The J (St. Louis Jewish Community Center) is excited to welcome Rebekah Scallet as the New Jewish Theatre’s new artistic director. Scallet is excited to begin her New Jewish Theatre (NJT) career by producing the world-premiere of The Bee Play this September. Scallet replaces previous artistic director Edward Coffield.

Scallet brings years of theater experience to NJT through her previous work as the Producing Artistic Director at the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, a professional equity summer theatre festival part of the University of Central Arkansas. During that time, she produced 32 plays and musicals and directed eight productions. She also oversaw the creation of Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre’s all-virtual “Revisiting Shakespeare,” an online festival celebrating and investigating Shakespeare and his work’s role and relevance today.

“I am thrilled to be joining the amazing team at the New Jewish Theatre and the J. I believe theater is a vital tool in growing and strengthening communities, something the New Jewish Theatre has an incredible track record of doing through their work,” Scallet said.

Scallet moved to St. Louis two years ago and has been working as a freelance director and teacher, most recently with the Sargent Conservatory at Webster University where she directed The Learned Ladies. She remembers visiting St. Louis and her grandparents many years ago as a child and remembers seeing her grandmother perform in a Yiddish play at the J.

“The J itself has also meant a lot to my family. Though I only moved to the area a couple of years ago, my family has deep St. Louis roots, and I have fond childhood memories of seeing my grandmother perform on stage here. The building and the theatre itself have changed a lot since then, but this is truly a full-circle moment for me, and I am excited to walk in my grandmother’s footsteps as I create and share stories with this community,” said Scallet.

During her time at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, she was responsible for more than doubling theatre’s audience size, expanding their performance season, founding the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre’s Artistic Collective and establishing a hugely successful educational touring program. Her production of Twelfth Night for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre won her the Arkansas Art Council’s Individual Artist Award.

Additionally, Scallet worked as the Producing Artistic Director at the University of Central Arkansas, where she also taught two to four courses per year and directed the theatre program every other year for the Department of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing. She also spent 10 years in Chicago working as a director, dramaturg, artistic administrator and teaching artist.

Scallet received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts and English and American Literature from Brandeis University in 2000. In 2009, she completed her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from Illinois State University.

Rebekah is involved in many community-led Jewish organizations. In St. Louis, she served on the L’Chaim Gala Planning Committee, which is the Women’s Philanthropy Division of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and is a member of the National Council for Jewish Women St. Louis.  In Arkansas, she was involved with the Jewish Federation of Arkansas where she served as a Board of Trustee from 2012-2018 and served as Chair of the Events Division, including overseeing the 2019 Jewish Food and Cultural Festival.