 Founded in 1966, Yale Repertory Theatre is one of America’s leading professional theaters. Each season, Yale Rep produces exciting new plays and bold interpretations of the classics, with performances by respected actors including Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Colleen Dewhurst, Danny Glover, William Hurt, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Laura Linney, Jason Robards, David Strathairn, and Sam Waterston.
A champion of new work, Yale Rep has produced nearly 100 world and American premieres by playwrights such as Lee Blessing, Athol Fugard, Marcus Gardley, John Guare, Wendy MacLeod, Terrence McNally, Richard Nelson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, Derek Walcott, and August Wilson. Ten Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering nearly forty Tony® Award nominations and eight awards, and Yale Rep itself has been honored with the Tony® Award for Outstanding Regional Theater.
History
 Robert Brustein founded Yale Repertory Theatre in 1966 as the “Master Teacher” of the Yale School of Drama. A hallmark of Robert Brustein’s artistic leadership of Yale Repertory Theatre from 1966 to 1979 was his insistence on a resident company of artists. For many years Brustein’s dream of a permanent repertory company became an inspiration to the emerging field of nonprofit theatre. The model of Brustein’s programming choices, emphasizing the production of new plays and classics of the world theatre in vivid and inventive interpretations, has remained the centerpiece of the work of Yale Repertory Theatre ever since.
During the tenure of Lloyd Richards, Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre from 1979 through 1991, the theatre grew in its emphasis on the production of new plays. Notable writers such as Athol Fugard, Lee Blessing, and August Wilson were among the playwrights who premiered their work in New Haven during Richards’s leadership. Richards also introduced a new play festival, Winterfest, which annually introduced three or four new writers to the stage. Yale Rep was one of the first theatres to regularly transfer serious work to the commercial theatre, developing a model of professional producing that changed the course of new play development in the American theatre.
Stan Wojewodski, Jr., Dean and Artistic Director from 1991 to 2002, was notable for his commitment to the individual artist. Wojewodski made long-term commitments to Suzan-Lori Parks, Len Jenkin, Ralph Lemon, and numerous actors, directors, and performance artists. He also brought artistic companies into residence at Yale Repertory Theatre, including Théâtre de la Jeune Lune and Mump and Smoot.
James Bundy, appointed dean and artistic director in 2002, emphasizes the production of new works and bold interpretations of the classics that make immediate connections to contemporary audiences. His first three years have included regional, American, and world premieres by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Kia Corthron, Amy Freed, Kama Ginkas, Sunil Kuruvilla, Rolin Jones, David Rabe, Bill Rauch, Sarah Ruhl, August Wilson, and Tracy Young, as well as the introduction of WillPower!, an educational initiative designed to engage middle- and high-school students from Greater New Haven in the world of Shakespeare and theatre.
Yale Repertory Theatre has produced ninety-four world premieres, two of which have received the Pulitzer Prize. The theatre has sent ten productions to Broadway, earning nine Tony® Awards and thirty-seven Tony® nominations. Yale Repertory Theatre itself received the Tony® for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1991, and it has been recognized for its outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent with the Jujamcyn Theaters Award. In 2002 Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre received the Governor’s Arts Award in recognition of its remarkable achievement and contributions to the arts in Connecticut.”
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