Ethan McSweeny is an American theatre director. He served as artistic director of the

American Shakespeare Center The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is a regional theatre company located in Staunton, Virginia, that focuses on the plays of William Shakespeare; his contemporaries Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Christopher Marlowe; and works related ...

from 2018 to 2021.

Early life and education

McSweeny is a native of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, the son of political journalists Dorothy and William F. McSweeney, who served as

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's deputy chief of staff and later an executive vice president of

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in t ...

, heading its international division. His mother served as chairwoman of the

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) is an agency of the District of Columbia government. As of October 2022, the Interim Executive Director is David Markey. CAH was created as an outgrowth of the U.S. Congress Act that established ...

and the

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Founded in 1979, MAAF works to "promote and support multi ...

. His siblings include former Federal Trade Commission Commissioner

Terrell McSweeny Terrell McSweeny is an American attorney who served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from 2014 until 2018. Personal life and education McSweeny is a graduate of Holton-Arms School, Harvard University and Georgetown University ...

. McSweeny graduated from St. Albans School and received his B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1993 as the first graduate of the theater and dramatic art major of

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

. At Columbia, he studied theatre under

Austin E. Quigley Austin Edmund Quigley (born December 31, 1942) is the former Dean of Columbia College of Columbia University, Lucy G. Moses Professor, and Brander Matthews Professor of Dramatic Literature at Columbia University, in New York City, and the recip ...

and directed two student productions, ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'' and '' The Tempest''.

Career

McSweeny returned to Washington after college and spent four years working as assistant director of The Shakespeare Theatre under Michael Kahn. In 1997, he landed his first engagement as a director of John Logan's ''Never the Sinner'' at the Signature Theatre in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, then at Rep Stage in

Howard County, Maryland Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its county seat is Ellicott City. Howard County is included in the Baltimore-C ...

, American Jewish Theatre, and the John Houseman Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He has also worked as a freelance director at the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gu ...

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

Studio Theatre A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

, and The Alley Theater and was hailed as a "wunderkind" by ''American Theatre'' magazine in 2006. His Broadway credits included '' The Best Man'' and '' A Time To Kill.'' McSweeney joined the

as artistic director in 2018, succeeding Jim Warren, who co-founded ASC and stepped down at the end of 2017. He previously co-directed Chautauqua Theater Company in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long ...

for eight years with

Vivienne Benesch Vivienne Benesch is a theatre director and former artistic director of the Chautauqua Theatre who is currently artistic director at North Carolina's PlayMakers Repertory Company, a position she has held since 2016. As part of her work at PlayMakers ...

. He won a

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

in 2018 for Outstanding direction in a play. McSweeney stepped down in 2021 amidst budget cuts and complaints about the workplace climate from former employees.

Personal life

McSweeney is married to stage actor Nancy Anderson, who received multiple

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

, and

nominations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McSweeny, Ethan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American theatre directors Columbia College (New York) alumni St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Artistic directors