Dr. Eve L. Ewing (Author) is a scholar and writer from Chicago. She is the award-winning author of four books: the poetry collections Electric Arches and 1919, the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side, and a novel for young readers, Maya and the Robot. She is the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. She has written several projects for Marvel Comics, most notably the Ironheartseries. Ewing is an associate professor at the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. Currently she is working on her next book, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, which will be published by One World.
J. Nicole Brooks (Adapter/Playwright) is an actor, writer, director, and educator based in Chicago. Brooks’s writing practice includes: playwriting, screenwriting, essays, and poetry. As a theatre artist, Brooks is an ensemble member and Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company. Other artistic affiliations include artistic membership at Collaboraction and Sideshow Theatre Company. As a playwright, Brooks has created original works including Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten; Fedra: Queen of Haiti; HeLa; Black Moon Lilith and the award-winning Her Honor Jane Byrne. Brooks has also served as director and associate director mounting successful theatre productions of Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting; Thaddeus & Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure; Her Honor Jane Byrne; Sex with Strangers; and Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten. Honors include: TCG Fox Foundation, 3Arts, Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Kilroys List, the 2021 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for Her Honor Jane Byrne and the Chicago Public Library Foundation 21st Century Award. Brooks is also an award-winning actor appearing in theatrical productions at Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass, Court Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, and Theatre at Boston Court. Recent television credits include guest recurring roles on the cult fav South Side (HBO Max), The Chi (Showtime), Chicago Fire (NBC, Hulu) and the critically acclaimed chapter four of Fargo (FX Network) starring opposite Chris Rock. Brooks also appeared in the box office hit Candyman (Say My Name) directed by Nia DaCosta produced by Jordan Peele. @doctaslick.
Gabrielle Randle-Bent (Director) is a scholar, dramaturg, and director based in Chicago. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915. Off Broadway: Terminus (Dramaturg, New York Theatre Workshop). Chicago: The Year of Magical Thinking (Remy Bumppo); Once on this Island (Dramaturg, Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (Court Theatre); Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Dramaturg, Court Theatre); For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf (Dramaturg, Court Theatre); The Oedipus Trilogy (Dramaturg, Court Theatre); Les Blancs (Court Theatre); The Pride Before (Sideshow Theatre Company); I, Banquo (Dramaturg, Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Intimate Apparel (Dramaturg, Northlight Theatre). Upcoming: The Island (Court Theatre). BA, Stanford University; MA, University of Texas at Austin; PhD Candidate Northwestern University. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Court Theatre.
Tasia A. Jones (Director) is a director, performer, and educator focused on social justice and civically engaged theatre practices. She is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at Northwestern University. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Pass Over (Assistant Director); The Roommate (Assistant Director). Chicago: Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Associate Director, Goodman Theatre); Intimate Apparel (Northlight Theatre); The MLK Project: The Fight for Civil Rights (Writers Theatre); The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Assistant Director, Lookingglass Theatre Company). Regional: Intimate Apparel (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Small Mouth Sounds (UCCS Theatreworks); Seussical: The Musical (Jean’s Playhouse); A Raisin in the Sun (American Players Theatre). Education: MFA Directing, Northwestern University; BFA Theatre Arts, Boston University.
Yu Shibagaki (Scenic Design) is a NYC based set designer, originally from Nagoya, Japan. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Steppenwolf for Young Adults’ The Brothers Size. Chicago: Dishwasher Dreams (Writers Theatre); Her Honor Jane Byrne (Lookingglass Theatre); America v.2.1 (Definition Theater); School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre); I, Banquo, I, Cinna (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and more. Regional: Hartford Stage, Kansas City Rep, American Players Theatre and Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference more. Upcoming: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre); The Great Leap (Cleveland Play House); Villette, Lucy & Charlie’s Honeymoon (Lookingglass Theatre); Madama Butterfly (Boston Lyric Opera) Affiliations: Local USA829. http://www.yushibagaki.com/
Gregory Graham (Costume Design) Chicago: Fireflies (Northlight Theatre); Porchlight Revisits: Passing Strange (Porchlight Music Theatre); Gloria, Reverb (UIC School of Theatre and Music); On the Greenbelt, Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog Theatre); The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (Court Theatre); Dream: A Community Reimaging of A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); The Facts of Life: Satan’s School for Girls, The Drag Seed (Hell in a Handbag Productions). Regional: Raisin (Skylight Music Theatre); Blood at the Root (Millikin University, School of Theatre and Dance). Education: BA in Theatre Design, University of Illinois at Chicago. www.gregorygrahamdesign,com
Jason Lynch (Lighting Design) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Choir Boy; Guards at the Taj (Assoc.). Chicago: Fannie-, School Girls-, I Hate It Here, Ohio State Murders, The Sound Inside, Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre); I,Cinna, I, Banquo (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); cullud wattah (Black Theater Alliance Award nom.), The First Deep Breath (Victory Gardens Theater). Regional: Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Awards: 2020 Jeff Award (nom.), 2019 Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award. Lynch is a proud member of The Association for Lighting Production and Design and is represented by The Gersh Agency. jasondlynch.com, @jasonlynch.design on Instagram.
Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design) is excited to return to Steppenwolf having previously worked on Dance Nation and La Ruta. Other Chicago work includes The Goodman, Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Albany Park Theatre Project. Other collaborations include The Public, Playwrights Horizons, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theatre, his Broadway debut with Dana H for which he received the 2022 Tony Award for Sound Design. Audio production work includes various projects with Audible, WBEZ, and Make-Believe Association. Other awards include 3 Lucille Lortel Awards, multiple Jeff Awards, and the 2020 Obie Award. He is a proud member of USA and TSDCA. www.mikhailfiksel.com @akadjwhiterussian
Meida McNeal (Movement Direction) Chicago: Fifth City Revisited, If/Then, ways of knowing, Ma(s)king Her, Juke Cry Hand Clap, Price Point, Ladies Ring Shout (Honey Pot Performance). Education: PhD, Northwestern University, Performance Studies; MFA, Ohio State University, Choreography; B.A., Kenyon College, Dance/Anthropology. Meida is a co-founding member of Honey Pot Performance. honeypotperformance.org @meidamcneal
Abra Johnson (Movement Direction) Chicago: ways of knowing, Ma(s)king Her, Juke Cry Hand Clap, Price Point, Ladies Ring Shout (Honey Pot Performance); Race Travels (ThickRoutes Performance Collage/Striding Lion); Bag ladies: Carrying A Diaspora Colored Black (ThickRoutes Performance Collage); HomeStories (ThickRoutes Performance Collage/Striding Lion); Home, 19 (Superior Mechanics); Dogg’n, (One In Da Chamber); Mhmmmmmmmm, They Landed At Plymouth (Buxville Theatre Company). Education: MA, Sociology, DePaul University. Abra is a co-founding member of Honey Pot Performance and Assistant Professor of Sociology. AMJ@honeypotperformance.org
Abhi Shrestha (Dramaturg) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: 1919, Mosque4Mosque (SCOUT workshop). Select Chicago Credits: KISS (Co-Director, Haven Theatre); The Total Bent (Dramaturg, Haven Theatre); I Call My Brothers (Director, Interrobang Theatre); Picnic (Assistant Director, American Theatre Company). Shrestha is an arts educator, writer, and theatre-maker originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. They are the Interim Director of Education at Steppenwolf, a staff member of The Chicago Inclusion Project, and a board member of the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health.
Stan Brown (Vocal Coach) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Choir Boy. Chicago: Gem of the Ocean, Goodnight Oscar, Cephianne's Reflection (Goodman Theatre). Off Broadway: Measure for Measure (The Public Theatre - Mobile Unit), Open Heart (Cherry Lane). International: Voyagers (Tumbrel Theatre Co. Edinburgh Festival). Film: The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy, Memoir, Almost Normal, Getting In, Modern Love. Television: The Huntress, Homicide: Life on the Street, In the Heat of the Night, I'll Fly Away, She Says She's Innocent. Awards: Best Actor: Louisiana Film Prize, Breckenridge Festival of Film, Wild Rose Independent Film Festival. Brown is currently the Director of Graduate Studies of the MFA Acting Program Northwestern University.
Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Choir Boy, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (stage and audio-play versions), We Are Proud to Present…, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, two versions of The Crucible, August: Osage County, Tribes, Clybourne Park, Purple Heart (also at Ireland’s Galway Arts Festival), and The Pillowman, among 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. She is proud to be a member of Actors’ Equity, wife to Mary, and mama to Elliott, Lena, and Sam.
Nikki Konomos (Assistant Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: The Brothers Size, BUG, Seagull. Chicago: Shakesfest (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Skeleton Canoe (Chicago International Puppet Festival); Destinos International Festival (Chicago Latino Theater Alliance); Henry V (First Folio Theater). Regional: Blue Man Group on Tour (Blue Man Group). Education: BA, Columbia College Chicago.