Molly Smith

Molly Smith has been a passionate leader in new play development for the past 30 years while at Arena Stage as well as at Perseverance Theatre in Alaska, the theater she founded and led for 19 years. During 11 seasons as Arena’s artistic director, she has focused the repertory on American voices, making Arena the largest theater in North America focusing on American voices and American artists. 

Ms. Smith has commissioned or championed numerous world premieres, including Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive and Mineola Twins; Tim Acito’s The Women of Brewster Place; Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations; Charles Randolph-Wright’s Blue; Zora Neale Hurston’s lost American play, Polk County; Karen Zacarias’ Legacy of Light; and Passion Play, a cycle by Sarah Ruhl; some of which she has directed. She founded Arena’s downstairs series, which has read or workshopped some 60 plays, half of which have gone on to full productions. In 2009, two shows nurtured at Arena Stage (33 Variationsand Next to Normal) moved to Broadway. Smith’s directorial work has also been seen at the Shaw Festival in Canada, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, and Centaur Theatre in Montreal and includes classics such as South Pacific, Mack and Mabel, Anna Christie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Smith has served as literary advisor to Sundance Theatre Lab and formed the Arena Stage Writers Council, composed of leading American playwrights. 

An avid traveler, Ms. Smith brings artists of international renown to work at Arena Stage and serves as a member of the Board of the Theatre Communications Group as well as the Center for International Theatre Development. She directed two feature films, Raven’s Blood and Making Contact, and received honorary doctorates from both Towson and American universities.