LOS ANGELES: The Fountain Theatre has announced that Raymond O. Caldwell will be the company’s next artistic director, succeeding Stephen Sachs, who will stay on through March 31, 2025, to assist in the transition. Caldwell will assume duties as sole artistic director on April 1, the anniversary of the Fountain’s founding by Sachs and the late Deborah Culver Lawlor.
“As an admirer of the work the Fountain Theatre has committed to for the past 34 years, I’m deeply honored and humbled to have been chosen to be the next artistic director,” said Caldwell. “I’m excited to continue creating work that celebrates Los Angeles’s incredible diversity, asks vital questions, provokes new ideas, and inspires civic engagement and action. It’s my belief that community-driven spaces like the Fountain Theatre are vital as we confront the greatest pandemic of our times: loneliness.”
Now living in Los Angeles, Caldwell has spent the last 16 years in Washington, D.C. as a director, writer, producer, and educator. He is the 2023 SDCF Zelda Fichandler Award recipient for his creativity and deep investments in the community. He has received Helen Hayes awards for directing, writing, and producing and was a regular recipient of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship. His most recent directing credits include Romeo & Juliet at Folger Shakespeare Library, Look Both Ways at The Kennedy Center, Poetry for the People at Theater Alliance, Skeleton Crew at the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio, and Passing Strange at Signature Theatre. In addition to his international work as an educator, Raymond was a faculty member and resident director at Howard University’s department of theatre arts. He was part of the National Arts Strategy Executive Leadership group at Harvard, holds an MFA in acting/new-play development from Ohio State University, and has a BFA in acting from the University of Florida.
“After a deep nationwide search, the board is confident that Mr. Caldwell is the leader who will burnish the Fountain’s traditions and bring the creative and innovative energy needed to ensure a vibrant future,” stated board chair Dorothy Wolpert. “We congratulate him and eagerly anticipate a thrilling partnership.”
Founded in 1990, the Fountain Theatre creates, develops, and produces new plays that bring to life the urgent social, political, and cultural issues of our time, reflecting the vibrant diversity of Los Angeles and the nation. As of 2022, its budget was approximately $1.27 million.
