WASHINGTON, D.C.: Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has named Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg their new executive director. Ende Lichtenberg will join the company in February 2024.
“Rebecca brings a wealth of experience to her new role at STC,” board chair Anita Antenucci said in a statement. “After a broad national search, Rebecca stood out for her strong theatre acumen and the quality of her work with D.C. theatres that Washingtonians greatly admire.”
Ende Lichtenberg has served as the managing director at D.C.’s Studio Theatre since 2018, shepherding the theatre through the challenges of the Covid shutdown. She came to Studio after serving as the managing director at Theater J, where she led the theatre through a controversial artistic director transition. Ende Lichtenberg also previously managed marketing and communications for Theater J and has worked in communications with the Sitar Arts Center.
Ende Lichtenberg will succeed Chris Jennings, who left STC this July after 19 years. Susie Medak has served as STC’s interim executive director since Jennings’s departure. Arts Consulting Group led the nationwide, five-month search for a new executive director under the direction of Antenucci and the board.
“I feel so fortunate to have been able to build a career in theatre leadership while staying in the D.C. community, which is one of the most vibrant in the country,” Ende Lichtenberg said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to take this next step and join the Shakespeare Theatre Company as its executive director. I look forward to partnering with artistic director Simon Godwin and working with the passionate staff and dedicated board to redefine what it means to be a classic theatre company.”
Shakespeare Theatre Company has dedicated itself to being one of the nation’s premier classical theatres for over 35 years. STC brings to life vibrant, groundbreaking, thought-provoking, and accessible theatre both written by and not written by Shakespeare. As of 2021, the theatre had a budget of approximately $20.2 million.
