{"id":13959,"date":"2020-08-26T00:35:28","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T06:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=13959"},"modified":"2020-08-26T00:35:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T06:35:28","slug":"theater-company-to-explore-future-amid-covid-without-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/26\/theater-company-to-explore-future-amid-covid-without-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Theater Company To Explore Future Amid COVID, Without Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eric Valentine<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Scott Palmer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scott Palmer, who assumed leadership of Company of Fools (CoF) as producing artistic director of the 25-year-old theater company in October of 2018, has officially vacated the position, effective last Friday, Aug. 21. With the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID restrictions, the Sun Valley Museum of Art (the theater\u2019s parent organization) hasn\u2019t filled the empty slot with an interim director but says it\u2019s ready to explore a wide range of options for the 26th annual season and beyond, including discussions with the Valley\u2019s theater community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we are sad to see Scott go, it is understandable given the circumstances we are facing,\u201d said Ellen Gillespie, SVMoA\u2019s board president. \u201cWe brought Scott to the Valley to be an active and creative leader for the theater. Now, with the cancellation of the season, the Fools are in something of a holding pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillespie was optimistic, too, noting that Palmer\u2019s departing advice and suggestions will help Company of Fools to continue bringing high-quality, professional theater to residents and visitors here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that looks like will be informed by deep conversations with CoF staff, artists, donors,<\/p>\n

and theater colleagues in the broader community,\u201d Gillespie said.<\/p>\n

Director\u2019s Direction<\/b><\/p>\n

So where does Palmer go from here? Palmer announced that he has accepted a position as the executive director of the Crested Butte Center for the Arts in Crested Butte, Colorado. He will be bringing to the Centennial State a full career of experience that in less than three years in Hailey was buttriced even more.<\/p>\n

During his tenure as producing artistic director for CoF, Palmer programmed a season of work that included a combination of American theater classics such as Crimes of the Heart, along with<\/p>\n

contemporary work like Cry It Out, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, and The Niceties. In addition,<\/p>\n

Palmer\u2019s programming included a rehearsed reading series, the creation of CoF\u2019s Intensives theater<\/p>\n

education workshops, and the expansion of CoF\u2019s accessibility programming that saw dedicated parent<\/p>\n

and baby performances and performances for audiences with sensory disabilities. CoF also joined the<\/p>\n

National New Play Network and the National Autism Theater network, both of which helped expand<\/p>\n

access to CoF\u2019s shows and created a focus on new theater work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the cancellation of CoF\u2019s 25th Season, and the ongoing pressures applied to<\/p>\n

professional theaters across the world from COVID-19, I felt that it was time for me to explore new<\/p>\n

challenges and help shape and influence the future programming of the Crested Butte Center for the<\/p>\n

Arts. I have loved my time with the artists and staff of the Fools, and know that the future of the Fools is<\/p>\n

bright,\u201d Palmer said in a statement to the press.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven what is happening to professional theaters in the United States, this is a natural time for SVMoA and the CoF staff to do a deep dive into the future of the theater,\u201d said Palmer. \u201cThere are a lot of<\/p>\n

challenges ahead, including how to produce theater when we aren\u2019t able to gather audiences in the<\/p>\n

Liberty Theatre, how to address Actors Equity Association issues around contracts for union-represented<\/p>\n

artists, and how to embrace a more equitable and inclusive way of making theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crested Butte Center for the Arts is the largest cultural nonprofit in the tourist destination of<\/p>\n

Crested Butte. Having recently completed a nearly $20 million capital campaign, and completed construction on a state-of-the-art performing and visual arts facility, Palmer will lead a small,<\/p>\n

dedicated staff as they explore how to address arts and culture programming with the challenges of<\/p>\n

COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eric Valentine Scott Palmer, who assumed leadership of Company of Fools (CoF) as producing artistic director of the 25-year-old theater company in October of 2018, has officially vacated the position, effective last Friday, Aug. 21. With the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID restrictions, the Sun Valley Museum of Art (the theater\u2019s parent organization) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,18,20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-art","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-news","9":"category-nonprofit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}