Hub Theatre Artistic Director Helen R. Murray (formerly Helen Pafumi) will be leaving the company she helped found to take the helm of the Aurora Fox Arts Center in Aurora, Colorado in July, 2018, the company announced.
Murray, who co-founded Hub in 2008 along with Marey Oakes and Maggie Ulmer and has been its only Artistic Director, is an actor, director, and playwright whose work has received widespread attention. Her play Abominable received a nomination for the Steinberg Award, a $25,000 prize for the best new American play produced outside of New York City, and her Redder Blood won the 2016 Jewish Playwriting contest.
“I love The Hub…I have watched it grow from its infancy and I cherish every moment I have been a part of here,” Murray said in a prepared statement. “It has been my utmost privilege and joy to work with the incredible artists, students, and patrons that have come through our doors. The Hub has been my home for so long – it is difficult to leave. But it is time for a new journey, and I look forward to championing artists and working with new communities as this path unfolds.”
Murray’s final season will include the world premier of The Secrets of the Universe (and other Songs) by Marc Acito, a familiar name for Hub patrons, and Craig Wright’s The Pavilion, which was the very first play Hub produced. Murray will direct Secrets and play the role of Kari in Pavilion.
Lorraine Treanor of DC Theatre Scene said, “An artistic director’s choice of plays is an expression of how they see the world. Helen Murray has produced some of the sweetest, most life affirming moments on our area’s stages, among them The Magi, Failure: A Love Story, Birds of a Feather. Thank you, Helen.”
“Helen will always have a place here, but we wish her every success in her new role,” Hub Board Chair Anne DeVaughn said. “The Hub Theatre will always be a home for artists who celebrate our common humanity and we are excited to carry the mission of The Hub forward into this next chapter. The Hub will continue to thrive and grow, sharing stories about how we are all connected and part of a bigger story of hope.”
The Hub Theatre’s board of directors have not named Murray’s successor but say that they intend to do so by the end of the Hub’s season.
