A Scene Change for Seattle Shakespeare Company and George Mount

Seattle, WA - After over a decade as artistic director, and nearly two decades on staff, George Mount announced today his resignation from Seattle Shakespeare Company. He will be leaving the company at the end of 2023.

In preparation for this transition, Makaela Milburn steps into the role of interim artistic director, effective immediately. She joined the company as casting director in 2019 and became the associate artistic director in 2021, though she has worked with the company on various projects since 2002. In the interim role, Milburn will report to John Bradshaw who moves from managing director to executive director. The Seattle Shakespeare board of directors will begin a search for a permanent artistic director in early 2024 following Mount’s departure.

Mount started working with Seattle Shakespeare Company as an actor and teaching artist in the late 1990s and joined the staff as education associate during the 2003-2004 season. Prior to joining the staff, George founded Wooden O, producing free outdoor Shakespeare in parks throughout the region. Mount was integral in negotiating and overseeing the successful merger of Wooden O with SSC, which was finalized in April 2008. Following the merger, he became the director of outdoor touring and performance until December 2011 when he was named artistic director.

“After nearly 20 years at Seattle Shakespeare, 30 summers of Wooden O, and producing over 100 productions, I’m really proud of my accomplishments,” Mount said. “And I feel ready to explore new challenges and adventures. I’m also confident in where Seattle Shakespeare is right now. There are some incredible opportunities on the horizon for growth and amazing, inventive programming. I think the company is primed for new visions and dynamic approaches to classic storytelling. And I also hope to still be a part of the SSC artistic family down the line.”

The company is poised for a newly-energized, exciting approach with their first-ever commissioned work premiering this season; the growth of their capabilities with the addition of Technical Director Ben Radin and what was previously the Book-It Repertory scene shop; and an ongoing search for a permanent new home, among other developments.

“One of the proudest experiences of my career was working with George on the merger of Seattle Shakespeare and Wooden O, which he founded and which I had come to respect enormously, and we’ve created something new that has lasted,” stated Bradshaw. “I’ve also simply valued our shared time at Shakes and all that the theatre has accomplished under his artistic leadership, including expanding the theatre’s artistic pool, selection of playwrights, and performance venues. I and we will miss him at Seattle Shakespeare.”

“I was asked by George to join artistic leadership during this time of great change in our culture and industry,” said Milburn. “I have been incredibly honored to be entrusted to work together with him on the evolution of this organization, and take seriously the responsibility to grow upon that foundation.”

“Since the founding of Wooden O thirty years ago, George has invested this community with the goal that ‘art should be free, and artists should be paid,’” said General Manager Heidi McElrath. “This mission is George’s legacy, and it is a goal we constantly pursue and get closer to every day.”

Since becoming artistic director, Mount has directed acclaimed productions of Shakespeare in Love, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry IV Part I, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among others. He spearheaded the city-wide Beckett Festival, an unprecedented collaboration of multiple arts and cultural organizations to celebrate one of the most lauded artists of the 20th century. As part of the festival, Mount directed the modern classic Waiting for Godot, conceptualizing it as if Didi and Gogo were actors who had been performing the same show for so long that their perceptions of fiction and reality blurred. He set Shakespeare’s words to music with versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Comedy of Errors. He collaborated with established artists to provide original scoring for productions of The Tempest with music from Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher and starring Michael Winters and Much Ado About Nothing with Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra.

He has also been a frequent face onstage, appearing in The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Doll’s House, The Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Richard III, and Macbeth. He played Katherine in an all-male production of The Taming of the Shrew, exploring the dynamics at play when both leads are male presenting. He also presented a moving portrayal of flawed monarch Richard II in Rosa Joshi’s first production with SSC. He will be back on stage this fall portraying Master Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Though Mount will be departing as artistic director in December, SSC is delighted to welcome him back to direct Romeo and Juliet in the spring.