Seattle’s newest merged theater company has picked its artistic captain. Yuvika Tolani will become the first permanent artistic director of Seattle’s Union Arts Center, the downtown theater created when ACT Contemporary Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company combined forces. She is scheduled to step into the role on May 4, 2026, after a nationwide search, giving the nonprofit a locally based leader with both producing chops and city planning training as it ramps up programming in the old Eagles building.
According to The Seattle Times, the board selected Tolani from a national pool of candidates, and she will follow Elisabeth Farwell‑Moreland, who has been serving as interim producing artistic director. The Times reports that the Union Arts Center is operating with an annual budget of roughly 9 million dollars and about 43 full‑time staff members as it settles into its expanded downtown home.
From New York Producing Rooms To Seattle Stages
Tolani heads to the Union Arts Center after seven years on staff at The Public Theater in New York, where she first worked as a line producer and later moved into leadership of the producing office, according to The Public Theater. She holds a master’s degree in city planning from MIT and made a permanent move to Seattle in 2024, bringing what one local leader has described as a useful civic perspective to the job.
Oskar Eustis has called Tolani “one of the most exciting leaders in the contemporary American theater,” while Union Arts Center managing director John Bradshaw has praised her city‑planning background for offering “an outlook on theater that I think is what the future of theater has to be,” as reported by The Seattle Times.
Merger And The Theater's Future
Per Union Arts Center, the merger of ACT and Seattle Shakespeare Company took effect in July 2025, and the new organization is rolling out a combined inaugural season. The company operates out of the historic Eagles building at 700 Union Street and has posted audited financial statements and 990s online while it puts a multi‑year plan in place. That footprint gives Tolani a substantial home base and a mix of stages where she will be tasked with balancing Shakespeare, new plays and community programming.
What To Watch
Tolani arrives as the center readies a rolling season and a subscription push, with multiple productions already listed through June and subscription packages on sale. Her producing background and city‑planning training suggest she will focus on audience building, community partnerships and knitting together two distinct artistic brands under one roof. Local theatergoers can find season details and ticket information on the Union Arts Center website as Tolani begins shaping programming for 2026 and the seasons that follow.
