Susan Baird Trapnell will step down as A Contemporary Theatre's managing director in the spring of 2000. Trapnell has spent 18 years with the Seattle company, ten as managing director. Trapnell joined ACT in 1982 as an administrative manager, becoming managing director in 1989. Among her accomplishments at the theatre were her successful $33.4 million dollar fund-raising campaign and subsequent move of the company to its new facility at Kreielsheimer Place. Trapnell also served as a president and member of the Washington State Arts Alliance, as a peer panelist and on-site theatre evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts and as a board member of the Downtown Seattle Association and University Preparatory Academy. In 1997, she received the "Rudy" Award for her contributions to the Seattle community.
Trapnell's final fall season will include the world premiere thriller by David Wiltse, Temporary Help (Aug. 13-Sept. 12), Warren Leight's Tony-winning Side Man (Sept. 17-Oct. 17) and Communicating Doors by Alan Ackybourn (Oct. 22 - Nov. 21). A Contemporary Theatre is on the web at http://www.acttheatre.org.
-- By Christine Ehren