SAN ANTONIO — The executive artistic director at the Public Theater of San Antonio, one of the region's oldest playhouses, will leave her position before the conclusion of the current season this summer, according to a joint statement provided to KENS 5 on Monday.
The news comes amid just the first full season of Claudia de Vasco's tenure in which she anchored programming efforts for the Tobin Hill-area theater, having been hired in the summer of 2021 when preparation for the 2021-22 season was already underway. She is the first Latina to fill the role of executive artistic director at the Public.
In the statement, the theater's trustees expressed their "gratitude to Claudia for her dedication to the Public Theater's mission of producing high-quality theatre that celebrates and reflects the rich and diverse culture of San Antonio."
"Her commitment to bringing works to the stage which offered fresh, diverse viewpoints has made the Public Theater more reflective of our community and those contributions have been invaluable," the statement goes on to say.
>>Read the full statement below.
De Vasco returned to her home state of Texas to take over the role of executive artistic director in September of 2021, championing inclusive and community-oriented storytelling from the jump while helping navigate the theater through the COVID-19 pandemic's tumultuous later stages.
She oversaw an eleventh-hour programming adjustment in the 2021 holiday season to replace a conceptually outdated show with a more contemporary one, and went on to curate entire slates balancing classic theatre with stories told through a more modern lens. That includes last September's production of "American Mariachi," the century-old Public Theater's first show created by a Latino playwright.
The current Public Theater season (culminating with "Merrily We Roll Along" in August) is the first that de Vasco has been at the forefront of. But plans for a slightly smaller 2023-24 season – which she attributed to ongoing post-pandemic issues affecting the entire theater industry – were already announced in January. It's scheduled to start with "Twelfth Night" in October.
The Public and de Vasco's joint statement indicates next season's programing will remain in place as she and other theater staff "work together... to ensure a smooth transition," including the eventual announcement of her successor.
"We appreciate the support of the community during this time of transition," the statement ends by saying. "Local theaters across the country are facing a watershed moment as they transition into a post-COVID era and have never needed community support more."
Both parties declined to provide more information beyond the statement.
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