Toby Mulford takes on leadership of Faction of Fools, Matt Wilson moves on

Faction of Fools Theatre Company announced last night that Toby Mulford has become their new Producing Artistic Director. ‘He’s a better fool than I am’, is the idea behind the welcoming message from Faction of Fools Theatre Company’s founder and now past Artistic Director Matthew R. Wilson.

Since their beginning here in 2009, Faction of Fools, under Wilson’s direction, has succeeded in taking the classic Commedia dell’Arte form out of academia and making it cool, relevant, and very, very funny.

Their latest production, directed by Wilson, will be their season-closer: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, performed at Gallaudet University, May 28 – June 21.

Wilson, the release below tells us, is heading for the University of Mississippi  where he will be teaching, but additionally has directing assignments bringing him back to D.C. next year. Perhaps a surprising move. But no more so than fashioning a successful theatre company from a dusty art form in a serious political town like Washington, D.C.

Wilson has been a great friend to DC Theatre Scene and to many artists and companies in the area. For all that, we give him our heartfelt thanks, and wish him great fun on his next adventures.

And now, to properly introduce Toby Mulford in his new position, here is last night’s press release:

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Washington, DC – With the backing of their founder and former Artistic Director and the support of their artistic staff, the Board of Directors of Faction of Fools Theatre Company has unanimously voted to hire Toby Mulford as the new Producing Artistic Director effective immediately.

“Toby is the perfect person to assume the role of Artistic Director.  His leadership and experience with Faction of Fools is invaluable,” said Board President Dr. Ralph Perrino.  “It will provide the continuity necessary to ensure that future Faction of Fools productions entertain theater audiences at the same level of excellence they have come to enjoy.”

Mulford, who has served as Managing Director since 2012 and has been a member of Faction of Fools since its inception in 2009, will succeed founder Matthew R. Wilson.  Wilson has accepted a tenure-track position on the performance faculty at the University of Mississippi but will continue acting and directing professionally in the DC area, including with Faction of Fools.  He is already slated to direct next season for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and the University of Maryland and remains at the helm for Faction’s upcoming production of Our Town, which opens at the end of May and features Mulford in the role of Doc Gibbs.

“Matt has set an incredibly high bar,” said Mulford.  “The company owes its success to his vision as a director, performer, teacher and scholar.  We are far from finished in learning everything that Commedia dell’Arte has to teach us, and I look forward to maintaining the same level of dedication to the craft.  Luckily we in the company are very good at standing on each others shoulders.”

Faction audiences have enjoyed Mulford’s work since the debut season when he co-directed and performed in the company’s first ensemble play, The House with Two Doors.  Since then he has appeared frequently including as Polonius in Hamlecchio; Nurse/Paris/Benvolio in A Commedia Romeo & Juliet; Marley/Fezziwig/Ghost of Christmas Present in A Commedia Christmas Carol; Geppetto in Pinocchio!; and Marcus in Titus Andronicus.  He has created and directed numerous shorts for the company’s annual “Fool for All” and Commedia dell’Arte Day celebrations and directed the critically-acclaimed mainstage production The Lady Becomes Him.

“I couldn’t be happier handing this company to Toby,” said Wilson.  “Not only has he been managing our books for years, but he is a brilliant artist.  He’s a better deviser than I am, a better improviser than I am, and one of the few people in the DC-area who I can have a conversation about Commedia with and learn something that I didn’t already know.”

Mulford earned an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from the acclaimed Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA, and has studied with many of the world’s experts in the field.  For several years, he has served as Associate Artistic Director of Traveling Players Ensemble, where he has taught, directed, and produced numerous student-devised Commedia plays.  He has also performed regionally with Round House Theatre (Amadeus); 1st Stage (One Man, Two Guvnors); Constellation Theatre Company (Absolutely! {Perhaps}); and Dr. Dour & Peach (The Monster Songs).  He recently directed A Servant of Two Masters at Montgomery College and will devise and direct an original Commedia dell’Arte piece at George Washington University in the fall.

“I am so excited to see what this company becomes under Toby’s leadership,” Wilson said.  “He has been an ardent student of the art form since before Faction of Fools existed, an invaluable colleague and contributor in our first six years, and someone who cares deeply about training and ensemble development.  He’ll sustain a top-notch core of artists who will do outstanding work for DC theatre and the international legacy of Commedia dell’Arte.”