PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Theater Wit 2004-current
Founded in 2004, Theater Wit is a cultural hub of the Chicago Theater landscape, specializing in contemporary works of comedy, intellect and heart. Under a unique, playwright-centric second production process, Theater Wit has become a nationally-recognized producer of new work by writers like Anne Washburn, Will Eno, Itamar Moses, Joshua Harmon and Madeleine George.
Under my leadership, Theater Wit has grown from a small $40K annual budget to a leader in the Chicago landscape with an annual budget of $1M. In 2007, I supervised and designed a new home for Theater Wit, a 3-theater facility that hosts both our own award-winning work and gives a home to a number of Chicago's best neighborhood theaters with over 600 performances/year from 40+ companies in a typical season.
RESIDENT DIRECTOR
Shakespeare's Motley Crew 1996-2000
Bailiwick Repertory 1994-1998
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Collaboraction 1998-2013
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Board Member, League of Chicago Theaters 2010-2016
Board Member, SSA #27 Chicago
Selected Productions
Title | Author | Theatre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Admissions | Joshua Harmon | Theater Wit | regional premiere |
The Realistic Joneses | Will Eno | Shattered Globe Theatre / Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award recommended |
The Antelope Party | Eric John Meyer | Theater Wit | world premiere |
10 out of 12 | Anne Washburn | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominated |
This Way Outta Santaland | Mitchell J. Fain | Theater Wit | world premiere |
Naperville | Mat Smart | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award winner |
The (curious case of the) Watson Intelliigence | Madeleine George | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominee, Best of year: Chicago Sun Times |
Bad Jews | Joshua Harmon | Theater Wit, North Shore Center, Royal George | chicago premiere, Jeff Award nominated, Best of year: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Theater Review, Time Out |
Mr. Burns: a post-electric play | Anne Washburn/Michael Friedman | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award nomination, Best of year: Time Out Chicago, Audience choice: Best Director of Year |
Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England | Madeleine George | Theater Wit, Studio One | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominated, Sun Times "Best of Year" |
This is not a Cure for Cancer | Anthony Moseley/Sarah Illianovitch-Goldman | Collaboraction | world premiere |
Completeness | Itamar Moses | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominated |
Tigers be Still | Kim Rosenstock | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award recommended |
This | Melissa James Gibson | Theater Wit | |
Tragedy: a Tragedy | Will Eno | Red Tape Theatre | chicago premiere |
The Four of Us | Itamar Moses | Theater Wit | chicago premiere, Jeff Award nominated |
Peer Gynt | Henrik Ibsen, trans. Robert Bly | Polarity Ensemble | chicago premiere |
The Flu Season | Will Eno | Black Sheep Productions | chicago premiere, Jeff Award nominated |
Spin | Penny Penniston | Theater Wit | world premiere |
2011 | Itamar Moses | American Theater Company | null |
The Untimely Death of Adolf Hitler | Andy Grigg | Collaboraction | festival winner |
A Taste of Honey | Shelagh Delaney | Shattered Globe Theatre | WSJ: Best of US regional theatre, Jeff Award norminated |
Feydeau-Si-Deau (Chemin de Fer) | Georges Feydeau | Theater Wit | chicago premiere, Jeff Award recommended |
Horror Acadamy | Darren Callahan | Babes with Blades | world premiere, Jeff Award nominated |
The Play about the Squirrel | Mia McCullough | Stage Left/Prop Thtr | Best of Fest: Chicago Reader |
Men of Steel | Qui Nguyen | Theater Wit | regional premiere |
Szinhaz | Itamar Moses | Collaboraction Sketchbook | chicago premiere, Festival Winner |
Thom Pain (based on nothing) | Will Eno | Theater Wit | regional premiere, Jeff Award winner |
Barefoot in the Park | Neal Simon | Metropolis Performing Arts | |
Two for the Show | Will Clinger/Jim Fitzgerald | Theater Wit | world premiere, Jeff Award nominee |
This is the Rill Speaking | Lanford Wilson | Eclipse Theatre | Chicago premiere |
Un Robot | Laura Jacqmin | Collaboraction Sketchbook | festival winner |
Hay Fever | Noel Coward | Lewis University | educational institution |
The Santaland Diaries | David Sedaris/Joe Mantello | Theater Wit | Jeff Award nominated |
Prisoner's Deilmma | David Edgar | University of Illinois at Chicago | chicago premiere, educational institution |
A Merry Jewish Christmas | Josh Levine | Bailiwick Repertory | world premiere, Jeff Award nominee |
The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told | Paul Rudnick | Bailiwick Repertory | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominee |
The Coarse Acting Show | Michael Green | Shakespeare's Motley Crew | |
now then again | Penny Penniston | Bailiwick Repertory, Ivanhoe | world premiere, Jeff Award winner |
Kind Lady | Edward Chodorov | Pendulum Theatre | |
The Duchess of Malfi | John Webster | Shakespeare's Motley Crew | |
Flight | Bulgakov, trans. by Ron Hutchinson | University of Illinois at Chicago | regional premiere, educational institution |
The Roaring Girl | adapted with Penny Penniston from Middleton/Dekker | Shakespeare's Motley Crew | world premiere, Jeff Award nominee |
Europe | David Greig | Mary-Arrchie | regional premiere, Jeff Award nominee |
The White Devil | John Webster | Shakespeare's Motley Crew | |
A Month in the Country | Turgenev, adapted by Brian Friedl | Bailiwick Repertory | Jeff Award nominee |
Titus Andronicus | William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Motley Crew | Jeff Award nominee |
Clowns, Goddesses & Tough Guys | James Schneider | Live Bait | world premiere |
Henry VI, parts 1-3 | William Shakespeare | Bailiiwck Repertory | Jeff Award nominee |
Playing by the Rules | Nicky Green | Bailiwick Repertory | regional premiere |
The Threepenny Opera | Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill/Michael Feingold | Theater Wit | Jeff Award nominee, chicago premiere |
The Promise | DuckWorks Productions | José Rivera | Jeff Award nominee |
Life is a Dream | Pedro Calderon dl la Barca | Magellan Theatre | Jeff Award nominee |
The Correction | Heiner Müller | Bailiwick Repertory | chicago premiere |
Solitaire | Lydia R. Diamond | Cafe Voltaire | world premiere |
Marriage of Bette and Boo | Christopher Durang | Eternity's Well Productions | |
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Tom Stoppard | DuckWorks Productions | |
The Blood Knot | Athol Fugard | DuckWorks Producitons |