Southers to lead theater initiatives at August Wilson Center

By Christopher Rawson, Pitsburgh Post-Gazette

On Friday, Nov. 12, Mark Clayton Southers quit his job, cutting himself adrift from the financial security of 18 1/2 years as a heavy equipment operator at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant.

“It was a leap of faith,” says the theatrical triple threat, feeling that a huge load had been lifted. “Sometimes you have to close a door to get a door to open.”

On Nov. 18, a door he hoped would open stayed shut: Mr. Southers received word he would not get the artistic directorship of a black theater company in Fort Worth, Texas, a job for which he had survived a long process of interviews to make the final three.