6th Street Playhouse reorganizes under executive director Jared Sakren

The 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa has announced that Jared Sakren, its executive director since 2015, will both assume business and artistic leadership roles.

Sakren’s job has been redefined following the departure of former artistic director Craig Miller, after eight years with the theater, to accept an assistant professorship at the University of Idaho.

As part of its restructuring, the 6th Street Playhouse has added new positions to the staff, including a marketing communications associate, education director and operations assistant.

Before coming to Santa Rosa, Sakren spent nearly 16 years as producing artistic director of the Southwest Arizona Company in the greater Phoenix area. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School and a founding member of the Acting Company with famed actor John Houseman.

Sakren has worked at theaters across the United States, including the Oregon Shakespeare in Ashland, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minneapolis.

“The institution that is 6th Street Playhouse has a history in Santa Rosa that goes back nearly 50 years,” board president Jeff Cote said in a statement released by the theater.

“In that time, it has seen many iterations and changes, from the inception of the Santa Rosa Players in 1972, to the merger with Actors Theatre in the late ’90s, to the opening of the Playhouse in 2005,” he said. “This latest change appears to be the smoothest and least radical, yet it be the most defining moment in that long history.”

Sakren said that Miller’s tenure at the theater has left it in a strong position artistically.

“We had consistently good work on our stages last season, in spite of the fires,” Sakren said. “The theater managed to survive and is now poised to go to the next level.”

The current mainstage production, “Guys and Dolls,” originally set to close Oct. 7, has been extended through Oct. 14 due to popular demand.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.