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30 n e w h a v e n B I Z n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Long Wharf Theatre's Act II In wake of Edelstein scandal, theater charts the way forward A R T S & C U LT U R E I t was a dark, cold winter for New Haven's Long Wharf eatre beginning with the firing in late January of its longtime artistic leader Gordon Edelstein following #MeToo-era accusations of sexual misconduct. In a January 22 New York Times article, four women detailed incidents in which Edelstein harassed or sexually assaulted them. In a unani- mous vote of LWT trustees, the artistic director was terminated the next day. at traumatic revelation led to an institu- tion-wide evaluation of its sexual harassment procedures as well as a soul-searching exam- ination of its workplace culture, its identity and above all its future. At an opening night just days aer the firing, the staff created and sported buttons that read: "LWT is ME." e message that it wanted to convey to the public was clear. "Long Wharf is more than one person," says Laura Pappano, who just completed her first year as board chairwoman. "e staff owns this theater in a way I didn't feel it did a year ago." And that collaborative and community-cen- tric spirit is driving the search for a new artistic director for the 53-year-old institution. More than 160 theater artists and administrators ap- plied for the position, which Edelstein had occu- pied since 2002. An announcement is expected by the end of the year. "We're looking outside the box, too," she says. "Not all artistic directors need to be theater directors. is is not about just putting works on stage, but leading a theater." Part of that new leadership will entail being By Frank Rizzo LWT plans to announce a successor to longtime artistic director Edelstein, who was fired in January following revelations of serial sexual misconduct.

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