Still searching for a home, Red Eye Theater appoints seven new artistic directors

Red Eye Theater still doesn't have a permanent performance space, but the experimental company now has seven new artistic directors.

Red Eye was forced from its original home in September, making way for a new six-story apartment development near Loring Park. At the time, company founders Steve Busa and Miriam Must were already in the midst of a transition, working with a cohort of artists to find new leadership for the organization they founded in 1983.

On Tuesday, the Red Eye board of directors announced the appointment of seven new directors, all theater artists or performers of some stripe. They are: Playwrights Hayley Finn and Rachel Jendrzejewski; theater makers Theo Langason and Andrew Lee Dolan; and dance artists Emily Gastineau, Valerie Oliveiro and Jeffrey Wells.

According to Gastineau, the benefit of hiring seven people is that each brings previous connections to other institutions, paving the way for future collaborations and other opportunities. "Frankly everyone is already leveraging an artistic practice with various jobs," Gastineau said. "So we all have to navigate the balance of that individually."

Meanwhile, there's no news on Red Eye's search for a new permanent venue. "We do intend to get a new space," Gastineau said. "It's been so important for Red Eye artists to develop work in the space they perform in."

The group's annual New Works 4 Weeks Festival opens May 30 at the Cowles Center's intimate JSB Tek Box. For tickets and information, visit redeyetheater.org.