Obie-winning playwright David Drake (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me) has been named artistic director of the 13-year-old Provincetown Theater, according to Cape Cod Times.
Drake’s appointment is part of a new financial plan for the theatre instated by David Wilson, who took over as board president in July. Founded in 2004, the theatre has been struggling financially.
Faced with $50,000 in overdue bills, Wilson canceled a planned production of A Christmas Carol, as well as a New Year’s gala. Instead, the theatre will offer the holiday revue A Very Townie Christmas, running December 15–17, which Drake says he hopes will “feel like a holiday party.”
Drake previously directed well-received productions of Our Town and The Importance of Being Earnest for the theatre. He succeeds Tristan DiVincenzo, who was appointed as the theatre’s first artistic director two years ago.
Wilson says that Drake’s “fresh, caring, and creative vision” will carry the theatre into the future, with plans to balance professional and community offerings at the theatre, and stage more popular fare in the summer months.
Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take It With You, which will begin in May 2018, will be among the first of Drake’s planned productions.
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