Virginia Theatre Festival Announces Artistic Director Jenny Wales to Step Down

Wales To Continue as UVA Faculty Following Highly Successful 9-Year Run that Featured Some of the Most Highly Acclaimed Productions in VTF History and Bridge-Building Community Collaborations

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Thursday, August 20, 2026 – The Virginia Theatre Festival announced today that its Artistic Director Jenny Wales will be stepping down from the position. Wales, a UVA alum who will continue as UVA faculty, shared the news in a letter to VTF supporters.

“I’ve been thinking of beginning a new chapter of my own for quite some time,” Wales wrote, “and it’s bittersweet to share that tomorrow, Friday, August 21, I will step down as the Artistic Director of the Virginia Theatre Festival. I’m thrilled to be staying at UVA as a faculty member, and I look forward to everything that is to come.”

“I could never have imagined,” Wales wrote, “when I was a first year student at UVA, a place where I began to discover who I was as an artist, that years later I would return and find myself leading the Virginia Theatre Festival. I’m so proud of the work we have accomplished – we have created artistically excellent productions, increased community engagement through our Spotlight on Service program that gives complimentary tickets to area non-profits and through our Community Conversations, and developed an Artist-in-Residence Series that has brought working professionals in the field to intersect with students at the University.”

Under her leadership, the VTF brought together leading theatre artists from Broadway, Charlottesville, the University, and beyond for seasons that included some of the most acclaimed productions in VTF history, including Cabaret (2023) and this past season’s runaway hit, Disney’s Newsies, both directed by fellow UVA classmate Matthew Steffens. Other artistic highlights include The Mountaintop (2018), a powerful two-person reimagination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last night on earth, written by Katori Hall and directed by Kathryn Hunter Wiliams, and the 2026 season-opening production of Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty, directed by Nicolas Minas, which enjoyed a nearly sold-out run.

“I cannot say enough about the leadership and vision Jenny Wales has brought to this position, and to the University, for the past 9 years,” said UVA Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa. “From the very first time I met her while she was interviewing for the position, to the resilience she showed during the very difficult two-year COVID hiatus, to the triumphant standing ovation that marked the end of the run of Newsies, Jenny has displayed extraordinary vision and an uncompromising commitment to the art of theatre and has been an outstanding ambassador for the VTF, and for the arts writ large across the University and in our community.”

Read the full text of Jenny Wales’s letter to VTF supporters below.

Dear VTF patron,

As this summer draws to a close, I hope you found a moment to rest and relax, recharge with friends and family, or perhaps be reinvigorated by a production at the Virginia Theatre Festival. At the closing toast of our production of Newsies, I shared with our company how much I love theater makers. We allow ourselves to run full throttle into telling stories and we build them with such care, skill, and specificity. And then we let those stories go and we move on to tell the next story. For nearly ten years, as Artistic Director, I have been lucky enough to find myself working with talented artists, technicians, and administrators to create work for you, our incredible audience, here in Charlottesville.

I could never have imagined when I was a first year student at UVA, a place where I began to discover who I was as an artist, that years later I would return and find myself leading the Virginia Theatre Festival. I’m so proud of the work we have accomplished – we have created artistically excellent productions, increased community engagement through our Spotlight on Service program that gives complimentary tickets to area non-profits and through our Community Conversations, and developed an Artist-in-Residence Series that has brought working professionals in the field to intersect with students at the University. And with overwhelming support from you, our audience, we came back to producing theatre after being dark during COVID. It hasn’t always been an easy road, but it has been rewarding and fulfilling.

I’ve been thinking of beginning a new chapter of my own for quite some time and it’s bittersweet to share that tomorrow, Friday, August 21, I will step down as the Artistic Director of the Virginia Theatre Festival. I’m thrilled to be staying at UVA as a faculty member, and I look forward to everything that is to come.

As I move into this new chapter, I’m grateful for all the fulfilling artistic experiences we shared. I’m grateful for the incredible company members I have had the privilege to work with and learn from during my tenure. I’m grateful for the full-time staff who live and work here year-round to produce the Virginia Theatre Festival each summer. I’m grateful for our incredible supporters, donors, patrons, community partners, and University leadership for all they have done to support our work. None have been bigger champions than Jody Kielbasa, Vice Provost for the Arts.

And I am incredibly grateful to each of you for your support of the work we have produced at the Virginia Theatre Festival during my time as Artistic Director. Now, it’s time for me to let go of one chapter of my story and to run full throttle into the next one.

With gratitude,

Jenny Wales

Artistic Director, Virginia Theatre Festival

The Virginia Theatre Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Drama, and The Caplin Foundation.

No announcement regarding a replacement search has been made at this time.

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