The 2009 Meyer Foundation Exponent Award winners are featured in The Washington Post.
About David Andrew Snider
Producing Artistic Director and CEO, Young Playwrights' Theater
David Andrew Snider has been an actor, director, educator, producer, and administrator for more than 15 years. He has worked in both the classical repertory of Shakespeare, Shaw and Chekhov, and on the development of new work with playwrights such as Kenny Lonergan, Femi Osofisan and Karen Zacarias. Over the years he has directed, acted and taught with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center, the Joseph Papp Public Theater, the Hangar Theatre (as Director of the Hangar's Lab Company), Playwrights Horizons (as the Robert Moss Resident Director), Jean Cocteau Repertory and the Maddermarket Theatre of Norwich, England.
Since joining Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) in 2005, Snider has reinvigorated the company's vision and mission, raising the company's local and national profile while improving the company's fiscal health and expanding YPT's infrastructure through several capacity-building projects. Under his leadership, YPT has been awarded commissions from the White House, the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution, while establishing the company's first-ever resident acting company and an advisory panel of nationally-recognized playwrights, including: Paula Vogel, Anna Deavere Smith, Sarah Ruhl, Nilo Cruz and Charles Randolph Wright.
Snider has taught master classes in text, directing, acting, voice and Shakespeare in performance as a guest lecturer at the Kennedy Center, the University of Virginia, University of Maryland, Howard University, Dickinson College and as a member of the faculty at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Snider received his master of fine arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and his bachelor of arts in English literature and Russian language from Dickinson College, where he graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.
Snider is a directing fellow of the Drama League of New York, the vice chair of the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative and the current president of the League of Washington Theatres.
Key Accomplishments
David Andrew Snider
Producing Artistic Director and CEO, Young Playwrights' Theater
Annual Budget: $535,000
Service Area: District of Columbia
David Snider joined YPT in 2005 after running the Shakespeare Theatre Company's educational programs for four years. He came when finances were precarious and immediately took steps to strengthen financial management and diversify sources of income, ultimately restoring the organization's depleted reserves. David had also hired an entirely new staff with the combination of artistic and administrative skills needed to take YPT beyond its founding stage.
YPT began a period of remarkable expansion and increased effectiveness under David's leadership. An evaluation consultant helped staff create new curricula and assessment tools. In 2008, David was asked to help write the new DC Arts Education Standards for theatre and testified before the DC Board of Education to help ensure their adoption.
Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) is the only professional theatre in Washington, DC dedicated entirely to arts education. It teaches students to express themselves clearly and creatively through the art of playwriting. YPT produces students' original works through professional productions and tours that include professional actors, directors, and designers. By publicly presenting and discussing student-written work, YPT promotes community dialogue and respect for young artists.
YPT engages nearly 600 District students each year, working with students from low-income households in the Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods of Washington, DC. Performances of student plays draw audiences of more than 6,000 students, educators, parents, and community members from across the region. It strives to have long-term impact on student growth by working with a limited number of students each year and tracking their progress after their completion of the program.
The organization was awarded commissions from the White House, the Kennedy Center, the Department of Justice, and the Smithsonian, and established a resident acting company. Its musical, Chasing George Washington: A White House Adventure, ran for three sold-out weeks at the Kennedy Center, was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and will tour nationally later this year.
Beyond his work at YPT, David has served as a leader regionally and nationally, currently serving as the president of the League of Washington Theatres. He is spearheading the creation of the National Young Playwrights Network, which now includes a Philadelphia company and several organizations in New York City.
In 2010, YPT will host a National Young Playwrights Festival.
Photo Gallery
