Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director

Position endowed by Janet S. Suisman

Melia Bensussen is an award-winning director and artistic leader who has directed extensively at leading theatres throughout the country. The first woman to lead Hartford Stage, she has been its Artistic Director since the summer of 2019. Devoted to new work as well as to classic texts, she was appointed Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center in 2024.

Raised in Mexico City, Bensussen is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of texts, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, published by Theater Communications Group. Among her credits developing and premiering new works, she recently co-conceived and directed, alongside playwright Kirsten Greenidge, the theatrical adaptation of Anthony J. Lukas’ Pulitzer Prize winning Common Ground, which premiered at the Huntington Theater in Boston.

A graduate of Brown University, Bensussen serves on the Arts Advisory Board for the Princess Grace Foundation, and on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Prior to her position at Hartford Stage, she was Chair of the Performing Arts Department of Emerson College, in Boston. She is the recipient of an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction, as well as the Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation for Excellence in Directing.

Cynthia Rider, Managing Director

Rider is the eighth Managing Director at Hartford Stage, joining recently-appointed Artistic Director Melia Bensussen.

Rider became the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s (OSF) third executive director in 2013. While at OSF, she successfully worked with the board and noted Artistic Director, Bill Rauch, in the creation of a ten-year strategic plan, oversaw an increase in contributed income of more than 20 percent, and participated in artistic initiatives that resulted in three OSF-commissioned plays moving to Broadway, with one winning the Tony Award for Best Play and another winning the Pulitzer Prize.

Additional highlights of Rider’s successful tenure at OSF include the creation of the Access for All campaign, which renovated the courtyard in front of OSF’s theatres and added an elevator and wheelchair seating to the Bowmer Theatre, and the opening of the new Hay-Patton Rehearsal Center – all while producing a repertory season of eleven productions in three theatres, managing an annual operating budget of $40 million and offering a number of educational and community engagement programs for audiences and students.

Prior to joining OSF, Cynthia Rider spent nine years at Kansas City Repertory Theatre as Managing Director and, earlier, as Associate Director for Advancement and Administration. Her experience also includes six years as Executive Director of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey. She served as Associate Director, later promoted to Acting Director, of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Partnership, which worked to strengthen small and medium-sized manufacturers across the state.

Rider’s theatre experience also includes time spent on the stage. After graduating from Boston University, she started her theatre career as a resident company member, guest artist and young company actor at the Alley Theatre in Houston.