Del Shakes is gearing up for its 2024 season.
Mariah Ghant is the company’s new Artistic Director, while Robert Tombari will serve as managing director.
Ghant is the former artistic associate and literary manager for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. She says her work there in dramaturgy strengthened her appreciation for the creative process. Dramaturgs build the reference and backstory in play production, supporting the director’s creative vision.
Ghant plans to incorporate that at Del Shakes.
"It’s about community, it’s about relationships, it’s about how we as a people are able to see into our true, authentic selves, and encouraging that. So that’s something that I hope to be encouraging with all our audience members both new and old as we step into this new model, this new vision for Del Shakes."
Tombari was program director of Goshen Theater in Goshen, Indiana for the last two years, and, along with a staff of four, managed over 100 different shows in a recently-renovated performing arts center.
Tombari anticipates Del Shakes' lighter production schedule will allow him to focus on one of his favorite subjects, and a reason he’s now in Delaware: making Shakespeare accessible to more audiences.
"So I have more time to plan, more time to delegate, more time to work with the team here at Del Shakes, and basically say, ‘How can we make this as special and as community-oriented as possible for this organization?’"
The company held its annual auditions recently, and pre-production is already underway for its summer show at Rockwood, Julius Caesar. That’s set for August.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
