Molly Smith
Molly Smith has been a leader in new play development for over 30 years and has served as Artistic Director of Arena Stage since 1998. Her most recent directing credits at Arena include Snow Child, Sovereignty, Carousel, Oliver!, The Originalist, and Fiddler on the Roof. Her directorial work has also been seen at 59E59 in New York, The Old Globe, Asolo Repertory, The Glimmerglass Festival, Berkeley Repertory, Trinity Repertory, Canada’s Shaw Festival, Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, Montreal’s Centaur Theatre and Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska, which she founded and ran from 1979-1998. She has worked alongside playwrights Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Lawrence Wright, Karen Zacarías, John Murrell, Eric Coble, Charles Randolph-Wright and many others. She led the re-invention of Arena Stage, focusing on the architecture and creation of the Mead Center for American Theater and positioning Arena Stage as a national center for American artists. During her time with the company, Arena Stage has workshopped more than 120 new plays, produced 39 world premieres, staged numerous second and third productions and been an important part of nurturing nine projects that went on to have a life on Broadway. In 2014, Molly made her Broadway debut directing The Velocity of Autumn, following its critically acclaimed run at Arena Stage.