The nonprofit theater company Second Stage has announced that Evan Cabnet will be the next artistic director. Cabnet, joining the company in September, will officially begin his first season of programming in the fall of 2025.
Carole Rothman, the organization's founder and current artistic director, will continue in her position through August before leaving in the spring after 45 years of service. Interim Artistic Director Bennett Leak will oversee the company's upcoming 46th season.
In a statement, Cabnet said, "I am excited and humbled to bring my passion for developing, nurturing, and championing new work to Second Stage, one of New York's most vital and influential homes for contemporary theater. As my mentor Andre Bishop says, we are living in a golden age of American playwriting, and Second Stage's incredible history and the home Carole Rothman has created for artists sits firmly at the center of this inspiring and culturally rich moment."
Cabnet added that he wanted to honor her legacy as one of the truly great leaders of the American theater. He noted that he was looking forward to helping write the next chapter for such an extraordinary organization.
Furthermore, Cabnet has been the artistic director of LCT3 since 2016. He has over 20 years of experience directing off-Broadway and on regional and international stages. He was also a founder member of the Ars Nova Writers Group, a former resident artist with Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theater, and an artistic associate of the Roundabout Theatre Company.
The Second Stage Theater Board of Trustees announced Cabnet's appointment.
Head of the Artistic Director Search Committee and Board Co-Chair Kevin Brockman and Board Co-Chair Terry Lindsay said that in taking on the search for a new artistic director, their 13-member committee went into the process understanding one certainty.
The two noted that they would never replace Rothman. Instead, they focused on identifying the most talented, forward-thinking, creative minds as passionate about their mission and as dedicated to championing new theatrical voices as they were.
