Trinity Repertory Company’s next artistic director will be Curt Columbus. Columbus, 40, is the associate artistic director of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, and artistic director of Chicago’s summer Theater on the Lake. A Yale graduate, he teaches at the University of Chicago and DePaul University. He is a respected director, writer, dramaturg, and translator/adaptor of major Russian works such as Crime and Punishment. He will choose the plays for Trinity’s 2006-2007 season, which will be announced this winter. Columbus’ appointment is a dual one: Trinity Rep’s artistic director is chair of the Brown/Trinity Consortium’s graduate programs in acting and directing. He will begin work in January.

“Curt Columbus is one of America’s finest theater leaders, with a great depth of experience,” said Jack McConnell, chair of the search committee and a Trinity trustee. “We were struck by his passion for creating environments where both resident company members and national artists can excel; programs that engage the community; teaching that inspires and challenges both students and faculty; and creating and adapting new works. He embodies a collaborative leadership style that builds a compelling sense of community around the theater. All of this makes him the right artistic leader for Trinity Rep.”

Trinity Rep launched a national search in January, following Oskar Eustis’ resignation to become artistic director of New York’s Public Theater. Guided by Albert Hall & Associates, a top theater executive search firm, the rigorous process began with over 100 resumes. Of the twelve people who fit Trinity’s criteria, three finalists spent several days in Providence this month, meeting with staff, members of the acting company, trustees, faculty members of Brown University and the Brown/Trinity Consortium, and members of the Rhode Island community.

McConnell added, “Our finalists were three of the most talented people in regional theater today. We were blessed with an amazing group of people on the search committee, including Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, company actors Tim Crowe and Barbara Meek, Brown University Provost Robert Zimmer, and community leaders like Cliff Wood, Providence’s director of Arts, Culture & Tourism, trustees and subscribers.”

Amanda Dehnert, who became acting artistic director last year following Oskar Eustis’ resignation, will continue during the transition. Dehnert directs this year’s production of A Christmas Carol, which begins on November 11, and plans to direct Cyrano in May. Executive director Edgar Dobie leads the company in partnership with the artistic director.

Curt Columbus has been the associate artistic director of Steppenwolf since 2000, where his translations of Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya were presented in the Upstairs Theatre. Other Steppenwolf credits include translating Maria Arndt and directing The House of Lily, Division Street: America and Our Town. He was also the artistic director of Chicago Park District’s Theater on the Lake and an artistic associate at Victory Gardens Theater since 1990.

His adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (with Marilyn Campbell), which was presented by the Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, was awarded a Joseph Jefferson Award for best new adaptation and is published by Dramatists’ Play Service. Curt’s new translations of Anton Chekhov’s plays have been published by Ivan R. Dee, including a volume of translations called Chekhov: The Four Major Plays. From that collection, Seagull premiered at Writers’ Theatre in September 2004, and Three Sisters premiered at Strawdog Theatre in October 2005. Curt has also been director of University Theater at the University of Chicago, where he continued to lecture in the Humanities.

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