Introducing EST’s New Co-Artistic Directors
We are thrilled to announce our new Co-Artistic Directors, Estefanía Fadul and Graeme Gillis, who usher in the first shared leadership model in our history. Following an extensive hiring process, Estefanía joins EST with a fresh perspective from her prolific directing and producing career, while Graeme builds upon his almost 20 years working in the EST community.
We're so excited for them both to shape these roles and carry forward our mission to support our community and original, provocative, and authentic new plays.
Estefanía Fadul & Graeme Gillis
“My favorite way of working has always been within ensemble settings, where there is space and time for trust to build, ideas to evolve, risks to be taken, and collaborations to grow. EST is uniquely positioned to be a leader in imagining, experimenting with, and practicing brave and joyful ways of working and creating.
I look forward to building on the deep work that folks within the organization are already doing with love and care to transform EST into a truly inclusive place of belonging for artists and audiences alike, particularly those from communities that have been historically excluded. The possibilities feel infinite, and I’m honored to be in process with the EST community as we co-create its future.”
Estefanía Fadul
“The animating idea of EST, of a community of artists dedicating themselves to their work, to each other, and to the future of theatre, is just about the most romantic, most inspiring thing I’ve ever heard. Before us, a lot of people at EST lived that idea. They held the door open so hundreds of artists, 55 years of them, could walk in here. Now it’s our turn. That’s the heart of EST’s inclusion work and anti-racism efforts, and really our whole artistic life.
I’ve been sheltered and inspired by this place, by the work I’ve seen and the people I’ve met here, for nearly half my life. I want that for everybody. That welcome, that acceptance, the camaraderie and fun, the awe at what we can pull off together. I feel so lucky today, because I get to participate in that.”
Graeme Gillis
Estefanía Fadul is a Colombian-born, NH-raised, NYC-based director and creative producer with a passion for new work. She is thrilled to join the EST community, of which she has long been an audience member and fan. Recent directing includes the world premieres of Eva Luna adapted by Caridad Svich from the novel by Isabel Allende (Repertorio Español), The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (Philadelphia Theatre Company), The Same Day by Stefan Ivanov (Sfumato Theatre, Bulgaria), Scissoring by C. Quintana (INTAR), and the Drama League-nominated Carla’s Quince, which she conceived and developed with The Voting Project Ensemble to mobilize Latiné voters to the polls.
Estefanía has developed new plays and musicals off-Broadway and regionally at the Public Theater, Chautauqua, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Playwrights’ Realm, NYTW, Audible, Goodspeed, Long Wharf, Juilliard, and more. She was on the producing team for Soho Rep.’s first all-ages, site-specific show Washeteria, and is a co-producer on the upcoming world premiere of Raquel Almazan’s La Paloma Prisoner.
Estefanía is a member of the leadership circle of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice (CPCP), the Drama League Board of Directors, Latinx Theatre Commons advisory committee, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and SDC. She was the 2020 recipient of New York Stage and Film’s Pfaelzer Award, is a New Georges Affiliated Artist, and an alumna of the Advocacy and Leadership Institutes of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Drama League Directors Project, O’Neill/NNPN National Directors Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship, Civilians’ R&D Group, Foeller Fellowship at Williamstown, and Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español. She has a B.A. from Vassar College, where she co-founded Idlewild Theatre Ensemble to create and uplift work by women/fem-aligning artists. www.estefaniafadul.com
Graeme Gillis is from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. First hired at Ensemble Studio Theatre by founder Curt Dempster, he’s served in many roles, most recently as Interim Artistic Director during the theatre’s leadership transition, and before that as Associate Artistic Director under William Carden. Together with RJ Tolan, he leads the theatre’s Obie Award-winning EST/Youngblood playwrights group, fostering dozens of early-career playwrights each year. Together with Linsay Firman, he leads the EST/Sloan Project, a program that fosters plays about science and technology, and has awarded over $3 million in grants to playwrights and theatres nationwide.
His plays have been produced at EST by Youngblood and in the Marathon. He has worked as a playwright with theatres throughout the US and Canada, including Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Vampire Cowboys, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Source Theatre (DC); Mulgrave Road Theatre (Nova Scotia), Summerworks and Theatre Smash at the Tarragon Theatre (Toronto). Published by Dramatists Play Service and Applause Books. At Sarah Lawrence College he teaches Downstage, a production conference where students form their own theatre company, create a mission statement, then curate and produce a full season to carry out the mission. He’s a graduate of the University of King’s College in Nova Scotia, New School University, and the EST/Youngblood writers’ group. As a Canadian he proudly bears a US artists' green card, sponsored by Ensemble Studio Theatre. He is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and EST.