Victory Gardens Hires New Interim Artistic Director

Chicago theater company announces leadership change and reimagined artistic vision.

Published on Mar. 9, 2026

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Victory Gardens Theater, a prominent Chicago theater company, has hired Edward Torres, the former artistic director of Teatro Vista, as its new interim artistic director. The theater also announced the hiring of Archana Vaidya as interim executive director and a new artistic vision focused on "New work. Boldly." The first production under this new direction will be a staged reading of "An Ocean Away" by Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik, featuring a cast of Chicago theater veterans.

Why it matters

Victory Gardens Theater has faced challenges in recent years, including a 2022 dispute around the dismissal of its former artistic director. The hiring of Torres and Vaidya, along with the new artistic vision, signals an effort to reinvigorate the theater and its programming, which could have significant impacts on the Chicago theater scene.

The details

Edward Torres, a respected Chicago actor and former artistic director of Teatro Vista Productions, has been hired as the interim artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater. The theater's board of directors has also brought on Archana Vaidya as interim executive director. Victory Gardens has articulated a new vision of "New work. Boldly." and defined its mission as "serving as a sanctuary for fearless artistic exchange, producing new work that ignites the imagination and challenges the mind." The first production under this new direction will be a staged reading of "An Ocean Away" by Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik, featuring a cast of familiar Chicago theater names.

  • Victory Gardens Theater hired Edward Torres as interim artistic director in March 2026.
  • Archana Vaidya was hired as interim executive director in March 2026.
  • The first production under Victory Gardens' new vision, a staged reading of "An Ocean Away" by Andrei Kureichik, is scheduled for March 21, 2026.

The players

Edward Torres

A respected Chicago actor and the former artistic director of Chicago's Teatro Vista Productions, who has been hired as the interim artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater.

Archana Vaidya

An individual with a background in environmental and nonprofit consulting, who has been hired as the interim executive director of Victory Gardens Theater.

Andrei Kureichik

A Belarusian playwright who is currently a Neubauer Fellow and doctoral student at the University of Chicago, and whose play "An Ocean Away" will be the first production under Victory Gardens' new artistic vision.

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What’s next

The Victory Gardens board of directors will decide in the coming weeks whether to make the interim leadership positions of Edward Torres and Archana Vaidya permanent.

The takeaway

The hiring of new leadership and the articulation of a bold new artistic vision for Victory Gardens Theater signals an effort to reinvigorate the company and its programming, which could have significant impacts on the broader Chicago theater scene as the company works to overcome past challenges and establish itself as a leading voice for new and innovative theatrical works.