DETROIT: Detroit Public Theatre (DPT) has named Dominique Morisseau as its executive artistic producer. As a member of the leadership team, Morisseau will work with founding producing artistic directors Courtney Burkett, Sarah Clare Corporandy, and Sarah Winkler to lead the company.
Morisseau has been involved with DPT since the company’s earliest planning stages, as an advisor, collaborator, and founding board member. The theatre has produced four of of her plays—Detroit ’67, Skeleton Crew, Pipeline, Paradise Blue—in five seasons.
“On behalf of the entire DPT board and staff, we celebrate Dominique’s new role as executive artistic producer,” said Winkler in a statement. “Dominique Morisseau’s leadership roles as artist, board member, and founding advisor have shaped the vision and values of Detroit Public Theatre since our earliest days. As producing artistic directors, we have depended on her wisdom and talent to guide and grow the theatre for more than five years. We are honored that Dominique will now commit even more of her time, talent, and energy at this crucial moment for DPT and for the American theatre. We are grateful that Dominique is bringing her singular skills and influence to further lift this hometown theatre she helped to found.”
In addition to her achievements as a playwright, Morisseau is a MacArthur Genius grantee, a national leader in crucial current movements for justice and equity in the American theatre, and a beloved daughter of Detroit with deep roots in the city. Morisseau’s responsibilities as executive artistic producer with DPT will focus on several key areas including: artistic partnerships; audience engagement and community engagement; donor engagement; and equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility leadership.
“I am extremely excited to join Detroit Public Theatre’s leadership team as the newly appointed executive artistic producer,” said Morisseau in a statement. “I have been an advocate for this theatre since its inception in our city, mostly because of its original intent to not just provide professional Equity-level productions to our city, and Equity-contracted work to Detroit’s local theatre artists, but to also support a thriving theatre community by which Detroit’s pre-existing theatre companies can benefit and be supported in adjacent work. It is vital that Detroit Public Theatre exist as a partner with the city of Detroit, and reflect in leadership the demographic of the city.”
Describing her path to this new role, her statement continued, “I was already an original board member of the theatre, but with the recent wave of activism in the theatre industry at large, and particularly around leadership in theatre administrations, I felt that it was time to shift in my position and participation level. I reached out to DPT’s producing artistic directors and told them that I wanted a leadership position at the theatre, and they enthusiastically agreed. I want people to know this origin story because it is important to see yourself in positions where people like you may be unrepresented or under-represented, and know that you can stake your claim to a seat at the table. We collectively created my position as executive artistic producer, and I am eager to further my work in helping DPT become more of a staple in the city of Detroit, and build even greater and more meaningful relationships with homegrown Detroiters.”
