SHARON OTT
FORMER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF
IN CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD WOLINSKY
Sharon Ott has been a leading figure in American theatre for 25 years—including 13 years as Berkeley Rep’s artistic director, during which the company achieved national prestige and a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Following her tenure in Berkeley, Sharon served Seattle Rep as its artistic director for nine years. Her New York credits include work at Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public Theater; she has worked regionally at Arena Stage, the Huntington, the Taper, Opera Colorado, San Diego Opera, Seattle Opera, South Coast Rep, and many others. In these theatres, she has collaborated with contemporary American artists including Ricardo Chavira, Willem Dafoe, and Anna Deavere Smith; directors Joe Mantello, Stephen Wadsworth, George C. Wolfe, and Mary Zimmerman; and authors Nilo Cruz, Amy Freed, Philip Kan Gotanda, Beth Henley, and August Wilson. She is the recipient of multiple Bay Area Critics Circle and Dramalogue Awards, an Elliot Norton Award, an Obie Award, and the Paine Knickerbocker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Sharon is currently a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design and serves on the national executive board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Sharon Ott's Wikipedia page.
Founded in 1968, Berkeley Repertory Theatre has established itself as one of this country’s top-ranking professional resident theatre companies, known for its consistently high-quality productions. Winner of the 1997 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, its national reputation draws theatre artists from around the country to work on a variety of productions from September through July.
Sharon discusses the creation of the play You, Nero, performed
at Berkeley Rep May 20-June 28, 2009, as well as her work
on Crime and Punishment earlier in the season. She also
discusses the role of theater and art in
American today. (28 min)
students as well as crossing career paths with Julie Taymore
and Bill Irwin. . (33 min)
Heard on
Open Book, KPFA-FM, Pacifica Radio Berkeley
Fridays 3 pm
