Prospect Theater Project: Transitioning Artistic Directors
By Summer Krafft
There have been many changes to the local arts scene since the beginning of the pandemic. Still, Prospect Theater Project has managed not only to endure but, remarkably, to thrive, offering live theater and other in-person events. Their growth in the past several years has been exponential, as they have added to their board, hired an Executive Director, Sarah Aaronson, and opened a new space, The Artist Lab. When people think of PTP, they no doubt think of high-quality productions, beautiful sets, and poignant storytelling. Still, they also probably think of Jack Souza, who has been at the helm as Artistic Director since the beginning of the organization in 2001. After nearly twenty-five years, Jack is taking a highly anticipated but still surprising step back and welcoming a new Artistic Director: Laura Dickinson-Turner.
Laura is by no means a new face in the world of Central Valley theater. She grew up here, participated in school productions, went to Stanislaus State where she studied theater and also worked in the theater department, and has worked as an actor, director, and teaching artist for well over a decade in the area for companies such as Gallo Center for the Arts, Stage 3, Center Stage Conservatory, and Prospect Theater Project, itself, most notably as Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalian” aside Jack. She has also spent time living and working in LA and New York City—she received her MFA from California State Los Angeles in 2020 and acted in the Hollywood Fringe Festival and Studio at Theater Row.
Aside from her various credits, there are uncanny similarities between Jack and Laura: the way they express themselves and certain sentiments they possess on the topic of the art of theater and their personal approaches. The two possess an almost otherworldly poise and eloquence. It is clear, in the interview, how carefully they choose their words and the care they put into everything they say, even when chatting casually. I seldom have met people so fully present and willing to meet me in the room.
The two, who have a long history of working together and sharing a deep friendship, also share the sentiment that art, rather than being selected to please an audience, must come from the core of the artists creating it, which therefore impacts and shapes the community and what they will come to expect and desire of the artists in the future. Prospect Theater Project creates thought-provoking, relevant, timely work with a sense of immediacy and timelessness. This sense of both history and consideration of the now is present in our conversation.
For Jack, the selection of the new Artistic Director was simple, naming Laura as the only person he could see in the role. He added, “It is not because I think the theater will remain the same.” As he moves to the next chapter, which will hopefully include more acting roles with the additional time, adds that he wants to see PTP not only endure, but grow up. She is well-respected in the community as a working artist, certainly, but also as an artist of influence, particularly in her teaching, who has broken open the worlds of theater, performance, and creation for many young people and redefined the way they experience art. I say this from personal experience, having been her student at 17, and followed opportunities she has opened in the time since.
As Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director for 2024-25, Jack and Laura have constructed a varied season for their patrons which opened with The Thin Place by Lucas Hnath. Second was one of Jack’s choices for the season, The Shark is Broken, written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon – a play about the behind-the-scenes relationship between the three stars of Jaws, in which Jack plays Robert Shaw.
Currently running is “Skylight” by David Hare, directed by Jack and starring Laura, a play about two former lovers who try to reconcile but end up at odds. The fourth production in the season will be “The Revolutionists” by Lauren Gunderson, a comedy played by four women set in the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, directed by Laura, herself, followed by “The Mother” by Bertolt Brecht which has been adapted and set in our own Central Valley, and the One-Act Play Festival, which local writers can submit works to be considered for production.
In addition, PTP will continue their popular Radio Cavalcade series and offer special events as well as educational opportunities.
Among the changes at PTP, they have welcomed Ally Munson to the staff as Marketing and Social Media manager, but she also spearheaded the Actor’s Showcase last season, which was the test run for this season’s One-Act Festival. Local writers got to submit works for consideration and what emerged was a collection of stories that centered on a few key themes, including the different ways people experience grief, and the struggles with one’s own identity and accepting that for what it is.. This project very much had the spirit of the early days of PTP, which Jack describes as “feeling like a new love….raw and full of enthusiasm.”
Laura speaks about the process of storytelling as the need to create narrative as context for our own experience: out of which develops ritual, which then develops into performance–and although we all perform roles in our daily lives, theater is a concentrated arena where artists can explore and celebrate their own humanity.
In the transition from one Artistic Director to another, the storytelling philosophies that have been core to Prospect Theater Project will remain, as Laura and Jack very much share. For all three of these artists, theater is somewhat of a secular church. PTP has been treating theater as such from day one, including when resources were limited and it was sometimes a labor of love and, in many ways, as one-man show as Jack directed, produced, designed, built, and promoted without the same infrastructure they have now.
In addition to all of the productions they’ll be offering, there are both talk-backs and Page 2 Stage discussions—like a book club for theater nerds in which the audience members read the play in advance and discuss what it’s like seeing just ink on a page turn into a fully realized theatrical production—during the run of each mainstage show.
For Laura, taking on this role is truly an honor. “Jack asked me, and I said ‘I have to do it. I have to do it and I want to do it.” Prospect was a formative place for her in her own development as an artist, and she will continue creating that space for many other artists, no doubt.
With the theme of transitions running throughout their season and Prospect clearly transitioning itself, expect to continue seeing insightful, innovative and inspiring theater with particular attention to growth at their K Street locations.
Jack chose Laura because he knows Laura. “I want the space to survive me” And with Laura, I have no doubt that the theater community in our dear Modesto will continue to see rich, lively work from PTP, but also experience new discoveries and perspectives.
To support, buy season tickets, come to a production, event, or workshop, discuss, and share in your community, and welcome Laura Dickinson-Turner to the role of Artistic Director. We’re lucky to have her.
