The new executive director of Town Hall is 28 years younger than his predecessor, David Brewster. He's confident, an aggressive driver, a former theater director, newly married, and a "fireplug."

"Fireplug?"

"It means squat. Solidly built," he says.

His name is Wier Harman (pronounced where). He was deeply involved in Annex Theatre from 1989 until 1996, then left Seattle to go to graduate school at the Yale School of Drama in New Haven, where he worked for the International Festival of Arts and Ideas (now called Arts and Ideas New Haven), then moved to Atlanta to work for Actor's Express Theatre ("It was a good company, I just hated Atlanta"), then moved to New York City to be the executive director of the Foundry Theatre, and then returned to Seattle eight weeks ago to take the helm of Town Hall, the grandest venue for literary events in the city (also a classical music venue), which was founded by Brewster in 1998. Brewster, who stepped down in March, is a grand, classical sort of guy himself.

Is it weird that Harman, 38, is roughly half the age of his predecessor? "There are some ways that it's weird. I'm the youngest person on staff, for example. That's weird, sort of." Later in the interview Harman's thoughts return to my age question again and he says, "I think that was somewhat intentional on the part of the board." He describes Brewster's ideas as reflective of "a picture of older Seattle" and says Brewster "would admit he was a walking blind spot to things that had been happening in the city in the last 30 years... We're not going to stop the things we've been doing. But there are more things we can do."

Such as?

"We've got some really nice projection surfaces when you look at that ceiling." He watches me write that down and says, "You're going to terrify my staff when you write this."

Harman has ideas about partnering with film organizations, visual artists, and younger writers. He has ideas about making hybrid events that aren't always for the older, NPR crowd. He has an idea to hang a curtain in a certain way along the main back wall so as to frame the stage better. He has ideas about renovating the downstairs area. He has ideas for new programs and is taking a hard look at current programs and is willing to "maybe blow a few of them up." He has an idea that Town Hall is "like Switzerland"—central, neutral, and open.

The city has changed since 1996, and Harman faces a steep learning curve (he spent much of the interview quizzing me about the local art scene). Town Hall also has an existing audience to consider. But recent history has shown that Town Hall's model of working with other producers, like Foolproof and Elliott Bay Book Company, works. The packed, talked-about literary and political events of the last year happened at Town Hall. Harman is in a good spot.

frizzelle@thestranger.com