The final performance of this year’s Piknik Theatre season was a curtain call for Stuart Handloff. He is departing 18 years after founding the professional, community-inclusive company theatre that made art more accessible to those living in the Yampa Valley.

“With the new amphitheater on the horizon, Celina (Taylor) is getting settled in as the executive director, and one of our cast members from this past summer is all set up to be the artistic director. It made this the perfect time for me to jump into the sunset. I’m not just jumping — I’m leaping into it,” Handloff said.

Celina Taylor has already assumed the executive director position and Claylish Coldiron will serve as the artistic director.

Piknik Theatre just completed its 2025 season which included a performance of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and an original production, “Fledgling: The Ugly Duckling Retold,” based on H.C. Anderson’s “The Ugly Duckling.”

Handloff said he plans to remain involved in the theater company he founded in 2007 and will remain on the board of directors. He also offered his support to Taylor and Coldiron as they continue the mission he began as part of a graduate school requirement.

“I was in the master’s program at the New Zealand National Drama School, the Māori name is Toi Whakaari,” Handloff said. “The idea was to do a community project, which could have been in New Zealand or anywhere in the world.

“In 2008 there was no theater in Steamboat — no community theater … and there were no physical performing facilities and no theater companies of any kind here, So I thought, ‘What a perfect opportunity to do something outdoors, create a kind of pop-up theater for a year, and do that as my community project,” added Handloff.

Piknik Theatre launched that summer in 2007 with performances outside in Spring Creek Park.

Over the years, Handloff estimates his vision has resulted in nearly 40 different themed productions ranging from a beautiful rendition of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” a few years ago to original shows like this season’s “Fledgling: The Ugly Duckling Retold.”

Piknik Theatre has also performed musicals like “Something Rotten and Patches,” as well as community-inspired productions of “Peter Pan”. The theatre has also blended professional actors with those from the community, offering a unique opportunity for everyone involved.

In addition to productions, Piknik Theatre also participates in community-based theatrical workshops and classes, and values art education by providing opportunities for artists to teach workshops, engage with schools and connect with audiences of all ages.

While Handloff is moving on from his work with Piknik Theatre, that doesn’t mean he is leaving the world of theater. He sees this move as a chance to grow.

“That’s why I got into this,” Handloff said of directing theater. “I didn’t go to graduate school to be a producer and an executive. I got in because I wanted to direct plays — it just turned out that I had to do both.”

Handloff, who spends a large part of his year in California, is already looking forward to directing upcoming productions for the Occidental Center for the Arts in Occidental and the Curtain Call Theater in Monte Rio.

“He truly believes the stage is for everyone, so he has refused to sell tickets to Piknik’s summer shows,” Taylor wrote in a press release. “It wasn’t always easy, but with small grants and private donations, he made it work. Stuart dedicated so much of his time and energy to supporting my work, so it’s an honor to have the opportunity to return the favor. I am excited to begin building new partnerships with artists and arts organizations alike.”

Taylor brings her own dynamic vision for expanding Piknik Theatre into a robust performing arts organization. Under her leadership, Piknik Theatre will seek to deepen its community impact through a range of new initiatives, including an expansion of children’s theater programming, collaborative performances at The Branham Amphitheatre with regional and local arts partners such as Opera Steamboat, Steamboat Dance Theatre, MOTH Live and Undiscovered Earth.

“The Branham Amphitheatre is more than a space to perform,” Taylor said. “In essence, it is a portal to our past, allowing us to experience theater the same way as the Greeks.”

“It was the Greeks who birthed dramatic tragedy and comedy — forms that still shape how we tell stories today. Their plays weren’t about happy endings, but about holding beauty and suffering in the same breath,” added Taylor.