New Members 2018
NTC is proud to introduce its newest members!
Janet Allen
(click here for bio) JANET ALLEN, EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Creating world-class professional theatre for Central Indiana audiences of all ages has remained a career-long passion for Janet Allen. She began at the IRT in 1980 as the theatre’s first literary manager–dramaturg. After four years in New York City, she returned to serve ten years as associate artistic director under mentors Tom Haas and Libby Appel. Named the IRT’s fourth artistic director in 1996, she is now in her 23nd season in that role. In 2013, she was named the IRT’s executive artistic director. During Janet’s tenure, the IRT has significantly diversified its education services to both adults and children, expanded its new play development programs, solidified its reputation as a top-flight regional theatre dedicated to diverse programming and production quality, and established the IRT as a generous content partner with organizations throughout central Indiana. Janet’s passion for nurturing playwrights has led to a fruitful relationship with James Still, the IRT’s playwright in residence for 20 years, and the creation and production of 16 new works—the Indiana Series—that examine Hoosier and Midwestern sensibilities (seven of them by James Still). Her collaboration with playwrights has brought the theatre prestigious grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Joyce Foundation, and the Doris Duke Foundation, as well as numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Shakespeare for a New Generation. Among the memorable productions she has directed on the IRT’s stages are The Glass Menagerie (1999), Ah! Wilderness (2002), The Drawer Boy (2004), Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2008), The Diary of Anne Frank (2011), James Still’s The House That Jack Built (2012), and To Kill a Mockingbird (2016). Celebrating the IRT’s 47-year legacy this season, she directs a new production of The Diary of Anne Frank, in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Theatre. Janet studied theatre at Illinois State University, Indiana University, University of Sussex and Exeter College, Oxford. As a classical theatre specialist, she has published and taught theatre history and dramaturgy at IUPUI and Butler University. Janet’s leadership skills and community service have been recognized by Indianapolis Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” Award, the Network of Women in Business–IBJ’s “Influential Women in Business” Award, Safeco’s Beacon of Light in Our Community Award, a Distinguished Hoosier Award conferred by Governor Frank O’Bannon, Girls Inc.’s Touchstone Award for Arts Leadership, and the Indiana Commission on Women’s “Keeper of the Light” Torchbearer Award. She is a proud alum of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership program (Class XIX) and the Shannon Leadership Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is a 2013-14 Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. In 2015 Janet was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and received a Medallion Award for significant national contributions from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. In July 2017 Janet was named an Indiana Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society. In December, 2018, she will be inducted into the National Theatre Conference, a gathering of distinguished members of the American Theatre Community. Janet is a member of the Indianapolis Woman’s Club and Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. She lives in an historic house built in 1855 in the Chatham Arch neighborhood with her husband, Joel Grynheim, and a lovely canine mutt. They enjoy following the adventures of their children, Daniel, Leah and Nira, all now safely out of the nest and thriving! 
keith byron kirk
(click here for bio) Keith Byron Kirk is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Director of Graduate Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Theatre Department. He received his MA in Performance Studies and Playwriting at New York University’s Gallatin College and his doctorate at Northwestern University. He is the author of the plays Ft. Lonesome, Urban Trilogy, and Stone, Baby Solitaire. His play As Reaper in Summer Grain was developed at the Eugene O’Neill Playwright’s Conference and The Transport Group’s “The Audience” which was nominated for a 2005 Drama Desk Award. He has performed with Steppenwolf Theater Co., and the Goodman Theatre as well as The La Jolla Playhouse, Britain’s National Theater and has appeared on Broadway in The Grapes of Wrath, Miss Saigon, The Piano Lesson, King David, The Civil War, and A New Brain. He is presently working as co-editor of a collection on the plays of August Wilson through lenses of spectatorship and reception. 
darrah cloud
(click here for bio) Darrah Cloud is currently working on TURNING, commissioned by Centenary Stage, and SABINA, a musical adaptation of Willy Holtzman’s play. OUR SUBURB premiered at Theater J in Washington, DC in 2014. JOAN THE GIRL OF ARC toured with Cincinnati Playhouse, 2014. Other plays produced across the U.S. include WHAT’S BUGGING GREG?, THE STICK WIFE, THE MUD ANGEL, DREAM HOUSE, BRAILLE GARDEN and THE SIRENS. Her musicals include HEARTLAND, (Goodspeed Opera, Madison Repertory Theatre, The Majestic Theatre/Dallas, TheatreWorks Palo Alto) THE BOXCAR CHILDREN (Theatreworks USA), HONOR SONG FOR CRAZY HORSE (TheatreWorks Palo Alto) and the stage adaptation of Willa Cather’s O PIONEERS!, filmed for American Playhouse. Her work is published by Dramatic Play Publishing. Awards include: Macy’s Prize for Theatre for Young Audiences, NEA, Rockefeller. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild, alum of the Iowa Writers Workshop and New Dramatists. She co-directs The Howl Playwrights in Rhinebeck, NY and teaches at Goddard College. 
virginia p. louloudes
(click here for bio) VIRGINIA P. LOULOUDES (Ginny) is celebrating her 27th year as A.R.T./New York's Executive Director. Since her arrival in 1991, at A.R.T./New York's budget has grown four times, and its membership has grown from 150 to 400 theatres. Virginia conceived and developed many of A.R.T./New York's signature programs, including two shared office and rehearsal spaces: South Oxford Space and Spaces@520, the Nancy Quinn Fund, the Bridge Loan Fund, and the Theatre Leadership Program. She will be managing the Andrew W. Mellon New York Theatre Program with A.R.T./New York’s Co-Directors of Programs: Kati Frazier and Corrine Woods. In January, 2017, A.R.T./New York opened the doors of our most ambitious project ever: the A.R.T./New York Theatres, two state-of-the-art performance spaces of 87 and 149 seats respectively on West 53rd Street and 10th Avenue. The A.R.T./New York Theatres were built as a public-private partnership with the City of New York. As part of the New York City’s Department of Design and Construction’s Design Excellence Program, A.R.T./New York got to work with world-renowned architect Toshiko Mori! A.R.T./New York raised nearly $3 million to help subsidize rent for the next 25 years while being able to provide FREE technical equipment to our members. Virginia currently serves on the Board of the John Golden Foundation; and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and as an Arts International marketing consultant to performing arts organizations in Prague. She has taught arts marketing in the Masters of Arts Management Programs at New York University and Marymount Manhattan College, and has served as a guest speaker at the Yale School of Drama. She has a BA in Humanities from Johns Hopkins University and an MA in Performing Arts Management from American University. She currently resides in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with her family. |
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