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September 2026

Welcome Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82!

Mark Blankenship: Obviously, you have a long history here. You were a directing student. You were chair of the Acting program from 1998-2003. You were a resident director at the Rep for 20 years. How does that inform your first semester in these new leadership roles? 

Evan Yionoulis: I feel a responsibility to those people who gave so much to me. I think of Ming Cho Lee DFAH ’20 (Professor Emeritus). I think of Frank Torok (Former Staff/Faculty). I think of all of my students for that huge swath of 20 years. There’s something abiding about the spirit of this place and how it lives in all of us.

MB: “The past is present,” as they say.

EY: But it’s not altogether nostalgic. It’s always connected to how we keep going into the future— how I’m carrying my part of it and others will carry their part of it. Whatever gets set in motion here is not a finite thing. As a teacher or an administrator, you’re setting something in motion that’s going to continue to grow and deepen based on the individual creativity of each human in the community, and all of their experiences.

MB: The field never stops changing, so we can’t either. Yale itself has certainly changed in the years that you were away, leading Juilliard’s Drama Division and directing shows around the country. How are you catching up on what’s evolved here?

EY: I’ve had many meetings with staff and faculty, so they can onboard me, basically. I ask everyone “What are the things in your area that are important for me to know?” And they’ve all got ideas for the future. It’s so exciting to be here for that. There’s an energy of innovation and wanting to make things better, and that’s combined with a commitment to what’s foundational and a belief in craft—the belief in all of those parts of the theater that are not going to get technologized away.

MB: The foundations are as vital as the innovations.

EY: If we have an idea, and it’s not rooted in anything, then it doesn’t have staying power. It doesn’t reverberate. I think culture and the arts, at their best, are in conversation with everything that came before. It’s a conversation that we’re leaving to the next generation to continue and that we’re preparing them for.

MB: Learn the basics, so you can know enough to challenge them. 

EY: Absolutely. 

MB: But on the flip side of that, foundation without innovation — 

EY: — is dead. It’s just dead.

MB: You’ve gotta love that push-pull. As artists, we have to respect the foundations enough to gain their wisdom, but not so much that they make us go stale. 

EY: Each generation builds according to their vision. To them that work is new and exciting, but over time, it appears to the next generation as something codified, an edifice to be smashed. But it’s hopefully never just being razed to the ground. There are foundational pillars that go deep into the earth, back to the fifth century BC and beyond. We’re each able to build on them in our own way. There will always be more architectures to discover. 

Welcome Class of 2029!

In August, DGSD welcomed the largest incoming class in its history, including 71 MFA candidates, 1 certificate student, 1 special student, and 12 technical interns. They hail from 10 countries and 21 states and territories. Welcome to our newest future alumni!

TRANSITIONS: Staff and Faculty Retirements

(left to right) James Bundy ’95, Paul Walsh, Liz Diamond, Deborah Berman, Daniel Cress

This spring marked a period of transition as a number of longtime faculty and staff members retired from full-time positions. James Bundy ’95 concluded an historic 24-year tenure as dean and artistic director, leaving a legacy of expanded equity and diversity, strengthened leadership, artistic flourishment, commitment to the development of new work, and sustained institutional growth. He will remain on the School’s faculty. Paul Walsh retired as Professor of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism after joining Yale in 2008, bringing internationally recognized expertise as a dramaturg, translator, and scholar of Ibsen and Strindberg. He is now Professor Emeritus. Liz Diamond entered phased retirement after more than three decades on the directing faculty, including 23 years as chair, during which she mentored generations of students and directed 20 productions at Yale Rep. Daniel Cress retired after nearly two decades, guiding marketing efforts for both the School and Rep, expanding accessibility, audience engagement, and community partnerships. After 22 years at the School of Drama (and 24 at Yale), Deborah Berman, who secured transformative donor support for tuition-free education and the new Dramatic Arts Building, changing the School’s culture of philanthropy, has retired as Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs but will continue in a part-time advisory capacity.

Dramatic Arts Building Takes Shape

 Dramatic Arts Building (KPMB Architects, renderings by Adhoc Studios)

In June, the Yale Board of Trustees approved plans for a new Dramatic Arts Building at the corner of Crown and York Streets. The building will house DGSD, Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale Dramatic Association (Dramat), and Yale College’s Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies program under one roof for the first time. Designed by the internationally recognized architecture firm KPMB Architects, the project will provide modern spaces for teaching, rehearsal, collaboration, and production. The DAB will support the evolving needs of Yale’s theater arts community while strengthening connections across academic and creative disciplines. Construction activity is underway, including site preparation and the drilling of a geothermal grid which will provide a significant portion of the building’s energy needs. The new facility is expected to open in 2030!

Furlough’s Paradise Reading at Women’s Correctional Facility

Reading of Furlough's Paradise at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT.

In collaboration with the Yale Prison Education Initiative, Yale Rep hosted a reading of its production of Furlough’s Paradise at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT. Written by a.k. payne ’23, the play, which premiered at the Carlotta Festival, resonated deeply with the 50 women in the audience through its story of two estranged cousins who reconnect while one is on furlough from prison for her mother’s funeral. The attendees also participated in a post-show conversation with the actors and creative team. One resident remarked on the accuracy of the characters and narrative, observing that “maybe people out there do get it.” The event was part of Yale Rep's community engagement activities which supports expanding access to the arts throughout the region.

 ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Bess Wohl ’02 wins Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award for Best New Play

Bess Wohl ’02 was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2026 Tony Award for Best New Play for Liberation. The work, which premiered off-Broadway before transferring to a critically acclaimed Broadway run, explores multi-generational women grappling with identity, freedom, and legacy. Wohl graduated from the Acting program but subsequently transitioned to playwriting and has seen productions of her work produced nationally, including Grand Horizons, Make Believe, and Small Mouth Sounds, which is slated to open on Broadway in February. She was only the fourth woman to win a Tony for Best New Play, joining fellow alumna, the late Wendy Wasserstein ’76. 

 STAY CONNECTED

Photo and graphic credits courtesy of Scott Bartelson, Nancy Yao, Linda Cristal-Young, Quinn O'Connor '28, KPMB Architects (renderings by Adhoc Studios), Biz Nearing, Heather Gershonowitz (Playbill), Bella Orobaton '26 (Summer Cabaret artwork),  Kiki Gordon '27 (podcast artwork), Juilliard, Deborah Berman, Metropolitan Opera. 

ON & OFF YORK STREET is a publication of the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs

September 2026 Issue

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