Evan Yionoulis will assume the role of Juilliard’s Richard Rodgers Director of Drama beginning in the 2018–2019 season. Yionoulis, a current professor of acting and directing at Yale School of Drama—as well as the resident director of Yale Repertory Theatre—will lead Juilliard’s Drama Division in her new role. She follows James Houghton, who passed away in 2016 from cancer.
From 1998 to 2003, Yionoulis served as the Lloyd Richards Professor and Chair of Acting at Yale and has served as a member of the faculty for two decades. As a director, Yionoulis recently helmed the world premiere of Adrienne Kennedy’s He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box at New York City’s Theatre for a New Audience. She also directed TFNA’s production of Ohio State Murders, which won the Lortel Award for Best Revival, and their Off-Broadway premiere of Sore Throats.
Yionoulis has enjoyed a prosperous relationship with Manhattan Theatre Club, having opened their Bilmore Theatre with Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour. She received an Obie for her direction of MTC’s Three Days of Rain. Additional credits include works at Lincoln Center Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, Huntington Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Festival, Vineyard Theatre, Second Stage, Primary Stages, Dallas Theatre Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Williamstown Theatre Festival.
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“I am honored and excited to lead Juilliard’s Drama Division into its second half-century, carrying on the school’s great tradition of excellence, and preparing the next generation of actors and playwrights to transform the future of our field through their passion and artistry,” Yionoulis said in a statement.
Among the most renowned training programs for performing artists in the country, Juilliard’s Drama Division was founded 50 years ago. In addition to its BFA offerings, the school established an MFA program in 2012.
Front: Patti LuPone, Glorya Kaufman and Frank Corsaro
