'Sweet sorrow' parting: Artistic director Bonnie Monte to exit Shakespeare Theatre of NJ

Late in 1990, Bonnie J. Monte took over a moribund summer theater festival working out of a deteriorating 1909 gymnasium at Drew University in Madison.

Before long, she transformed the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey into one of the nation's most celebrated professional classic theater companies with first-class indoor and outdoor spaces, an expansive education program and an outreach program that brought Shakespeare into schools.

But as Monte well knows, every story has an end. Wednesday, she announced her final curtain call will take place at the end of the upcoming 2023 season.

“Three decades ago, our board took a chance on me, handing me both an incredible opportunity and an incredible challenge," Monte wrote in a statement announcing her decision to step down as artistic director. "My journey here has been my life’s dream come true, and while it has been a demanding voyage, each and every day has been loaded with experiences, people, and events that have enriched my life beyond reckoning."

'She will be succeeded but never replaced'

The good news: The company can rely on her to stick around.

"While I feel it’s time for me to hand the reins over to new leadership, I will remain very involved with the company as artistic director emerita, and hopefully, continue to direct here and provide support in any way I can," she wrote.

Otherwise, Monte said she will focus her time on "writing, directing and teaching.”

That's also good news for her many fans, including former Gov. Tom Kean.

“During her tenure, Bonnie Monte has taken The Shakespeare Theatre to new heights," Kean stated in Monte's release. "She is one of New Jersey’s arts leaders. She will be succeeded but never replaced.”

In an interview Thursday, Monte said stepping down from her demanding position will finally give her time to catch up on her writing.

"I do have a number of original works in progress, most of which I can't really pay attention to because my job is 24/7," she said. "I want to spend a lot more time writing. And not just plays. I'm working on a number of short stories."

But for now, writing will have to wait. "I have a huge season ahead of me, so most of my focus is on that right now," she said.

The 2023 season begins May 31 with Tennessee William's "The Rose Tattoo."

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50 years staging classics

Paul Barry founded the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival in 1963 as a professional repertory company at the Cape May Playhouse. He moved it to Drew in 1972, occupying the converted Bowne Gymnasium and staging a 10-week summer season consisting of five productions.

The company thrived and grew in succeeding years, but eventual financial issues led to tensions between the trustees and the mercurial Barry. Monte was hired to replace him in October 1990 with the company $300,000 in debt and $500 in its bank account.

With new managing director Michael Stotts, Monte worked through the financial issues and embarked on a $7.5 million capital campaign to rebuild the Bowne into a state-of-the-art theater. The new F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre opened in 1998 and led to an expansion of the season from June to December.

A $1 million grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation led to an expansion of the company's education program in 2002, the same year they added a "family-friendly" outdoor production at an outdoor Greek-style amphitheater on the campus of Saint Elizabeth University that continues to draw large crowds every year.

Having outgrown its origin as a summer festival, the company's name was changed in 2003 to The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. The company expanded further in 2012 when it acquired a 50,000-square-foot building to serve as its headquarters.

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Board Chairman T. Randolph Harris said Monte has expanded the company's reach "beyond all expectations."

“For 33 years, Ms. Monte has provided exemplary leadership," said Harris. "She has transformed what was a small, struggling company into a vibrant, major player in the classic theater arena, moving the company into a new era of growth and fiscal and organizational health. Over the course of her long tenure, she has made STNJ one of the nation’s best teaching theatres, and has expanded its reach and impact beyond all expectations.”

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Trustees say they are currently working with Monte to identify and hire her successor.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Artistic director Bonnie Monte to exit Shakespeare Theatre of NJ