SAN DIEGO, CALIF.: MOXIE Theatre has selected Desireé Clarke to be their new executive artistic director, following a nationwide search. Clarke will work alongside outgoing executive A.D. Jennifer Eve Thorn this month and will officially step into the role in May.
Clarke made her MOXIE directorial debut in 2022 with Mother of the Maid, which received rave reviews. Clarke will also helm the final production of MOXIE’s 18th season, The Chronicles of Kalki.
“Desireé embodies our mission, and her vision for where the company will go next has the whole team
excited,” said Thorn, who is also a MOXIE co-founder, in a statement. “I’m honored she’s chosen to lead this next chapter in MOXIE’s history.”
Desireé Clarke is a San Diego-based director and actor with credits in the Coachella Valley, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Houston. She received her BFA in Acting from AMDA: College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts and is also a graduate of the British American Drama Academy. She recently directed Monsters of the American Cinema at Diversionary Theatre. In 2019 directed a staged reading of Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, for which she was awarded the Desert Theatre League Award
for Best Director of a Staged Reading. Desireé has also worked as a teaching artist specializing in devised theatre for under-resourced and underrepresented folks at the La Jolla Playhouse, the Old Globe, and Imagine. Desireé currently sits on the board of directors for the Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival.
“I’m so excited to be stepping into this role right as MOXIE reaches her adult age of 18,” said Clarke in a statement. “MOXIE is ready for her roaring 20s, and it is an honor to guide her there.”
Founded in 2004, MOXIE Theatre a professional nonprofit theatre located in San Diego, Calif. MOXIE seeks to create more diverse and honest images of women+ for our culture using the intimate art of theatre. Through productions of plays written by women+, educational programs, an annual MOXIE Awards ceremony, and career-launching professional opportunities, MOXIE aims to create a pipeline for women+’s work and inspire audiences to create change in their own communities.
