Marin Shakesepare Company welcomes Raphael Massie as our new Artistic Director.
After a nationwide search, Marin Shakespeare Company is excited to name Raphael Massie as its new Artistic Director. Under Massie’s artistic leadership, the theatre will launch its 2022 summer season at San Rafael’s Forest Meadows Amphitheatre and continue development of the new Center for Performing Arts, Education & Social Justice currently under construction in downtown San Rafael.
Massie comes to Marin Shakespeare Company with more than 20 years of acting, directing, education, and literary experience — most recently as an Artistic Associate Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he was a finalist for the Killian Directing Fellowship in 2019.
“One of the things that excites me most about MSC is its commitment to anti-racism and social justice, particularly as an organization founded on the work of Shakespeare. His plays have had a profound impact on my career and my life, and in conjunction with that, I understand that they are far from perfect,” said Massie. “Finding an organization that is willing to interrogate the work with goals of harm reduction and increased accessibility, as well as make room for other, equally compelling work, both classic and contemporary, was extremely important to me. The addition of the venue at 514 Fourth Street will allow us to continue to move the conversation forward and to expand our exploration, not only of what ‘classic’ means, but of what it means to be an anti-racist theatre. I can’t wait to join with the Bay Area community in this investigation.”
In addition to extensive acting, directing, and dramaturgical work, Massie’s experience also includes serving as an Actor, Resident Artist, and Director with the Elm Shakespeare Company and Collective Consciousness Theatre as well faculty positions at Southern Connecticut State University and the Regional Center for the Arts. He has studied and worked at Shakespeare & Company and was awarded the Drama League of New York Classical Fellowship for Directors of Color in 2013. Massie earned his MFA in Theatre Practice: Staging Shakespeare from the University of Exeter in the UK and holds undergraduate degrees both in Theatre and Education.
Massie is taking on the role after the retirement of Marin Shakespeare Company Co-founder Robert Currier, who served as Artistic Director for more than three decades and will remain as Artistic Director Emeritus and continue to play a large part in creating the theatre company’s new space in downtown San Rafael. Currier was the 2022 recipient of the Heart of Marin Lifetime Achievement Award.
“We are so excited to welcome Raphael to our community,” said Co-founder and Managing Director Lesley Currier. “We had the opportunity to see him direct actors in a scene from Shakespeare during the interview process, and were highly impressed with the skill and knowledge he brings to share with Bay Area actors. Raphael brings new excitement and energy as we expand into our new space – a place we know will benefit the community in many ways. Although my exceptional husband and Co-Founder Robert Currier is retiring from full-time work, I am eager and excited to continue as Managing Director and chief fundraiser, to support Raphael’s artistic vision as well as our education and prison programs, and to see Marin Shakespeare grow and transform.”
Read the S.F. Chronicle article here
Read the Marin I.J. article here