Actor, director, producer, and educator Kent Kirkpatrick, and business strategist Erin Bunkely, are the gala honorees at Santa Fe Playhouse’s Party of the Century on Saturday, November 5, at La Fonda on the Plaza. Kirkpatrick has served as chair of the Playhouse’s Board of Trustees since 2015. He is responsible for shepherding the Playhouse through a time of great transformation and changes in leadership and structure.
“Kent has been pivotal to the organization because he knows good theater, and he knows people,” says Artistic Director Robyn Rikoon. “I’ve never worked with someone with a heart as big as his. He always has the best interest of the community and the making of art at the forefront of his compassionate mind.”
The toast to and comments about Kirkpatrick will take place during the first portion of the evening, at La Fonda. Later, during the evening’s second act at the Dance Party into the Future, at Palace Prime, Rikoon will pay tribute to Erin Bunkley, who has served as vice-chair of the Board since 2021. “As a strategy executive, her vision has led us to places those of us carrying the legacy of the Playhouse couldn’t have imagined,” Rikoon says. “Erin is a fresh spirit who pays tribute to history and knows what we are capable of, because she appreciates a broad spectrum of arts from all over the world.”
Kent Kirkpatrick grew up in West Texas, the son of cattle ranchers. He started creating theater before he was old enough to attend school, and often drafted his mother into supporting roles, with his father as the audience. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theater arts at Texas Tech University, and then went to graduate school for acting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he worked with the Japanese director, Tadashi Suzuki. He went on to teach Suzuki training throughout the country, including at the University of Delaware, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of California-Irvine, and University of California-San Diego. Since moving to New Mexico in the mid-1990s, Kirkpatrick has acted and directed with many local theater groups, served as associate producer on independent films, written and directed short films, written grants and learned about non-profit budgets, and donations raised from friends and neighbors.
Erin Bunkley is a strategy executive with over 20 years of experience in corporate strategy and development, mergers and acquisitions, and supply-chain management with consumer packaged goods companies ranging in size from $100M to $13B. Originally from Amarillo, Texas, Erin and her family moved to Santa Fe 10 years ago. She and her husband, Thomas, work together at CapRock Grain, which Thomas and his business partner started more than 10 years ago and is now headquartered in downtown Santa Fe.
The masquerade gala is Saturday, November 5, at La Fonda on the Plaza (100 E. San Francisco St.). The party begins at 6 pm and includes a silent auction of theatrically themed experiences as well as the announcement of the 2023 season. The gala is followed by the Dance into the Future after-party at Palace Prime (142 W. Palace Ave.), starting at 9:30 pm, with revelers asked to dress as their favorite theater persona from the future, and dance to the beats by DJ Christina Swilley and DJ Rashaan Ahmad.
Although ticket sales for the masquerade gala are now closed, admission to the after-party is $30 at the door, and online, with a cash bar. All ticket proceeds benefit the Santa Fe Playhouse. For details, go to santafeplayhouse.org/the-party-of-the-century.
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