An event celebrating the retirement of the longtime artistic director of Princeton’s McCarter Theatre will be held virtually.

Emily Mann has served as the artistic director for 30 years. She says that while she has seen a lot of drama on stage, she has never seen anything like what is happening now in the world.

“Agonizing, quite frankly,” she says.

Mann’s final weeks before her long-planned retirement have been enveloped by the coronavirus pandemic. The virus forced McCarter Theatre to temporarily close, cancel shows and lay off most of its staff.

“Our whole industry has been decimated. And we will probably be the last industry to come back,” she says.

Mann oversaw the production of more than 150 plays and musicals. McCarter Theatre is a nonprofit located on the campus of Princeton University. It has achieved the highest levels of acclaim, including winning the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

“I’ve always felt the most important thing was you never picked a title and put it on the stage. You decided to do a play because in your gut you knew it was magnificent,” Mann says.

Mann says that when she chose the material to be performed at McCarter, she chose plays that reflected diverse stories.

“I wanted to see all of America on McCarter’s stage,” she says.

On Saturday evening the farewell for Mann originally planned as a gala will instead by on Zoom with the public able to sign up to participate in the online platform to share memories and celebrate her legacy.

Mann, who is also a playwright and director, finishes at McCarter next month. She says that she is already beginning her next projects - writing two Broadway shows.

Mann's successor will be Sarah Rasmussen, artistic director of the Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis. She will start at McCarter in August.