Brustein calls Woodruff a “visionary.”

In 1972, Woodruff co-founded San Francisco’s Eureka Theatre. Four years later, he founded the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, where he first worked with the writer Sam Shepard—a collaboration that has continued for years.

More recently, Woodruff has taught directing and acting at Columbia University. He directed Richard II, the controversial production currently on the Loeb Mainstage.

The Shakespeare production, which includes some scantily clad men and scenes of homosexuality, serves as an example of Woodruff’s avante garde approach to theater.

The production garnered powerful mixed reactions.

A brief review on the ART email list quoted audience comments that ranged from “one of the two best Shakespeare productions I have seen at the ART” to “the most offensive piece of theater I have ever seen.”

McClelland described the show as a “dazzlingly daring piece of staging.”

HRDC and the ART

Throughout the year-long search process, students had hoped a new ART director would give the University an opportunity to renegotiate its contract with the company.

Brustein has overseen the Loeb and the ART during a time in which students have alleged they do not have sufficient access to the theater’s Mainstage.

The relationship between the ART and Harvard has been strained in recent years, with students clamoring for more access to the Mainstage and the ART eager to keep its own stage time.

Additionally, students have said that they hoped the change in leadership might result in a stronger relationship between the undergraduates and the company.

At the press conference Wednesday, Orchard said the “troika” would attempt to foster more interaction between the students and professionals.

“We can always do better and we will do better,” Orchard said.

McClelland said Brustein has traditionally delegated interaction with the HRDC board and fielding complaints to Orchard—and he expects that Orchard will continue to be “attentive” to the student population.

“What I expect [Woodruff] is going to be like as a leader in the building is a considerate, deliberate and thoughtful presence,” McClelland said.