The Jungle Theater Announces New Leadership Model, with Christina Baldwin as Artistic Director
The Jungle Theater today announced the appointment of Christina Baldwin as Artistic Director, as well as the establishment of a new artistic cohort leadership and development model. Baldwin has served as Interim Artistic Director since May 2020, following the departure of Sarah Rasmussen to the McCarter Theatre Center.
Baldwin joined the Jungle staff in 2018 as Resident Director. She then became Associate Artistic Director through the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle grant, a visionary national initiative created to bridge the career gaps for women in the American theater. Through this program Baldwin assisted the Artistic Director in developing projects, selecting seasons, organizing fundraisers, cultivating donor relations, and directing multiple plays — while amassing experience with the needs and expectations of the Jungle Theater’s artists, audience, staff and greater community.
“Christina’s varied background, her observations during the past difficult year, and what the Jungle has learned about leadership during our commitment to the BOLD Circle has inspired her to devise a new artistic cohort model for the Jungle,” said Craig Ashby, chair of the Jungle board of directors. “We’re excited about expanding the number and diversity of the voices in the room.
Baldwin will continue her collaborative work with Managing Director Robin Gillette, embarking on a new model of leadership, with more voices at the table bringing a diversity of experience, artistic genre and working style. Three to four artists will be added to the Jungle’s year-round staff and given full access to the theater’s decision-making process, including show selection, budget creation and overall management. They will also have access to financial and production resources to support their own independent projects. The selection process will connect with artists from many disciplines.
“My experience at Theatre de la Jeune Lune and other collaborative environments in the Twin Cities arts community showed me the immense value in having many perspectives at the table,” said Baldwin. “This is a model of mutual aid—sharing experiences, knowledge and the work. We want to be generous with our resources, and we know we’ll benefit from new perspective.”
Baldwin said she is also interested in how, inspired by the BOLD Circle grant, the Jungle can shorten the leadership path for more artists in the Twin Cities. “My role at the Jungle is to share power, experience and discover more possibilities,” said Baldwin. “This is an investment in the future of the arts in Minnesota.”
Gillette notes that while the Jungle’s new model is in the early stages, it will be markedly different. “We know that the traditional model, with theater authority figures holding all the power to decide what artists need and want, isn’t how we want to move forward,” she said. “We’ll develop this model together and let artists tell us what they need.”
The Jungle will also be conducting a truth and reconciliation process this summer, to survey past actors, directors, designers, technicians, and crew members. As the entire industry rebuilds in the wake of COVID, this honest assessment of past successes and failures, coupled with aspirations for the future, will inform the return to traditional programming.
About Christina Baldwin
Baldwin’s directing history at the Jungle includes Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (2017 and 2019), Hand to God (2018), and The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley (2018). Most recently, she directed the world premiere of the virtual theater-animation hybrid, Is Edward Snowden Single? As a Jungle actor, she has appeared in In the Next Room(2012), The Oldest Boy (2016), Little Women (2018), Small Mouth Sounds (2019), and most recently, A Doll’s House Part 2 (2020). Baldwin’s experience extends well past the Jungle and includes works in many artistic genres as a singer, actor, writer and director—collaborating with many theaters locally and nationally.
Photo by Dan Norman
Baldwin’s devotion to the development of new work includes collaborations with The Playwrights’ Center, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Nautilus Music-Theater and The Moving Company—where she has served as Artistic Associate, music director, creator, and performer for 10 years. A collaborator with the Tony Award winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Baldwin co-adapted and performed the title role in their critically acclaimed touring production of Carmen. She writes, adapts and directs operas—most recently writing the libretto for “In the Midst of Things” with An Opera Theatre and directing “Everything Comes to a Head” with Lyric Opera of the North and the nationally-acclaimed Decameron Opera Coalition (selected to be a part of the Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection in the Library of Congress). Baldwin has been a recording artist and vocalist with the Minnesota Orchestra, a writer and actor on American Public Media’s “Wits,” a guest singer on “A Prairie Home Companion,” has acted in television and film, and has lent her voice to animated short films by the Dutch filmmaker Rosto A.D. (Cannes Film Festival award-winner). She has been a lecturer, director and conducted masterclasses at University of MN School of Music, SUNY – Stony Brook, Harvard, and Bethel University. Awards include: Best Actress – City Pages in 2014 and Ivey Award Winner in 2009.