Stephanie Alison Walker (Playwright) is a published, produced, and award-winning playwright born and raised in the Chicago burbs. She began her playwriting journey in 2000 while working in Chicago at Fox Theatricals and has been dreaming about her Steppenwolf debut ever since. Her work is known for the personalization of the political, humor in darkness, and character-driven storytelling that centers women. Stephanie’s other full-length plays include The Madres, The Abuelas, The Art of Disappearing, Friends with Guns, American Home, The Ordeal of Water, Sophia Hayden Deserves Better and more. The Birthday Gift, the short film she co-wrote and Executive Produced based on her play The Abuelas, won Best Short Film at two film festivals, was Humanitas Prize nominated, and is playing at festivals around the world. Stephanie is a proud NNPN Affiliate Artist, member of the Dramatists Guild, and Honor Roll! - an advocacy and action group of women+ playwrights over forty whose aim is to significantly increase inclusion and representation on stage and in the theatrical canon. stephaniealisonwalker.com

Pam MacKinnon (Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk and multi-Obie Award winning director. From 2018 to 2026, she was the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in San Francisco. She has directed more than eighty productions. Her Tony Award winning production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originated at Steppenwolf. Her production of Bruce Norris’s Downstate (Steppenwolf, National Theatre and Playwrights Horizons) was celebrated with several Jeff Awards, won Pam her second Obie and the Callaway Award for Directing. She served as president of SDC, the national Union of choreographers and directors.

Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Fool for Love, Noises Off, Purpose, Downstate, The Doppelgänger (an international farce), Mary Page Marlowe and many others. Select Broadway: August Osage County (Tony), The Motherfucker with the Hat (Tony Nom), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Of Mice and Men, This is Our Youth, Linda Vista and the upcoming Princess Bride and Three Days of Rain. International: August Osage County (London, Australia); Nice Fish, Downstate (London); Madama Butterfly, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Ireland). Rosenthal also designs in Chicago and at many regional theaters. Awards: USITT Distinguished Achievement, Olivier, Helen Hayes, Ovation, Joseph Jefferson, Michael Merritt. Professor, Northwestern. Graduate, Yale Drama.

Izumi Inaba (Costume Design) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Constellations, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Animal Farm, The Crucible, We Are Proud…, Miz Martha, Bald Sisters, Last Night and the Night Before, Sanctuary City, Noises Off, and Catch As Catch Can. Recent Chicago: Front Page (Northlight Theatre). Recent Regional: Estate Sale (Barrington Center Stage), Macbeth (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival). Upcoming: Christmas Carol (Paramount), The Boys From Baraboo (Next Act Theatre). Izumi is a member of United Scenic Artists Local USA829 and represented by Gersh.

Barbara Samuels (Lighting Design) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Premiere. Regional: OSF, Pig Iron, Woolly Mammoth, The Alley, South Coast Rep, Long Wharf, ACT, Playmakers, Kansas City Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Shakespeare Theater Company, and Trinity Rep. Off Broadway: Soho Rep, The Public, Playwrights Horizons, Signature, Little Island, Lincoln Center, National Asian American Theatre Company, Ma-Yi, NYTW, MCC, Ars Nova, TFANA, WP, Bushwick Starr, Target Margin, Beth Morrison Projects, New Georges and Clubbed Thumb. Touring: Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Erin Markey. Awards: Obie and Henry Hewes Design Awards, Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominations. BA, Fordham; MFA, NYU. Proud Member USA829. www.barbarasamuels.com

Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design and Original Music) is excited to return to Steppenwolf having previously worked on Catch as Catch Can, Fool For Love, Little Bear Ridge Road, No Man’s Land, Sanctuary City, 1919, Dance Nation. Other collaborations include Broadway productions of Little Bear Ridge Road, Uncle Vanya, Dana H (2022 Tony Award); Mexodus (Audible); How To Defend Yourself, I Love You So Much I Could Die (NYTW); Mother Russia, Cambodian Rock Band (Signature Theatre), Tambo & Bones, This Flat Earth, The Treasurer and A Life (Playwrights Horizons); and multiple releases with Audible Originals and Make Believe Association and original scores for various independent films. He is a member of TSDCA, and an Assistant Professor at Columbia College Chicago. www.mikhailfiksel.com

Nicholas Hussong (Projection Design) Regional: You are Cordially Invited to the End of World (South Coast Rep, OSF), Fiddler on the Roof (Alliance, Atlanta Opera), An American Soldier (PAC NYC), Next to Normal (Round House Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Helen Hayes Nomination), Magic Flute, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cabaret (Atlanta Opera), Vietgone (The Guthrie), Until the Flood (15 regional and international locations). Broadway: Skeleton Crew (Tony Nomination). Off-Broadway: Skeleton Crew, These Paper Bullets (Atlantic, Drama Desk Nomination), Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons, Obie & Lucille Lortel award), On That Day in Amsterdam (Primary Stages, Drama Desk Nomination). Other work includes; Atlanta Opera, Grey___matter, Apollo Exhibit, Virginia Museum of Art, David Zwirner Gallery, Virgin Voyages, Marc Jacobs, Mass MoCA, Complex Magazine, AMC+, San Diego Shell, Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Tony Awards (CBS), Ask Ronna Podcast. He also designed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, China, Canada, Senegal and Vienna. Co-Creator of FEAST, an immersive dining experience with Listen&Breathe (Nantucket, Ireland). nickhussong.com

Steph Paul (Choreographer) Steppenwolf: Sanctuary City. Chicago: Billie Jean (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Last Match (Writers Theatre). Regional: Estate Sale (Barrington Stage); Nobody Loves You (American Conservatory Theater); The Royale (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), The Wolves (Studio Theatre). Off Broadway: My Joy is Heavy, How to Defend Yourself (New York Theatre Workshop); Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club). International: Be the Groove (Royal Opera House Muscat); The Reality Show (NYU Abu Dhabi). Awards: Princess Grace Award, Helen Hayes Award. Steph is a NYTW Usual Suspect, SDC member and a 2026 Woman to Watch on Broadway selected by the Broadway Women’s Fund. Steph is also a fan of making playlists and watching all of the sports. www.stephpaul.com

Kate DeVore (Voice Coach) returns to Steppenwolf Theatre Company where she coached Topdog/Underdog, Catch as Catch Can, Amadeus, Mr. Wolf, You Will Get Sick, The Book of Grace, Fool For Love, Noises Off, The Thanksgiving Play, Purpose, a home what howls (or the house what was ravine), POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Sanctuary City, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life. Kate also happily taught Voice at The School at Steppenwolf for 11 years. She has served as voice and/or dialect coach at Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, A Red Orchid Theatre, Drury Lane, Second City, Writers Theatre, Piven Theatre Workshop, Theo Ubique, and Chicago Dramatists. Film/TV credits include The Outfit, Ripley, A Prayer for Dying, Last Days, and Caddo Lake. More about her books and coaching services at TotalVoice.net.

Bryar Barborka (Dramaturg) (they/them) is the Literary Manager and Casting Associate at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Literary Manager of the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival. They have also worked with: Second Stage Theater, The Playwrights' Center, Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Teatro Vista, Definition Theatre, Interrobang Theatre Project, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, and the Ojai Playwrights Conference in various capacities. Steppenwolf Theatre Company dramaturgy credits include: Windfall, Amadeus, You Will Get Sick, a home what howls (or the house what was ravine), I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (audio adaptation), and Wally World (Assistant Dramaturg). Education: B.F.A from DePaul University.

Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Favorites over the past 25 years include Windfall, Mr. Wolf, Leroy and Lucy, Sanctuary City, 1919, Choir Boy, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (stage and audio-play versions), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, two versions of The Crucible, August: Osage County, Clybourne Park, Art, Purple Heart (also at Ireland’s Galway Arts Festival), The Pillowman, and many others. Chicago: Northlight Theatre, Drury Lane, Victory Gardens, Chicago Children's Theatre. Regional: Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Center Stage. Education: Smith College. Michelle has taught stage management at Columbia College Chicago and Governors State University and is proud to be a member of Actors’ Equity, wife to Mary, and mama to Elliott, Lena, and Sam.

Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Windfall, The Dance of Death, Mr. Wolf, You Will Get Sick, Fool for Love, Noises Off, The Thanksgiving Play, a home what howls, POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Miz Martha, Seagull, BUG, Dance Nation, The Great Leap, MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, The Crucible, Pass Over, Constellations, East of Eden, The Herd, Airline Highway. Chicago: A Year with Frog & Toad (Marriott Theatre); The Steadfast Tin Soldier 2018 & 2022, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Groundhog Day, The Secret of My Success (Paramount Theatre); additional work for The Hypocrites, Victory Gardens Theater, Porchlight Music Theatre, Broadway in Chicago. Regional: Over twelve productions including the world premieres of Cambodian Rock Band, A Doll’s House Part 2, and Office Hour at South Coast Repertory. Additional productions with Geva Theatre Center, Florida Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Mason Street Warehouse. Kat is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan.