Tim Sanford; photo by Zack DeZon

Tim Sanford; photo by Zack DeZon

 
Staff

Tim Sanford

Tim Sanford was the Artistic Director of Playwrights Horizons from January 1996 through June 2020. He came to Playwrights in 1984, beginning as a literary intern, then serving for nine years as Literary Manager and two years as Associate Artistic Director, before assuming leadership of the theater in January 1996. In his tenure he produced writers as diverse as Edward Albee, Fred Alley, Todd Almond, Christina Anderson, Will Arbery, Billy Aronson, Jaclyn Backhaus, Jon Robin Baitz, Annie Baker, Tanya Barfield, Clare Barron, Neal Bell, Adam Bock, Keith Bunin, David Cale, Kirsten Childs, Julia Cho, Will Connolly, Kia Corthron, Mike Craver, Brian Crawley, Lisa D’Amour, The Debate Society, John Dempsey, Zayd Dohrn, Tom Donaghy, Bathsheba Doran, Richard Dresser, Christopher Durang, Larissa FastHorse, Halley Feiffer, Lindsey Ferrentino, Kate Fodor, Scott Frankel, Amy Freed, Michael Friedman, Madeleine George, Melissa James Gibson, Gina Gionfriddo, Jessica Goldberg, Daniel Goldfarb, Daniel Goldstein, Ricky Ian Gordon, David Marshall Grant, Richard Greenberg, Kirsten Greenidge, David Greenspan, Joy Gregory, Rinne Groff, Adam Guettel, Danai Gurira, A.R. Gurney, Jeremy O. Harris, Jordan Harrison, Peter Hedges, Jack Herrick, Amy Herzog, Lucas Hnath, Samuel D. Hunter, Michael Korie, Jonathan Kreisberg, Christopher Kyle, Leslye Headland, Michael R. Jackson, Sylvia Khoury, Tina Landau, James Lapine, Dan LeFranc, Kenneth Lonergan, Quincy Long, Craig Lucas, Kirk Lynn, Taylor Mac, Wendy MacLeod, The Mad Ones, Gunnar Madsen, Marlane Meyer, Chris Miller, Michael Mitnick, Itamar Moses, Gregory S. Moss, Richard Nelson, Bruce Norris, Lynn Nottage, Robert O’Hara, Kira Obolensky, Max Posner, Heather Raffo, Adam Rapp, Theresa Rebeck, José Rivera, Kim Rosentock, Sarah Ruhl, James Ryan, Heidi Schreck, Sarah Schulman, Jenny Schwartz, Christopher Shinn, Nicky Silver, Evan Smith, Kelly Stuart, Jeanine Tesori, Kathleen Tolan, Sarah Treem, Nathan Tysen, James Valcq, Anne Washburn, Erin Cressida Wilson, Craig Wright, and Doug Wright. Notable productions from his tenure include Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel and Tina Landau(Lucille Lortel Award, Obie), Violet  by Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley (New York Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie), Lillian by David Cale(Obie), Betty’s Summer Vacation  by Christopher Durang (Obie), James Joyce’s The Dead by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey(New York Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and Tony Awards), The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin by Kirsten Childs(Obie), She Stoops To Comedy by David Greenspan(Obie), I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright(Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony Awards), Small Tragedy by Craig Lucas (Obie), Fabulation by Lynn Nottage (Obie), Grey Gardens by Scott Frankel, Michael Korie and Doug Wright(Outer Critics Circle Award), Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize), Milk Like Sugar by Kristen Greenidge (Obie), Detroit by Lisa D’Amour (Obie),The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Special Awards), Circle Mirror Transformation (Obie) and The Flick (Obie, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and Pulitzer Prize), bothby Annie Baker, Bootycandy by Robert O’Hara (Obie Special Citation), The Christians by Lucas Hnath (Outer Critics Circle Award, Obie), Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison (Horton Foote Prize), The Profane by Zayd Dohrn (Horton Foote Prize),and Dance Nation by Clare Barron (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Obie, Pulitzer Prize finalist). Under his leadership, Playwrights Horizons received a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for “ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work.”He is a past President of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, a contributor to Dramaturgy in American Theater, and a Board member of Theater Communications Group. He has a B.A. from Occidental College and a Ph.D. in Dramatic Literature from Stanford University.