Kyle Bass named associate artistic director of Syracuse Stage

Kyle Bass has been named as the associate artistic director of Syracuse Stage, according to a press release.

Bass has worked at the stage for nine years beginning in the early ‘90s. He has worked in a variety of positions, most recently as a dramaturge. He will work alongside Robert Hupp, artistic director of the Syracuse Stage.

“I’m honored to continue with Syracuse Stage as associate artistic director and excited to work with Bob Hupp,” Bass said in the press release. “His commitment to developing and producing new plays and the emphasis he places on connecting the art of what we do to the heart of who we are both builds on (Syracuse Stage)’s history and shines a bold and necessary light toward the future of this organization.”

Hupp is fairly new to Syracuse Stage, having only recently been appointed. The new faces of Bass and Hupp join Jill Anderson who was named managing director in May.

“Kyle and I will work together to build on the theatre’s rich artistic history while we chart a new course of artistic identity and exploration,” Hupp said in the press release.

Bass has been important to the transition and hiring process, Hupp said in the press release.

Having spent the last few years working on selecting shows and researching plays to stage, Bass is no stranger to the stage. As dramaturge, he worked closely with the former artistic director, Tim Bond.

In addition to working at Syracuse Stage, Bass also teaches playwriting at Syracuse University, Colgate University and Hobart & William Smith Colleges. He is also a faculty member in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Goddard College.

In a past interview with The Daily Orange, Bass said changing from playwriting to the production side of things changed the way he looked at a performance. Now he watches the same play multiple times, seeing what works and what doesn’t.

“The joy I take in the art form is watching the audience watch,” Bass said in the interview. “That’s the unfolding drama that is new to me.”