The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Announces
Wendy C. Goldberg
As new artistic director of the national playwrights conference

Waterford, CT,

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has announced the appointment of Wendy C. Goldberg as Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference. As Artistic Director of the Playwrights Conference, Wendy Goldberg will provide artistic oversight and vision for the development of new works for the stage, collaborating with emerging and established playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturgs and designers. In the four decades since its founding in 1964, the O’Neill has seen legions of its alumni and projects go on to acclaim on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater as well as film and television including August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences, Wendy Wasserstein’s Uncommon Women and Others, John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God, David Henry Hwang’s FOB, John Guare’s House of Blue Leaves and Lee Blessing’s War of the Roses and A Walk in the Woods among others. The Playwrights Conference has also helped launch the careers of actors such as Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, Meryl Streep, and Al Pacino.

Ms. Goldberg comes to the O’Neill from Washington, D.C., where she continues to serve as Artistic Associate at Arena Stage, now in her fifth season.

“I am thrilled to assume this position,” Ms. Goldberg commented. “The National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center has distinct legacy of artistry and continued commitment to the development of new work for the American Theater. We want to see this program continue to foster the next generation of playwriting talent and to seek out the storytellers who will make an impact on our art form for years to come.”

“Wendy Goldberg brings clear thinking, imagination, proven intellectual ability and artistic leadership to her role at the O’Neill,” says O’Neill Executive Director Amy Sullivan. “Ms. Goldberg has earned the respect and admiration of many distinguished members of the American theater community. I look forward to our partnership.”

Chairman of the Board Tom Viertel added “Wendy’s youth and energy will help to lift the O’Neill toward its ambitious goals. In the first years of her career she has impressed the theater veterans who have worked with her mightily. We expect her to have an important impact on American theater in her new position.”

O’Neill alumna and playwright Wendy Wasserstein remarked, “I’ve always considered the O’Neill to the artistic home of every American playwright because of its high regard of the craft. Wendy Goldberg brings to the O’Neill the same regard for nurturing playwrights that the O’Neill is founded upon. She will bring to the O’Neill her integrity, honesty, and genuine respect for the O’Neill tradition, ensuring its future.”

At Arena, Ms. Goldberg has directed numerous mainstage shows and led one of the country’s premiere new play development programs, Downstairs in the Old Vat Room where she has directed and developed new work by over 50 playwrights including Beth Henley, Wendy Wasserstein, Robert Schenkkan, Marsha Norman, Lee Blessing, Christopher Durang, Stephen Belber and Annie Weisman In addition, Ms. Goldberg has maintained an active directing career at numerous venues across the country such as The Mark Taper Forum, Portland Center Stage, Signature Theatre (VA), The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Women’s Project, Florida Stage and New Dramatists. She has lectured at various prestigious universities and drama schools across the country. Recently, Wendy Goldberg was profiled in American Theatre Magazine where she was described as “one of the most promising theatre artists working today.” She holds a BA with Honors in Comparative Literature and Theater from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and an MFA in Directing from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964, has developed more than 1000 new works for the stage and 2500 emerging artists and is itself the winner of a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award of Theater Excellence and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. Today, the O’Neill is home to the National Playwrights Conference, Music Theater Conference, Puppetry Conference, National Critics Institute, and the fully accredited National Theater Institute, a 14-week theater intensive. In addition, the O’Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, the childhood home of Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O’Neill. For more information regarding the Center, please visit the O’Neill website at www.TheONeill.org or call 860.443.5378 x0.