The director of New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre is on administrative leave following allegations of sexual misconduct, as reported in The New York Times today. The allegations against director Gordon Edelstein date back to his arrival on the job in 2002.
Four women spoke on the record to The Times. They said Edelstein made unwanted sexual contact and repeatedly forced himself on women over the course of years. Even more employees told the paper Edelstein was prone to sexually explicit language, including off-color jokes about lesbians, nuns and circumcision.
The Times reports some employees said administrators and board members knew about Edelstein’s behavior and quoted one woman who said the theatre was complicit.
The Long Wharf Board of Trustees chair, Laura Pappano, said in a statement the allegations were unsettling. She said the theatre acted on all known complaints about Edelstein, and that the theatre will take seriously the new information in the Times report and use it to move forward.
