Molly Smith

[2] Born and raised in a theater family in Juneau, Alaska, Smith moved to the Lower 48 for college and graduate school.

Smith commissioned numerous world premieres at the Perseverance Theatre, including Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive and The Mineola Twins, Tim Acito’s The Women of Brewster Place, Moises Kaufman’s 33 Variations, Charles Randolph-Wright's Blue, Zora Neale Hurston's lost play, Polk County; and Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play, a cycle.

Her innovations have increased not only the range of playwrights and artists, but resulted in more diverse audiences for Arena Stage.

She founded Arena's "downstairs series," which has held readings and workshopped some 60 plays, many of have later received full productions.

Raven's Blood (1997) was adapted from the mystery novel, Death of an Alaskan Princess, by Bridget Smith, and filmed in Juneau.

In 2014 Smith married her longtime partner, Suzanne Blue Star Boy, in a ceremony officiated by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The ceremony was held in the Kogod Cradle of the Arena's complex, with the reception on the outdoor terrace and in the rehearsal hall.

[8] Smith led the development of Arena Stage as a center for new American plays, artists, and voices.