Late Monday night, Lee Trull, a ten-year veteran of the Dallas Theater Center — and the director of the company’s current production of ‘A Christmas Carol —  was dismissed from his position as director of new play development. It abruptly ended the rise of someone who’d been something of a golden boy at the Theater Center and a favorite of the administration, having been first a member of the acting ensemble, then named artistic associate in 2008 when he was only 28, then promoted to casting director and finally, director of new play development.

The announcement was sudden. In September, the DTC had already announced Trull would depart the theater next summer at the end of the current season. He would be leaving “to move on to new artistic opportunities and make space for fresh voices at the theater,” as he said in an official release at the time.

But Monday, the DTC announced that “DTC recently received a complaint about inappropriate behavior by Lee Trull. DTC promptly investigated and determined that the alleged conduct is a violation of DTC’s policies. As a result, Lee’s employment has been terminated today, effective immediately.”

There was no word on who would take over Trull’s scheduled duties for the rest of the season, which include producing ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Fade’ and ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’ and developing local playwright Jonathan Norton’s new play ‘Penny Candy’ for the 2018-2019 season. He is also scheduled to director the next play at Second Thought Theatre, Lucas Hnath’s ‘Hillary and Clinton.’

In addition to working as an actor, administrator and dramaturg at the DTC, Trull has been a playwright, co-writing ‘Deferred Action’ with David Lozano of Cara Mia Theatre. Trull has also directed with Stage West and is a company member of Kitchen Dog Theater.

Here is the DTC’s full release:

Theater is a collaborative art form that requires each person to bring his or her whole self to work and participate in the creative process. Dallas Theater Center is committed to providing the type of environment necessary for the creative process to flourish. Anyone who contributes to an unsafe, unwelcome, or inequitable environment not only violates DTC’s policies, but also undermines DTC’s fundamental goal of creating the highest quality theatrical art that deeply engages our community.

DTC recently received a complaint about inappropriate behavior by Lee Trull. DTC promptly investigated and determined that the alleged conduct is a violation of DTC’s policies. As a result, Lee’s employment has been terminated today, effective immediately. DTC remains dedicated to taking any action necessary to ensure a safe workplace, free of harassment, for all employees.