Artistic Director
Timothy Near is in her seventeenth season as Artistic Director of San Jose Rep. Her many directing credits at the Rep include Major Barbara, Bad Dates, Wintertime, The Odd Couple, ‘ART’, By the Bog of Cats..., Amy’s View, Legacy, Three Days of Rain, Thunder Knocking on the Door, Wallflowering, Miss Julie, Mirandolina, The Caretaker, The Baby Dance, The Little Foxes, The 1940’s Radio Hour and The Sea Gull.
Ms. Near has directed at numerous theaters around the U.S. including the Guthrie Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Alliance Theatre Company (Atlanta), the Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles), Tiffany Theatre (Los Angeles), Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.), Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Union Square Theatre (New York), New York Shakespeare Festival and A Contemporary Theatre (Seattle). She has received DramaLogue Awards for her direction of Ghosts on Fire at La Jolla Playhouse, Fire in the Rain...Singer in the Storm at the Mark Taper Forum, and Thunder Knocking on the Door.
Ms. Near is a native of Northern California and a graduate of San Francisco State University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Under her leadership, the Rep has produced nine World Premieres, four American Premieres, 22 West Coast Premieres and 21 Bay Area Premieres, and created the New American Playwrights Festival. She contributed significant leadership, as well as artistic and technical guidance, to the design and building of San Jose Rep’s new theatre.
Ms. Near is a recipient of the Woman of Achievement in the Arts Award, given by the San Jose Mercury News and The Women’s Fund. San Jose Magazine included Ms. Near in the Top 100 Most Influential People in Silicon Valley in April 2001, 2002 and 2003.