Matthew Paul Olmos (Playwright) A Mexican-American playwright whose work focuses on creating space for marginalized communities; aims to reach across sociopolitical boundaries and illuminate hope for future generations. Three-time Sundance Institute Fellows/Resident, Drama League nominee, inaugural Dramatists Guild Foundation Catalyst Fellow, EST Lifetime Member/Sloan Grantee, New Dramatists Resident, Playwrights Center Core Writer, inaugural Primary Stages Creative Development Grantee, two-time Venturous Fellowship nominee. Awards: Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latine, Princess Grace, Repertorio Español Nuestra Voces. Residencies/Labs: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Center Theatre Group, Geffen Playhouse, Echo Theatre, two-time INTAR H.P.R.L., Nashville Rep, New York Theatre Workshop, two-time Ojai Playwrights Conference, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan. Spent two years at Mabou Mines/SUITE (mentored by Ruth Maleczech); selected and mentored by Sam Shepard as La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright and Taylor Mac for Cherry Lane’s Mentor Project. His plays are presented nationally/internationally and published by Concord Theatricals and No Passport Press. matthewpaulolmos.com
Laura Alcalá Baker (Director) is a Chicago-based director and new work developer specializing in unearthing the missing canon and reimagining the existing one. She lives in the intersection of a mixed child, one and both – Mexican American. Chicago directing credits include The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys (Steep Theatre); The Way She Spoke (DCASE, Greenhouse Theater Center); Nancy García Loza’s BRAVA (Make-Believe Association); The Secretaries (First Floor Theatre), BULL: a love story (Paramount Theatre); and The Pillowman (The Gift Theatre). Regional directing credits include Equivocation, The Giver, 11:11 and Collapse (B Street Theater). New play workshops and readings include work with Steep Theatre, The New Colony, Paramount Theatre and the Goodman Theatre New Stages Festival. She is a Steep Theatre ensemble member and a proud former member of the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists. She was nominated for “Best Casting Director” and “Best Director: Brava” at the ALTA Awards. labdirecting.com
Lauren Nichols (Scenic Design) Lauren is a Jeff-nominated designer, model builder, and draftsman. Chicago: Anna in the Topics, Blues for an Alabama Sky (Remy Bumppo); Tiger Style (Writers); Bernarda! (Teatro Vista); Motherhouse (Rivendell). Regional: Cinderella (Village Theatre- Seattle); Rose (Renaissance Theatreworks- Milwaukee). She has also designed for UIC, University of Chicago, DePaul Opera, Glass Apple, The Gift Theatre, Firebrand, Hell In a Handbag, Northwestern, and BoHo. Assistant wok: Court, Julliard, NY Theatre Workshop, St. Louis Opera, Goodman, Asolo Rep, Milwaukee Rep, The Alliance, and Oregon Shakes. Upcoming: Hot Wing King (Writers). Teaching: Adjunct Professor- The Theatre School-DePaul University. Education: MFA Northwestern. laurenangeldesigns.com
Uriel Gomez (Costume Design) Steppenwolf: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Chicago: Rust, Layalina (Goodman Theatre) Recipe for Disaster, Boys in the Band (Windy City Playhouse); Head Over Heels (Kokandy Productions); The Madres (ALTA Award), The Wolf At The End Of The Block, Parachute Men (Teatro Vista); Small World, Punk! (The New Colony); Mike Pence Sex Dream, Refrigerator, Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea (First Floor Theatre). 3Arts Make A Wave Award Recipient; Jeff Nominated designer, an ALTA Award Recipient, Resident Designer & Costume Shop Supervisor at Allegheny College and an Artistic Associate with Teatro Vista. For more information & designs please visit ugomez.com @gomezandco
Lindsey Lyddan (Lighting Designer) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: (Assistant LD) King James, Straight White Men, Fundamentals. Chicago: Porch on Windy Hill (Northlight Theatre); Elf, Steel Magnolias (Drury Lane Theatre); Orlando, Pimpinone (Haymarket Opera Company); Twice, Thrice, Frice (Silk Road Rising). Regional: (Scenic Design) The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge, The Legend of Georgia McBride (Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis); Be Here Now (Summit Performance Indianapolis). Education: MFA, Northwestern University. Lindseylyddandesign.com
Peter Clare (Sound Design) Chicago: Anna in the Tropics, Routes (Remy Bumppo Theatre); The Mamalogues, American Son (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre). Regional: Hoops, The Island (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); Natural Shocks (Third Avenue Playhouse/Next Act Theatre); Medea (Voices Found Repertory); Quality Street (Acacia Theatre); The Nautical Tragedy of Dick III, Children of Pac-Men (Quasimondo Physical Theatre); The Dumb Waiter (The Alchemist Theatre); Sea Marks, Starlings (Soulstice Theatre). Upcoming: The Not-So-Accidental Conviction of Eleven Milwaukee "Anarchists" (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). Love to Kelsey, Sky, Erin, Jennifer, Ellen, and Bree.
April Dawn Guthrie (Original Music) is a composer/cellist/vocalist and Cherokee Nation citizen originally from Kansas City. Guthrie’s creative practice strives to highlight injustices and pay homage to dissenters. In 2019 her music for “so go the ghosts of méxico” won Best Original Music/Songs of 2019 by Theatre Jones. “ToyToyToypurina” was recently commissioned and premiered, as part of her suite “Our Founding Foremothers” which celebrates women who shaped American history. Guthrie’s upcoming Arts Capacity commission will premiere in several prisons in 2024 across the country and reflects on familial relationships with incarcerated siblings.
Maya Vinice Prentiss (Fight Choreographer and Intimacy Consultant) is an SAFD Certified Actor-Combatant, Fight Choreographer, and Dialect Coach. Steppenwolf: Miz Martha, Last Night and the Night Before, POTUS. Chicago: Blues for an Alabama Sky (Remy Bumppo); Clyde’s, How to Catch Creation, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre); Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Night Watch (Raven); Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes (The Story Theatre); Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Company); Duchess of Malfi (Babes with Blades); An Octoroon (Definition Theatre Company). Regional: School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (TheatreSquared); As You Like It, Pride and Prejudice, and Caesar (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); Origin Story (Illinois Theatre). Film: Jade. Television: The Chi (Showtime). Awards: Jeff Award- Best Fight Choreography (Ethiopianamerica), Best Ensemble (Marie Antoinette). Education: BFA in Drama, Spelman College; MFA in Acting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach) returns to Steppenwolf Theatre Company where she coached 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, Piven Theatre Workshop, Theo Ubique, and Chicago Dramatists. Film/TV credits include The Outfit and Ripley. More about her books and coaching services at TotalVoice.net.
Mike Przygoda (Music Consultant) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Chicago who is making his official Steppenwolf debut. Chicago credits include Another Word For Beauty, The Matchmaker (Goodman Theatre); Into The Blu, We Get Free, Off Our Rockers (Lyric Opera of Chicago). He won a Jeff Award for Artistic Specialization in Percussion for Moby Dick (The Building Stage). By day he works for the Chicago High School for the Arts, by night he writes songs for and leads his band, The Przmatics.
Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: 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, 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. She 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: 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: 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: world premieres of Cambodian Rock Band, A Doll’s House Part 2, Office Hour (South Coast Repertory) and productions with Geva Theatre Center, Florida Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Mason Street Warehouse. Kat is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan.