Leslie Marcus, longtime managing director of Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, will be stepping down in the summer of 2024.
Over the course of her 30-year tenure, Marcus has overseen the growth of Playwrights Horizons from a respected Off-Broadway company into one of the nation’s leading theatrical institutions. A search is now underway for Marcus' successor.
Marcus has had successful partnerships with the three Artistic Directors with whom she co-led Playwrights Horizons: Don Scardino, Tim Sanford, and Adam Greenfield. During her time, Playwrights Horizons has produced immensely influential plays and musicals by Will Arbery, David Adjmi, Annie Baker, Tanya Barfield, Clare Barron, Adam Bock, Agnes Borinsky, David Cale, John J. Caswell, Jr., Kirsten Childs, Kia Corthron, Lisa D’Amour, Larissa FastHorse, Michael Friedman, Melissa James Gibson, David Greenspan, Adam Guettel, Amy Herzog, Lucas Hnath, Michael R. Jackson, Kenneth Lonergan, Craig Lucas, Taylor Mac, Richard Nelson, Bruce Norris, Lynn Nottage, Robert O’Hara, Theresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Tori Sampson, Christopher Shinn, Jeanine Tesori, Anne Washburn, Doug Wright, and more.
Under Marcus’s leadership, work from Playwrights Horizons has received four Pulitzer Prizes, nine Tony awards, and 47 OBIEs. A 2008 Drama Desk Citation honored Playwrights Horizons’ “ongoing support to generations of theatre artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work."
Says Marcus in a statement, “I’ve spent 30 years doing something I love and that I'm extraordinarily proud of. What could be more wonderful than that? What has kept me at Playwrights all these years is the creativity and spirit of innovation that exists across the organization. Our mission is our north star, and it can never get old because it's about what is new. I work with a remarkable staff and Board. Together, we support writers and artists and launch their work into the theatrical canon. Although this post-pandemic time is extremely challenging, I know that Adam's leadership will successfully lead the way, and am gratified that an incoming managing director will arrive with a well-considered vision for the future."
