Theater News
Coming changes and a pending hiatus at Mockingbird Theatre
You might say the other shoe dropped last weekend with the announcement that David Alford’s longtime artistic associate at Mockingbird Theatre, René Copeland, will be joining him at Tennessee Repertory Theatre, where Alford takes on new duties as interim artistic director in July. The move doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the company that Alford co-founded a decade ago, but with the approval of the Mockingbird Board of Directors, one of Nashville’s more progressive arts organizations will go on hiatus at the conclusion of its current season. For the short term, Copeland is preparing to direct Laurie Brooks’ The Wrestling Season in a Mockingbird co-production with Nashville Children’s Theatre, opening in April at NCT’s Cooney Playhouse. When she arrives at the Rep, she’ll serve as associate artistic director.
For the past 10 years, Mockingbird Theatre has been an integral part of the Nashville theatrical landscape, counting among its triumphs productions of Of Mice and Men, A Doll’s House, Three Days of Rain, Gross Indecency and Fool for Love. The company has also demonstrated a strong interest in developing original, regionally focused play scripts through its annual New Southern Theatre Festival (NeST).
—Martin Brady
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