Hana Sharif Named Associate Artistic Director at Hartford Stage

Hartford Stage has named director, playwright and producer Hana Sharif Associate Artistic Director.

Sharif joined Hartford Stage seven years ago, and has been its Artistic Producer for the last three years. She succeeds Jeremy B. Cohen, who was recently named producing artistic director of The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Sharif will assume her new position on Aug. 9.

Sharif made her MainStage directorial debut at Hartford Stage with last season’s Gee’s Bend, which won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble and a nomination for Sharif as best director. For the 2009-2010 season, she was selected as the Aetna New Voices Playwright in residence.

Sharif is a recipient of the prestigious TCG New Generations mentorship, which she completed at Hartford Stage from fall 2005 to spring 2007. This upcoming season, she will direct the MainStage production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. A graduate of both Spelman College and the University of Houston, Sharif is the co-founder of Nasir Productions, a theatre dedicated to the exploration of contemporary voices experimenting with traditional structure.

She directed the American team of the 2008 ITI UNEASCO World Congress in the international collaboration IfDENTITY. She has brought theatre to underserved communities and has directed and produced shows in Atlanta, Houston, and Hartford, including the world premieres of Fragility’s Decline, Next Stop Africa, and The Drum.