MEET THE TEAM

Will Rucker - Executive Artistic Director

will@dorsettheatrefestival.org

Will Rucker first came to Dorset Theatre Festival in its 39th season as the stage manager for Theresa Rebeck’s The Way of the World. Various non-profit, educational, and commercial credits include the Atlantic Theatre Company, The Working Theater, The Playwrights Realm, and comedian Lisa Lampanelli’s Stuffed! (Off-Broadway). Will has worked with playwrights including Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (War at Yale Repertory Theatre), Anna Ziegler (A Delicate Ship at the Playwrights Realm), Phillip Howze (abominable and Self Portraits at Lincoln Center Education), and Hansol Jung (Cardboard Piano). Other Dorset credits include Downstairs with Tim and Tyne Daly by Theresa Rebeck and The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez. Will is a founding producer of The Party Line, a Brooklyn-based performance company with a penchant for confetti and found spaces, where he produced Emily Zemba’s We Know Edie La Minx Had a Gun and POP!, a walk-around festival in bars and public spaces. Will’s other producing credits include the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. As a theatre educator, he has served as a guest artist at the Yale School of Drama, New York City’s New School for Drama, and has taught Shakespeare and improvisation in Virginia juvenile correction centers. He received his MFA in stage management from the Yale School of Drama, where he served as an artistic director of the Yale Cabaret. Will has worked as an actor, director, stage manager, production manager, theatre educator, floral designer, crepe-maker, and tasting room manager. Originally from Virginia, he attended the University of Virginia and is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.    

Ryan Koss - Managing Creative Director

ryan@dorsettheatrefestival.org

Ryan Koss has been at the Festival since 2017 after completing his master's degree in arts administration at Baruch College in Manhattan. Most recently Ryan worked as a producing assistant for Tony Award-winning producer, Andy Sandberg, including the showcase of, Simon Says, Off-Broadway at The Culture Project, and as a designer for acclaimed Brooklyn-based floral & event designer, Lindsay Rae Design. Previously, Ryan was a performer with stage credits including The New York Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall starring Derek Hough, Laura Benanti and the Rockettes, directed by Tony Award winning directors Diane Paulus and Warren Carlyle, the international tour of the legendary West End Musical, We Will Rock You!, Surf! The Musical at Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas choreographed by RJ Durrell and Nick Florez, The Off-Broadway production of Lucky Guy: The Musical starring Emmy-Award Winner Leslie Jordan at Stage 42, the pre-Broadway tour of Soul Doctor: The Musical, and many productions at regional theaters across the country including: North Shore Music Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, North Carolina Theatre, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Lyric Theatre OKC, The St. Louis Muny, and Music Theatre of Wichita. Ryan also holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Oklahoma.