AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL
ARTISTS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY REFLECT ON FOUNDING ARTISTIC
DIRECTOR JAMES HOUGHTON’S 25 YEARS AT SIGNATURE THEATRE.
Jim Houghton founded Signature Theatre in 1991 with the mission to honor and celebrate the
playwright. In his 25 years as Founding Artistic Director, Jim has grown Signature in numerous
groundbreaking ways, from the launch of the Signature Ticket Initiative to the founding of
the Residency Five program and the building of The Pershing Square Signature Center.
THE WORD “VISIONARY”
IS OFTEN APPLIED TO
JIM HOUGHTON AND
IT’S COMPLETELY
APPROPRIATE. BUT
JIM IS NOT ONLY A
VISIONARY, HE’S A
VISIONARY WHO
MANAGES TO MAKE
BIG THINGS HAPPEN
IN THE MOST
SURPRISING WAYS.
– DAVID HENRY HWANG, RESIDENCY ONE
Jim’s way of thinking is influential.
There are just certain people who
come along every blue moon who
are really visionaries and who are
acting from a place of love and
care for the form… and the form
just shifts everything in a better
direction for all of us. We’re all
benefiting from one man’s idea
of what a theatre could be and
should be. That’s just inspired,
there’s no other word for it.
– BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS, RESIDENCY FIVE
Working with Jim has changed the way I write plays. His passion for his work and his love of the art form has made
me excited to be a theatre-maker all over again. Talking to Jim always makes me want to work harder and also
take more risks. He pushes you to be braver, and to write from a place of excitement and not fear. The existence
of the Residency Five program made me realize, for the first time, that maybe playwriting was something I could
do for many, many years. Jim was the first person to use the phrase “your body of work” when he talked to me,
and suddenly I realized that I COULD have a body of work. So somehow meeting Jim and becoming part of the
Residency Five program symbolized a decision to become a career playwright, a playwright for life, because I
realized for the first time that someone WANTED me to be a playwright for life. And that decision has given me
so much happiness and a new desire to push myself to write better and stranger plays. Jim’s simply one of the
smartest and most generous artists and leaders out there. It’s been an honor to work with him from day one.
– ANNIE BAKER, RESIDENCY FIVE
17