In 1993, Suzan Fete and four others launched Renaissance Theaterworks to champion plays written, directed and performed by women.
“We started Renaissance with the belief that theater could be a vehicle to promote gender equity and create positive social change,” Fete says.
Mission accomplished. Now, Fete, 67, plans to retire in May after 33 seasons as Renaissance’s artistic director.
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“This is a job for an energetic young person,” says Fete, a 2022 Betty Award winner and recent breast cancer survivor.
Renaissance has changed the local landscape for women in theater, through the Br!nk New Play Festival and staging “shows that otherwise wouldn’t have been seen in Milwaukee,” she says.
Many of those shows are her favorites. “There’s Chesapeake and Counting Days, which was one of our early original works. Red pepper Jelly is an all-time favorite. There’s also Skin Tight,” Fete says. “As for shows that I’ve directed, there’s Road to Mecca, Neat, Topdog/Underdog and Witch … A little piece of my heart is in every single one.”
As Fete reflects on her lengthy tenure leading Renaissance’s artistic direction, many things stand out.
“There are all of the things we created, of course. What’s amazing about theater is that it comes from nothing and it goes back to nothing,” Fete says. “Memories sound so trite, but that’s what you have. I have a lot of amazing memories of working in a room and building a team to create something that gets to be experienced by others, many of whom are friends but also people who are strangers. We all share the experience, and then we go off and then the next night it happens again, but it’s always different. That’s pretty cool.”
Fete was working as a cardiovascular intensive care nurse when she co-founded Renaissance with Marie Kohler, Raeleen McMillion, Jennifer Rupp and Michele Traband more than three decades ago. Along with her role as artistic director, Fete directed 21 productions and performed in three. She says she’s most proud of Renaissance’s “consistent, excellent work.”
“It’s one of the reasons we’ve never done more than three shows in a season,” she says. “We can do three shows really well. Not that all of them are perfect by any means, but we really strive for excellence in everything we do.”
Fete is emboldened by the cooperative spirit she’s witnessed in Milwaukee’s performing arts community. “The arts scene is amazing. It’s so robust. Everyone helps each other,” Fete says. She pointed to Renaissance’s close relationship with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, its nearby neighbor in the Third Ward’s Broadway Theatre Center. Renaissance holds its productions in Next Act Theatre’s space in Walker’s Point, a partnership Fete calls “the most successful collaboration that I’ve ever seen.”
“They are wonderful partners in every way. We really look out for each other,” she says.
Fete will remain in her role at Renaissance through the 2025-2026 season, which ends with the Br!nk program in May. A search for Fete’s replacement is scheduled to begin this month. She says she’ll have no formal say in the hiring process for her successor, which will be led by Renaissance’s board of directors, but will “help with the transition in whatever way I can.”
Renaissance Theaterworks is also launching a $3 million fundraising campaign to fortify the organization’s financial health. “The cost of producing theater has risen astronomically, starting after COVID,” Fete says. “It sort of happened all at once. We want to be able to produce the best shows that we can afford with high production values while paying people a living wage – and I’m not talking about anything opulent – and provide more opportunities for emerging artists and new playwrights.”
Fete states with pride that Renaissance has operated without debt since it launched. “That’s what happens when women run things,” she says.
A Chicago native, Fete says she plans to remain in the Milwaukee area following her retirement. She resides in Wauwatosa with her husband, Jeff, a retired radiologist. The couple has one child, Matthew, a biomedical engineer who lives and works in Chicago.
As for what retirement will bring, that’s unclear at this point. “I have no idea,” Fete says, smiling.“My husband has been retired for two years and he’s been patient. We’ll see.”
Fete described her health as “wonderful” after battling breast cancer last year. “I had chemo, radiation and surgery and I am cancer free. I feel great.”
When asked what she’ll miss most about the job, Fete fights back tears as she points to an adjacent room outside her office, where other Renaissance staffers are at work. “They’re the best. I have a great job doing what I love, and I work with the best of friends,” Fete says.
Renaissance has changed the landscape for women in the arts under Fete’s leadership, but work remains. “I’m still the only female artistic director in the city, even after all these years.”
