 Gordon passed on the position of Artistic Director of Ensemble Theatre to Sandra Bates in 1986, but remained Principal of the acting school until his death in 1999.Bates was joined by Mark Kilmurry first as her deputy and then as co-director, with Kilmurry replacing Bates upon her retirement in 2015.The most successful play in the theatre's history is "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks", a two-hander which in 2006 paired Todd McKenney, in his first non-musical play, with Nancye Hayes.