In a letter to friends and colleagues, Stanford expressed gratitude to the hundreds of dedicated and talented colleagues, staff, board members, fellow artists, and supporters that she has had the opportunity to work with. “A commitment to youth is the North Star that draws us all,” she writes. “Together, we have done much in four decades to bring the arts to more than a million young people, and to nurture them with the “slow food” that only live theatre can provide.”
Since joining the company in 1993, Stanford has produced 160 shows, directed 55, written 9, commissioned 50 new works, and introduced innovative educational programs that prioritize social justice and finding a young person’s unique identity or “voice” through theatre arts. She has long been a leader in promoting equity, diversity and inclusion: by establishing the ‘Youth Speaks to Age Series’ in the 1990’s that brought a dozen new scripts by BIPOC playwrights to the field; by featuring Deaf actors and actors with physical and cognitive disabilities in 9 mainstage productions; and by casting diverse actors in everything so that ALL children see themselves in the stories on stage.
