Lindsay Smiling, a Mt. Airy resident, took over as sole artistic director of the Wilma Theater on Aug. 1. Smiling, however, is no stranger to the role — for the past three years, he has served as co-artistic director alongside Morgan Green and Yury Urnov.

According to Smiling, this discontinuation of the three-director model will be an adjustment that comes with pros and cons.

“In some elements, there is just more of a time commitment because the buck does stop with me,” Smiling said. “Under the shared leadership, I was always consulting with the other two artistic directors. … Now I don’t have the robust conversation with the two other artistic directors, so in some ways that’ll save me some time. … Some things will be easier and some things will be a lot more work.”

Smiling says he is dedicated to growing the Wilma and continuing the theater’s tradition of “innovating the art form.”

The leadership model

Smiling made his Wilma debut in 2003 in Arthur Miller’s “Resurrection Blues,” and has appeared in plenty of productions since. He was a founding member of the HotHouse Resident Acting Company, the Wilma’s ensemble of actors that works together and develops close relationships as performers.

“The idea behind HotHouse is that we are working together always on the project, whether it’s your part or not your part,” Smiling explained. “You are developing the whole show together. … It works a lot on ensemble building, listening and responding, and becoming real vulnerable and trusting with your castmates over a long period of time.”

In 2020, founding artistic director Blanka Zizka first split the leadership of the theater, with Smiling joining the fold in 2023. The concept allowed the leaders to work on other projects and share the burden of running the institution, especially throughout the pandemic.

Smiling said the most recent switch to one artistic director came in an effort to define the theater’s identity with more clarity. His role with the HotHouse was an important factor.

“With the HotHouse becoming more of the focus of the identity of the Wilma, it made sense for them to tap me as the next leader,” Smiling said. “My personal journey through leadership is one of deep responsibility to the acting company and to the history that the Wilma has, and also opening it up to what is our responsibility to the community in Philadelphia, and how can I grow what has already been established and evolve it into a theater that is nationally and maybe internationally recognized.”

‘Scary, but exciting’

Smiling’s vision for the Wilma involves “a strong community focus.” He hopes the theater will be “making sure our art is speaking to the people that we are saying it’s speaking to and making sure there’s real conversation around the art.”

Smiling also believes the Wilma’s role in pushing the boundaries of theater and taking risks will continue to evolve.

“You will always see new things at the Wilma,” Smiling said. “Our mission statement is to do adventurous art and I really want to continue that.”

Smiling said that now is an “interesting transitional phase” for theater. He references Oskar Eustis’s recent retirement announcement from the Public Theater in New York. In an interview with The New York Times, Eustis detailed the difficulties of running a theater today. For Smiling, re-examining the role of American theater is “scary, but exciting” work.

“What does America need from its theater system, what types of questions are we going to wrestle with, and how are we going to have those conversations?” Smiling asked. “I’m excited about what that offers and the different doors that opens up, bucking the traditional norms that we can’t lean on anymore.”

With the proliferation of technology, Smiling said human connection can become a rare thing. He hopes people will consider seeing a show to find that connection.

“I really encourage people to go out and see theater and engage with stories in person with each other,” Smiling said. “I think it reminds us of how complex we all are.”

The Wilma Theater is located at 265 S. Broad St. Visit wilmatheater.org for more information.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.