Alumnus Johnny Lloyd '20 Joins The Tank as Director of Artistic Development
Playwriting alumnus Johnny Lloyd ’20 has been named the Director of Artistic Development for the nonprofit, the Tank. Lloyd joins the leadership team alongside artistic director Meghan Finn and managing director Danielle King to provide a home to emerging artists working across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry and storytelling. Lloyd’s position was created specifically for him.
Earlier this month, Finn told American Theatre, “[Lloyd] brings with him expertise as a producer and artist, who understands what the Tank is to the communities we already serve, and what it could be to those we haven’t yet gotten to know. There is a lot of work to be done, and we so value the opportunity to do it in partnership with him.”
As director of artistic development, Lloyd will develop and produce work with an emphasis on uplifting underrepresented artists while also leading the creation of a new producing mentorship program. He will also produce Tank’s in-house festivals, create new series, and maintain the Tank’s currently running series. In an interview with American Theatre, Lloyd explained that he hopes the Tank’s new model can serve as an example for other theatres in the country.
“One of the issues that I see in the American theatre as we talk about inclusivity and diversifying what has historically been this very white space, is that there’s been a very unfortunate trend of theatres hiring people to fill a role to bring in BIPOC artists, and not engaging with the fact that there are fantastic organizations that are already doing a lot of the work,” Lloyd said, pointing to JAG Productions in White River Junction, VT, as well as National Black Theatre as examples. “The question is, what can we offer these movements that they might need so that they can grow to be the best version of themselves, especially some of these smaller theatre companies? What do activists need, instead of thinking of it as a process of acquisition, which I think people have done, especially in this moment. I think it’s a real flaw of how we talk about bringing people to the table.”
Lloyd is a New York-based writer, producer and dramaturg whose full-length plays include Or, An Astronaut Play (the Tank), Patience (Corkscrew Theatre Festival) and In the Woods We Return (InVersion Theatre). Short plays include Round (Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival), A Brief History of Stamps (the Tank) and It’s A Ghost Story (Homebase Collective).