“I feel incredibly fortunate to be stepping into the rep in this moment, because it has had such magnificent stewardship with Steve Woolf and Mark (The Rep’s Managing Director Mark Bernstein),” said Hana S. Sharif, the newly appointed Augustin Family Artistic Director for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
The announcement came last year, but the moment has arrived for Sharif to fill the shoes of Steven A. Woolf, who helmed the artistic arm of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (more commonly known as The Rep) for more than 30 years. He announced in 2017 that the 2018-2019 season would be his last.
When she assumed the position two weeks ago, Sharif made history as the first African-American artistic director in the 53-year history of the organization.
“This is a moment of extraordinary transition and hopefully transformation for the American theater,” Sharif said while discussing her next professional chapter during A&E’s Catalyst Conversation series this past November. “Many of our largest institutions are going through leadership shifts. For The Rep to be going through this transition at the same time is an incredible opportunity for collaboration and shared learning.”
St. Louis will have an additional opportunity to get to know Sharif through a special summer block party that will allow the community to engage with the world-renowned regional theater company.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis Summer Block Party will take place next Thursday outside their resident theater, the Loretto-Hilton, from 5p.m.-8 p.m.
Along with a performance by former St. Louis Blues National Anthem singer Charles Glenn, the festivities will feature food trucks, lawn games, Q&As and demonstrations from Rep artists, kids’ activities and more. Sharif will be on hand to meet with attendees and share her vision for The Rep.
“I’m super excited about coming to St. Louis and meeting all of the artists and figuring out the lay of the land,” Sharif said. “The first step for me is to learn the community that I’m entering. I think it’s a huge mistake for someone to come from the outside and think that they have all the answers for what this city needs without having had the time to sit down and talk to the many different communities.”
During her chat with Chuck Harper, SIUE chair of theatre and dance and YoungLiars co-founder, Sharif gave an intimate audience of artists and influencers the complete rundown of her creative career – from the first production she mounted in high school of her native Houston, to her previous post as associate artistic director for Baltimore Center Stage.
“Baltimore is a city that is not unlike St. Louis in its demographic and in some of the challenges of the city,” Sharif said. “Baltimore went through very public issues in the same way that St. Louis has.”
She was referring to the unrest in Baltimore in response to the death of Freddie Gray and the uprising in Ferguson stemming from the death of Mike Brown at the hands of then-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Sharif comes to The Rep a month before the five-year anniversary of Brown’s death.
“I feel really fortunate to have been in Baltimore for the last five years and been able to work at the largest institution in the state and to help with the healing through art,” Sharif said. “I feel like the experiences that I’ve had in those last five years will hopefully bear fruit and be great foundational things for me coming into this community.”
Sharif said she wants to have more community conversations and “learn what is the heartbeat beneath the energy in different sectors of the city” and wants to know how people’s artistic lives are being fulfilled as she settles into her position.
“[I want to know] Where are the theaters, where are the independent artists, what are the community rituals that have seeded into the lives of children and multi-generations,” Sharif said. “And to figure how we at The Rep can collaborate to deepen impact – and engage and support the work that is already happening in the city.”
Sharif said she plans to be intentional about expanding the organization’s view of the art and their current and prospective audiences’ view of the organization.
“The foundation of what The Rep has been is quite extraordinary,” Sharif said. “I feel very lucky to be building on that.”
The Rep Summer Block Party will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 25 at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves. The event is completely free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.repstl.org/events/detail/summer-block-party or call (314) 968-7340.
