INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND ACCESS (IDEA) INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE: WELCOMING THE WHOLE COMMUNITY

We strive to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, respectful, and accessible.

Whether you have been coming for years or are here for the first time—welcome to your Theatre!

Values

• Our community thrives when diverse voices and peoples gather to make, watch, and support theatre.

• It is our responsibility as a community resource to open our doors wide, welcoming all to our high-quality, relevant art.

• We must acknowledge our history of privilege as a Predominantly White Institution in order to effectively support dismantling systems of oppression.

• In order to be an antiracist and inclusive organization we must seek knowledge and understanding to identify discriminatory practices and increase cultural awareness in collaboration with, and learning directly from, BIPOC, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI+), functionally diverse, and other historically excluded communities.

Commitments

• We will represent and engage the diverse people, cultures, and communities of central Indiana.

• We will employ more people of color, with a goal of 40% of all new hires being BIPOC, and foster an inclusive culture of artists, staff, board, and vendors.

• We will continue and deepen our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) training for all board and staff.

• We will be accessible to all audiences inviting those who have been unheard or unseen in the past, including functionally diverse people, BIPOC, LGBTQI+, and under-resourced communities.

If you would like to read more about our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) work, go to irtlive.com/about/idea.

LEADERSHIP: JANET ALLEN

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director

Creating world-class professional theatre for Central Indiana audiences of all ages has remained a career-long passion for Janet Allen. After nearly 40 years of service, Janet will retire at the end of this, IRT’s 50th anniversary season, with gratitude for all the artists, audiences, administrators, and artisans who have delighted her over the years.

During Janet’s tenure, the IRT has significantly diversified its services to both adults and children, and solidified its reputation as a top-flight regional theatre dedicated to diverse programming and production quality. Janet’s passion for nurturing playwrights has led to a fruitful relationship with James Still, the IRT’s playwright-in-residence for 25 years, and the creation of the Indiana Series—plays that examine Hoosier and Midwestern place-making. Her work has brought the theatre prestigious grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Joyce Foundation, and the Doris Duke Foundation, as well as numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Among the memorable productions Janet has directed on the IRT’s stages are TheGlassMenagerie(1999), Ah!Wilderness (2002), TheDrawerBoy(2004), James Still’s TheHouseThat JackBuilt(2012 & 2021), ToKillaMockingbird(2016), Looking OverthePresident’sShoulder(2008 & 2017), TheDiaryofAnne Frank(2011 & 2018), and Cyrano(2021). This season she directed AChristmasCarol

MARGOT LACY ECCLES WAS A LEADING PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORTER OF THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES. THE INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE CHERISHES ITS HISTORY WITH MRS. ECCLES AS A SUBSCRIBER, BOARD MEMBER, DONOR, AND CHAMPION OF OUR ORGANIZATION IN BOTH ITS EDUCATIONAL AND ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP. IN RECOGNITION OF MRS. ECCLES’S LEGACY AS BENEFACTOR AND ADVISOR, THE INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE IS PROUD TO HAVE NAMED ITS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POSITION THE MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR.

Janet’s leadership skills and community service have been recognized by the Network of Women in Business–IBJ’s “Influential Women in Business” Award, a Distinguished Hoosier Award conferred by Governor Frank O’Bannon, Girls Inc.’s Touchstone Award for Arts Leadership, and the Indiana Commission on Women’s Torchbearer Award. She is a proud alum of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Program (Class XIX) and a 2013-2014 Indy Arts Council Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. She is a member of two honorary gatherings in the America Theatre: the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, and the National Theatre Conference. In 2017 she was named an Indiana Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society. In August 2022, she was honored with a May Wright Sewall Leadership Award by the Indianapolis Propylaeum.

Janet is a member of the Indianapolis Woman’s Club, the Gathering, and Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. She lives with her husband, Joel Grynheim, and a lovely canine mutt, in a downtown house built in 1855. They enjoy following the adventures of their three adult children and their grandchild, who are thriving on various continents.

LEADERSHIP: SUZANNE SWEENEY Managing Director

Suzanne is a 24-year veteran of the IRT and is proud to work alongside her mentor and friend, Janet Allen, as co-CEO of the Theatre. Suzanne oversees all of the administrative functions of the organization, including marketing, fundraising, ticket office, house management, finance, human resources, information technology, and building operations.

During her tenure, the Theatre has secured a long-term lease for the building with the City of Indianapolis and renovated the Upperstage Lobby and restrooms. In June 2020 the Theatre surpassed its $18.5 million goal for its Front and Center campaign, raising $20 million.

Suzanne was elected Treasurer of the League of Resident Theatres, a nationwide association of regional theatres, and she serves as a member of their board of directors. In 2021 and 2016, she was honored to serve as a panelist for Shakespeare in American Communities in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

Suzanne is active in the community, having been the treasurer of Irish Fest for nine years, a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Day Nursery Association (now Early Learning Indiana) for three years, and a past treasurer of IndyFringe.

Suzanne is a graduate of the College of William & Mary (undergraduate) and Indiana University (M.B.A.). She started her career as a CPA; prior to coming to Indianapolis, she worked in finance for more than 10 years, living in such varied locales as Washington, DC; Dallas, Texas; Frankfurt, Germany; Honolulu, Hawaii; and even working for three months in Auckland, New Zealand (where, yes, she went bungee jumping). She is a proud alum of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Program (Class XXXI). Suzanne lives in the Old Northside with her 19-year-old son, Jackson, and their foxhound rescue dog, Gertie, and spends some of her downtime in Palatine, Illinois, with her partner, Todd Wiencek.

LEADERSHIP: JAMES STILL

Playwright-in-Residence

During his 25 years as playwright-in-residence, IRT audiences have seen all three plays in James’s “Jack Plays” trilogy (The HouseThatJackBuilt,Appoggiatura,and Miranda), as well as LookingOverthePresident’sShoulder;AndThenTheyCame forMe:RememberingtheWorldofAnneFrank;AmberWaves; TheLittleChoo-ChooThatThinksSheCan;April4,1968:Before WeForgotHowtoDream;ILovetoEat:CookingwithJames Beard;TheVelveteenRabbit;TheHeavensAreHunginBlack; InterpretingWilliam;IronKisses;TheGentlemanfromIndiana; SearchingforEden;HeHeldMeGrand,and TheSecretHistory oftheFuture.James has directed many productions at the IRT, including AChristmasCarol,TwelveAngryMen,ADoll’sHouse Part2,TheOriginalist,Dial“M”forMurder,TheMysteryofIrma Vep,Red,OtherDesertCities,GodofCarnage,Becky’sNewCar, RabbitHole,and Doubt. This season he directed Oedipus.

James is a member of the National Theatre Conference in New York, and a Kennedy Center inductee of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Other honors include the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award for drama for TheJack Plays, the Todd McNerney New Play Prize from the Spoleto Festival, the William Inge Festival’s Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, and the Orlin Corey Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. His plays have been nominated four times for the Pulitzer Prize, and have been developed at Robert Redford’s Sundance, the New Harmony Project, Eugene

O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Colorado New Play Summit, the Lark, Launch Pad at UC–Santa Barbara, Telluride Playwright’s Festival, New Visions/New Voices, and Fresh Ink. Three of his plays have received the Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. James’s work has been produced throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Current projects include his new plays TheCratchits (inAmerica),PlaysaboutLonging,(A)NewWorld,Dinosaur(s),JoyWavestoYoufromaDistance,and new plays commissioned by Prison Performing Arts (St. Louis) and American Blues (Chicago).

James also works in television and film and has been nominated for five Emmys and a Television Critics Association Award; he has twice been a finalist for the Humanitas Prize. He wrote the short film ACityofStoriescommissioned by the New Harmony Project and recently featured in the Heartland Film Festival’s Indy Shorts. James was a producer and head writer for the TLC series PAZ, the head writer for Maurice Sendak’s LittleBear, and writer for the Bill Cosby series LittleBill.He wrote TheLittleBearMovieand TheMiffy Movieas well as the feature film TheVelocityofGary. James grew up in Kansas and lives in Los Angeles.

LEADERSHIP:

BENJAMIN HANNA Associate Artistic Director

Ben is a director, educator, and community engagement specialist whose passion for multigenerational theatre has influenced his work across the country. In all of his myriad roles, Ben is guided by the belief that access to high-quality theatre helps build creative, empathetic people and healthy communities.

Ben is in his sixth season as the IRT’s Associate Artistic Director. In July 2023 he will become the Theatre’s new Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director. At the IRT he has directed Fahrenheit 451, TheBookClubPlay,Tuesdays withMorrie,ThisWonderfulLife,AChristmasCarol,The LittleChoo-ChooThatThinksSheCan,Elephant&Piggie’s “WeAreinaPlay!,” and TheTownMouseandtheCountry Mouse. This season he directs Clue. As associate artistic director, Ben manages casting both locally and nationally, helps guide education and community programming, and connects IRT to new artists and ideas. Dedicated to eradicating systems of oppression, he is an advocate for creating and maintaining an anti-racist culture that breaks down historical barriers of access to the theatre. Along with Sarah Bellamy, IRT’s Equity Consultant, he guides IRT’s work to develop thoughtful, sustainable Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access initiatives.

Ben is the recipient of a Theatre Communications Group Leadership University Award funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The award supported his artistic mentorship at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, the nation’s largest theatre for young audiences. Prior to his role at CTC, Ben spent five years in California’s Bay Area, dividing his time between Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Bay Area Children’s Theatre.

In his native Minnesota, Ben was honored to serve on the education staff of Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation’s leading African American theatre, where he helped to expand their education and outreach offerings. His proudest accomplishments during his four years with the company include growing the nationally recognized Summer Institute for Activist Artists into a three-year multidisciplinary social justice theatre training program, developing a multigenerational quilting circle, and helping to create and facilitate a racial equity training program through the company’s RACE workshop series.

Ben holds a degree in theatre arts from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He grew up on a small rural farm and fell in love with theatre at the age of eleven. He continues to create for his favorite audience: his five nieces and nephews.