(Phoenix, Ariz)  Southwest Shakespeare Company (SSC) today announced key leadership transitions at the 31-year-old classical theatre company. Grant Mudge, Executive Director and Director of Education and Community Engagement since 2023, has accepted a new position and departs SSC as of March 12. Mudge will be returning to South Bend, Indiana, which will enable him to be near his son full-time.  SSC is welcoming well-known Arizona theatre artist Keath David Hall as the organization’s new Artistic Director to provide artistic and organizational leadership.  He joins the company on March 1.

 

Hall will be instrumental in the planning and launching of the 2025-26 season and assisting with the smooth completion of the 2024-25 season. The new Artistic Director is supported by a strong, long-term staff and a devoted board, which is in the process of evaluating and realigning administrative and operational responsibilities, and in active pursuit of a new education manager.

Hall is a highly respected member of the Arizona theatre community, with many years of experience, including as an area theatre educator, and as co-founder and Artistic Director of Ronin Theatre. Audiences last saw Hall on Southwest Shakespeare's stages this past fall as Malvolio in TWELFTH NIGHT, and as Frank in THE SCHOOL FOR LIES. He’s been an actor, director or technician with over a dozen theatre companies, including Sedona Shakespeare Festival, Childsplay, Mesa Arts Center, Class 6 Theatre, Stray Cat, Mesa Community College, Paradise Valley Community College and many more in Arizona, Chicago and California, including the California Shakespeare Theater. As he begins his tenure as Southwest Shakespeare’s Artistic Director, he will continue his position as Drama Teacher at Shadow Mountain High School.

“We are sad to see Grant leave the company and wish him great success in his new adventure. He has accomplished much for Southwest Shakespeare during his tenure. At the same time, we are delighted to have such an amazing talent as Keath Hall to provide artistic planning and organizational leadership for Southwest Shakespeare Company. Keath has been an artist with the company since 2007, so he is well-known to the staff, actors and audiences. His leadership at Ronin Theatre Company has demonstrated a passion for bold and innovative theatre. We are confident Keath’s leadership will keep our productions vibrant and engaging, and will shape and grow our brand,” said Laurie Goldstein, Southwest Shakespeare Company board president.

”I am overcome with pride and honor to be trusted to provide artistic oversight, planning and guidance to a company I know and love, and have worked with for almost 20 years,” said Hall. “I hope my diverse theater experiences will help the company to thrive and continue its mission. The classics are where my heart lies, so it only makes sense for me to help propel history, literacy, and the future of classical theater in Arizona.”

Achievements of the company during Mudge's tenure include returning to full adjudication in the annual AriZoni Awards (Arizona's version of the Tony Awards), which garnered fourteen (14) nominations for Southwest Shakespeare in the first year alone. Artists won for Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor for the company's 2023 production of MACBETH.  In addition, Mudge created the company’s first program for youth in Arizona’s juvenile justice system, securing the largest National Endowment for the Arts grant in the company’s history for this work. Partnering with Rite of Passage's campuses at Canyon State and Desert Lily Academies, students learn, rehearse, and perform scenes from Shakespeare and other playwrights for peers, faculty, staff, and families.