons, and Diana DiMenna), the world premiere of The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall (Signature Theatre New York City). He has worked at theatres including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hattiloo Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre Company NYC, Chautauqua Theatre Company, People’s Light, Apollo Theatre NYC, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Atlantic Theatre NYC, Detroit Public Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, the Black Theatre Troupe, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Moore Theatre in Seattle, Market Theatre Johannesburg SA, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Arts Festival in South Africa, and the Adelaide Arts Festival Australia.
