Matt Fletcher proudly serves as producing artistic director of Sideshow Theatre Company, where he was last seen in Tilikum, Give It All Back, and both iterations of Stupid Fucking Bird. Other performance credits include Idomeneus (Jeff Award - Best Ensemble), The Golden Dragon, Mai Dang Lao, Tyrant, Heddatron, Theories of the Sun, Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), and others (Sideshow Theatre Company); The Killer Angels (Lifeline Theatre); Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens); Common Hatred (The Ruckus); As Told by the Vivian Girls (Dog & Pony); Chicago Fire (NBC) and two seasons with The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, NC. Matt received his BA in drama at the University of Virginia. Love always to his wife Katy!

Elly Green previously directed Hansol Jung’s No More Sad Things for Sideshow Theatre. Other Chicago theatre credits include: Pillars of the Community by Henrik Ibsen/Samuel Adamson, The Night Season by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber (Strawdog Theatre), The Woman in Black by Stephen Mallatratt/Susan Hill (Wildclaw Theatre), The Distance by Deborah Bruce (Haven Theatre), The Woman Before by Roland Schimmelpfennig (Trap Door Theatre), Rabbit by Nina Raine (Stage Left Theatre) and The Tomkat Project by Brandon Ogborn (Playground & NY Fringe). Elly trained in the UK, where her credits include: Our Country’s Good (Royal & Derngate, Actors Company), My Balloon Beats Your Astronaut (Papatango/Tristan Bates), Beyond Therapy (Old Joint Stock/BSA, Birmingham), About Tommy (Southwark Playhouse), Copenhagen (Tabard Theatre), Skylight (Stephen Joseph Theatre), The Beach (Theatre 503) & The Zoo Story (Etcetera Theatre). She is an ensemble member with Sideshow Theatre and Strawdog Theatre, and an artistic associate with Stage Left Theatre.

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Jonathan has been the artistic director of Sideshow Theatre since its founding in 2007. He has directed and assisted for Sideshow, Greenhouse Theater Center, Lookingglass, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Diversionary Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Seven of Chicago and Pavement Group. Recent projects include HeLa, truth and reconciliation (Jeff Award nomination for direction), The Happiest Place on Earth, Antigonick, Stupid Fucking Bird, Idomeneus (Jeff Award for ensemble), and others. Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Virginia and is the literary manager for Goodman Theatre, where his recent dramaturgy credits include How to Catch Creation, Blind Date, Objects in the Mirror, Gloria, War Paint, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and Disgraced.

jonathanlgreen.com

Ann James is a Sideshow ensemble member and has appeared in its productions of truth and reconciliation, Caught, Antigonick, Maria/Stuart and Idomeneus. Among other companies with which she has worked are 16th Street, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman, Jackalope, Raven, Shattered Globe, and Stage Left. She is also the narrator for The Lakeview Orchestra’s performance of How The Grinch Stole Christmas December 18. She is represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent.

Walt McGough is a Boston-based playwright (by way of Pittsburgh and Chicago). In Boston, he has held fellowships with both the Huntington and New Repertory Theatre Companies, and was a finalist for the 2016 Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award. His plays include Pattern of Life, which was named Best New Play by the Independent Reviewers of New England, and The Farm, Priscilla Dreams the Answer, and Paper City Phoenix, all of which received Best New Play IRNE nominations. Other plays include Non-Player Character, Brawler, Chalk, Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), and The Haberdasher!. He has worked around the country with companies such as San Francisco Playhouse, The Lark, the Huntington, New Rep, NNPN, Boston Playwrights, Fresh Ink, Sideshow, Orfeo Group, Nu Sass Productions, Chicago Dramatists, and Argos. In 2015, his play Advice for Astronauts was selected as the winner of the Milken Playwriting Prize. He has served on the staff at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston and Chicago Dramatists, and is a founding ensemble member of Chicago’s Sideshow Theatre Company. He holds a BA from the University of Virginia, and an MFA in playwriting from Boston University. He co-hosts the bi-weekly pop culture/comedy podcast Crossover Appeal.

waltmcgough.com

Megan is a founding ensemble member for Sideshow Theatre. She served as the company's executive director from 2007 - 2016. She works with Sideshow Theatre directing world or Chicago premieres (Chalk, Tyrant, The Burden of Not Having a Tail, Theories of the Sun, Ekphrasis: Cave Walls to Soup Cans), and with Southern Illinois University (Joan's Laughter). Megan recently directed We Are Very Small, a sketch comedy show written by Tom McGuane at iO Chicago, and the world premiere of Target Behavior by Caity-Shea Violette with 20% Theater Company. Megan wrestles from time to time as The Cutting Edge for the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW). She is a proud graduate of the Catholic University of America.

With Sideshow, Karie performs (The Burden of Not Having a Tail; Tyrant; Idomeneus; Everything Freezes; Ekphrasis), directs (Strangerland), and emcees (Rockke L Squelch, Mistress of Ceremonialisms for the Chicago League of Lady Arm-Wrestlers; Mariafe Ariadne Buckford-Westington-Washington-Taylor-Clais at the yearly Sideshow Gala). Karie is also an artistic associate with The Ruckus, with whom she performed/devised 15 Minutes and directed/devised Common Hatred. She holds an MFA from UVA, a BFA from NKU, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Theatre History, Theory and Performance at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Her research interests include audience, creative placemaking, and performance art.

Nate has worked in Chicago with Sideshow (Antigonick, Stupid Fucking Bird, Maria/Stuart, Idomeneus, Strangerland at Chicago Fringe Fest 2011, and Heddatron), the Goodman (Carlyle, New Stages Festival 2014), 16th Street Theatre (Pinoklandia), Jackalope Theatre Company (The Peacock), and The Ruckus (Common Hatred at RhinoFest). He has worked with Ensemble Studio Theatre (NYC) and in 2007 at the Hangar Theatre (Ithaca) as a member of the Lab Company. Nate graduated in 2008 from the University of Virginia with a degree in drama and a minor in Afro American studies. He graduated high school in Guatemala City and grew up in Latin America. He is proud to be an ensemble member with Sideshow where he treads the boards as Charlie No Pants for the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers and helms Sideshow's new play development program, The Freshness Initiative. Nate sends love to his family, the gutter, the dirt, the youth of America and to Elizabeth Anne.

Kathleen is a Sideshow artistic associate whose previous work with the company has been as playwright (Theories of the Sun and Tyrant) and co-director (Tyrant). She lives most of the year in Washington, D.C., where she has acted with 1st Stage, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Catalyst Theatre, Cherry Red, Glamonstrosity, Olney Theatre, Studio Theatre, Studio Theatre Secondstage, Theater Alliance, Washington Shakespeare Company (now WSC AvantBard), and Washington Stage Guild. MFA, Catholic University of America; graduate of the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory.

William Boles is an artistic associate with Sideshow, where his previous design work includes The Golden Dragon, No More Sad Things, Mai Dang Lao and Give it All Back. Chicago credits: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Second City, Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, The Hypocrites, American Theater Company, Timeline, A Red Orchid Theatre, About Face Theatre (associate artist), Chicago Children’s Theatre, Steep Theatre Company, First Floor Theater, among others. Regional credits: Kirk Douglas, Huntington Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Children’s Theatre Company, Wolf Trap Opera, Minnesota Opera, Milwaukee Repertory Theater Pig Iron Theatre Company, and the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. International credits: Stockholm Vocal Academy and Opera Siam in Bangkok. Boles received his MFA at Northwestern University.

williambolesdesign.com

Philip Dawkins is a playwright and educator whose plays have been performed all over the world. His plays include Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens Theater), Le Switch (About Face Theatre, The Jungle), The Homosexuals (About Face Theatre), The Burn (Steppenwolf for Young Audiences), Dr.Seuss’s The Sneetches, the Musical with composer David Mallamud (Children’s Theater Company, Minneapolis), The Gentleman Caller (Raven Theatre, Chicago; Abingdon Theatre, NY), Charm (Northlight Theatre; MCC), Miss Marx: Or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living (Strawdog Theatre), and his solo play, The Happiest Place on Earth (Sideshow Theatre/Greenhouse Theater Center). Philip has won some awards and not won some others. He’s been a fellow at the Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers in Scotland and the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, and has taught playwriting at his alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, Northwestern University and for the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Many of Philip’s plays, including his scripts for young performers, are available through Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatic Publishing. He is currently working on a commission from Children’s Theater Company and an American English translation of Michel Tremblay’s Messe Solennelle Pour Une Pleine Lune D'été for Sideshow Theatre.

Ben is an artistic associate with Sideshow and is overjoyed to be working with this talented group of miscreants once again. He has worked with the likes of the Goodman, the Santa Fe Opera and The History Channel, to name a few. He is currently the associate technical director at Lookingglass Theatre and the production manager at Lifeline Theatre. In his spare time he produces shows in his living room, for aliens and dogs, using only Lego bricks and mini figures.

Gina is a proud artistic associate of Sideshow, where her credits for dramaturgy include Caught, The Burden of Not Having a Tail, The Ugly One, and Theories of the Sun. She has also worked on Mine (The Gift), The Petrified Forest (Strawdog), and The Dream of the Burning Boy (The Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville). She is assistant professor of theatre history and dramaturgy at the University of Tennessee.

Brittany is thrilled to join Sideshow as the company manager! A graduate of the University of Central Florida with degrees in marketing and stage management, her previous work with Sideshow has been as a stage manager on Stupid Fucking Bird, The Golden Dragon and 9 Circles. Other stage management credits include stage management intern on Brigadoon (Goodman Theatre), stage managing Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Gem of the Ocean (UCF), This Is Our Youth, Plaza Hotel Ballroom (Hangar Theatre); As Bees in Honey Drown, tick, tick, BOOM!, Love Letters (Stageworks Theatre), assistant stage managing The Little Mermaid, Suessical, Jr (Hangar Theatre), Veronica’s Room (UCF), and rehearsal stage managing The Little Dog Laughed (Stageworks Theatre).

Melissa DuPrey is an actor, comic, playwright, producer, and activist from Humboldt Park, Chicago. After earning double bachelor's degrees from the University of Houston, she returned to join the all-Latina theatre company, Teatro Luna. Her one-woman show SEXomedy received a Chicago Reader recommendation, a member's pick, and had a successful debut Off-Broadway in New York. Other critically acclaimed solo works include SUSHI-frito, SEXomedy 2.0, which is scheduled for a Steppenwolf debut in April 2019, and Good Grief which was recently awarded funding from the prestigious NALAC foundation and will make its world premiere at Free Street in December 2019. She was selected as a new talent for the 2014 ABC Diversity Showcase in New York City. She has performed stand-up comedy in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. She is a featured actor in the Emmy-nominated web-series Brown Girls. Theatrical credits include work with Court Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Free Street Theater and more. She has been seen on Chicago PD (NBC), and The Chi (Showtime), and is featured in the independent film Two in the Bush, which is currently being screened in film festivals across the nation. She is an ensemble member at UrbanTheater Company, and is the director of production and community relations at Free Street Theater. As a musician and active member of her community, she is dedicated to the preservation of Puerto Rican culture by way of the folkloric music, Bomba y Plena, with Africaribe and Las BomPleneras.

Andrew is an artistic associate with Sideshow Theatre, where his credits include Give It All Back, Mai Dang Lao, and more. Other Chicago credits include: Prowess (Jackalope Theatre), Love & Human Remains (Cor Theatre), Dragons Love Tacos (Emerald City Theatre), Eat Your Heart Out (Rivendell Theatre), The Killing of Michael X ( Jackalope Theatre), The Drunken City (Steppenwolf's 2013 NEXT UP series), Hot 'N' Throbbing (Interrobang Theatre Project), Thirty Thousand One (Pursuit Productions), The Duchess of Malfi (Strawdog Theatre Company), Residue (Buzz22 Chicago), LOW (Slingshot Productions), The Big Meal (American Theatre Company), which won the 2010 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble, Roadkill Confidential (Dog & Pony Theatre Company) and She Loves Me (Writers’ Theatre). He is a graduate from The Theatre School at DePaul University and is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent.

David Lawrence Hamilton's credits include: The Bottle Tree and The Firestorm (Stage Left Theatre); HeLa, truth and reconciliation, Antigonick and The Golden Dragon (Sideshow Theatre); Down Range (Genesis Theatrical Prod); CCX (Modofac Production); A Lesson Before Dying (Lincoln Square Theatre); and To Kill a Mockingbird (Chase Park Theatre).

Michael Huey is a composer who has had the pleasure of working with such companies as Filament Theatre, Sideshow, Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Chicago Dramatists, North Park University, and many others across the city of Chicago. He is an artistic associate of Sideshow Theatre Company.

officialmichaelhuey.com

Noël Huntzinger is a Sideshow artistic associate and has been working with the company since 2012. Favorite spots she has designed include Goodman Theatre, Chicago Lyric Opera Unlimited, Boise Contemporary Theatre, Filament Theatre, About Face Theatre, Pride Arts Theatre, Interrobang Theatre Ensemble, A-Squared, Muse of Fire, Shattered Globe Theatre, and Collective Theatre Ensemble. Noël is a design advisor at The DePaul Theatre School. In addition to theater, she has designed pieces for choreographers Ginny Sykes, Wendy Clinard, the George Balanchine Trust, and the Antony Tudor Trust. Film design credits include Olympia and Cliff. Noël is a graduate of Oklahoma University.

noelhuntzinger.com

Christopher M. LaPorte has collaborated on projects with many Chicago companies including Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Drury Lane, The Hypocrites, TimeLine, Raven, University of Illinois Chicago and Sideshow Theatre Company where he is an artistic associate. Regional collaborations include Kansas City Repertory, Dallas Theatre Center, The Old Globe (San Diego), Center Stage (Baltimore), Arena Stage (Washington, DC), Arsht Theatre Center (Miami), Denver Center for the Performing Arts, NY United Solo Festival.

Helen, a SoCal native, began acting in the expat community theatre scene in Seoul, South Korea and moved to Chicago to begin her professional acting career. Theatre credits include In the Canyon (Jackalope Theatre), You for Me for You (Sideshow Theatre), as a permanent replacement in Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno (Second City's e.t.c. Stage), and American Hwangap (A-Squared/Halcyon Theatre). TV and film credits include The Chi, Empire, Chicago Med, Teacher, and Canal Street. She is a proud member of the all-Asian comedy group Stir Friday Night. Many thanks to everyone at Stewart Talent!

Marti most recently directed The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina for Northlight Theatre Company; Prowess by Ike Holter for Jackalope Theatre Company; Wondrous Strange by Meg Miroshnik, Martyna Majok, Jen Silverman, and Jiehae Park for the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, starring the theatre's Apprentice Company; and a reading of Meg Miroshnik's Lady Tattoo for the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory Theatre. Marti has also directed Will Eno’s Title and Deed for Lookingglass Theatre Company and a reading of Martín Zimmerman's On the Exhale for the New Stages Festival at Goodman Theatre where she received the 2015 Maggio Directing Fellowship. Other projects include Laura Marks’ Bethany, Marks' Mine and Will Nedved’s Body and Blood for The Gift Theatre where she is an ensemble member; Catherine Trieschmann’s Hot Georgia Sunday and Theresa Rebeck's Seminar for Haven Theatre; The Peacock by Calamity West and The Last Duck by Lucas Neff for Jackalope Theatre; The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew for Raven Theatre; Mai Dang Lao by David Jacobi, 9 Circles by Bill Cain, Maria/Stuart by Jason Grote, and co-directed The Golden Dragon for Sideshow Theatre, where she is an artistic associate. Later this season Marti will direct Wit by Margaret Edson for The Hypocrites, Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Mystery of Love and Sex by Bathsheba Doran for Writers Theatre, and Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías for Victory Gardens Theatre. Marti is a proud member of SDC.

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Nina's credits with Sideshow include Chalk, Stupid Fucking Bird, The Ugly One and Heddatron. Nina was most recently seen in The Other Place (Profiles Theatre). Other credits include: Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre Company-Jeff Nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Bedroom Farce, After the Fall, Candles to the Sun and Democracy (Eclipse Theatre Company); Our Town (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Sketchbook 7 - "It's About Time" (Collaboraction) and work with About Face Theatre, Timeline, and Steep Theatre. TV/Film credits include Chicago PD, The Secret Santa, and The Discovery Channel. Nina is a proud graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and Millikin University. She is represented by Stewart Talent and an artistic associate of Sideshow Theatre. Love to Dad, Mom, Patrick, Erin and Erik.

Bruce is an actor and improviser in Chicago. He has a BA in drama and secondary education from The Catholic University of America in DC. He is an ensemble member of ComedySportz Chicago, and has performed with the Washington Shakespeare Company and at the Greenhouse Theater, The Annoyance, Donny's Skybox, iO, and in the Landmark Festival with Prologue Theater Company. Bruce made his Sideshow debut as Florizel in Everything Freezes: another winter's tale directed by Jonathan L. Green. He is also performed in and helped create The Boy Scout Musical: Knot Prepared directed by Mick Napier at The Annoyance Theater last year. He is a touring ensemble member of both Imagination Theater and GreatWorks Theatre Company. Bruce originated the role of Wilbur in the Tony Award-winning musical Hairspray aboard the largest cruise ship in the world - The Oasis of the Seas, with Royal Caribbean International in 2010. He is a Jeff Award winner for artistic specialization for his work designing the robots in Heddatron for Sideshow at the Steppenwolf Garage in 2011. He can currently be seen performing with Hitch*Cocktails, the improvised Hitchcock thriller, directed by Stephanie Vlcek at the new Annoyance Theatre, and weekends at ComedySportz. Learn about upcoming projects at brucetheactor.com.

Cody Proctor is a Sideshow artistic associate. Sideshow credits: Stupid Fucking Bird and Idomeneus. Other credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Henry V, Othello), Oracle Theatre (The Mother), Goodman Theatre (The Iceman Cometh), Theatre Seven (We Live Here, The Water Engine), Red Tape Theatre (Brand), Lifeline Theatre (The Moonstone), and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (Macbeth, Comedy of Errors, Failure: A Love Story, Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream, Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew). Cody is also a company member with Oracle Theatre and Alithea Mime Theatre and is represented by the glorious team at Grossman & Jack Talent.

Gabrielle Randle is a graduate student, director, and dramaturg who is passionate about social justice, storytelling, and the power of performance to change the world. She has a dual BA degree in drama and sociology from Stanford University and an MA degree in performance as public practice at The University of Texas at Austin. She has directed, devised, dramaturged, and produced professionally across the United States in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Austin, and New York City (off-Broadway) and internationally on three continents. In Chicago she has worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Sideshow Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, Victory Gardens Theater and Court Theatre. She is a second year PhD student at Northwestern in the interdisciplinary PhD in theatre and drama.

Regina Victor (they/them/theirs) is a director, multidisciplinary artist, and arts critic. Victor is thrilled to join Sideshow Theatre as an artistic associate, having previously developed HeLa (dramaturg), Pro-Am (director), and Christmas at Home (dramaturg) through the Sideshow Freshness Initiative. Victor has helped develop world premieres by Antoinette Nwandu (Breach:...), Brett Neveu (To Catch a Fish), Sarah Ruhl and Morgan McNaught (A Persephone Pageant), and Loy Webb (The Light)  among others. Recent credits include assistant directing The Roommate and Familiar at Steppenwolf Theatre, Pipeline at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and dramaturging Too Heavy for Your Pocket and To Catch a Fish with Timeline Theatre. Other collaborations include: Victory Gardens Theater, About Face, Writers Theatre, Shattered Globe, The New Colony, Walkabout Theatre, and California Shakespeare Theatre. As a critic, their writing can be found at HowlRound, American Theatre Magazine, The Windy City Times and on Rescripted (www.rescripted.org), the arts journalism platform they founded in 2017.

Calamity West is a Chicago-based, award-winning playwright. Her plays have appeared at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout, Goodman, Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, and TimeLine. In 2014 Calamity was recipient of the 3Arts Award. She teaches playwriting at the University of Chicago and Webster University. She is a company member at Jackalope Theatre Company and an artistic associate of Sideshow Theatre Company. Calamity holds a BA in dramatic writing from Webster University and an MFA in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She is represented by ICM Partners. Additional plays by Calamity include: The Retribution Play (2019); Christmas at Home (2019); Greetings from Moscow! A Love Story (2018); In the Canyon (2018); Hinter (2018); Engines and Instruments of Flight (2016); Give It All Back (2016); Rolling (2016); Ibsen Is Dead (2014); The Peacock (2013); and The Gacy Play (2012).

Ellen Willett is thrilled to be working with Sideshow again after such fun with Antigonick, Mai Dang Lao, The Happiest Place on Earth, You for Me for You, and Tilikum. She is an artistic associate with Sideshow, Steep, and Remy Bumppo, a company member with The Inconvenience, and regularly makes theatre and events with the talented folks at Definition, The Fly Honey Show, Strawdog, the Grant Park Music Festival, and many more. For fun, she plays hockey with the South Side Storm, fosters hound dogs, and takes any opportunity to sail on the lake.

Brian Pastor has served as the founding executive director and artistic director of Promethean Theatre Ensemble, as well as resident director at City Lit Theater. Brian previously served as executive director of Raven Theatre and, prior to that, spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit Theater, the last nine as managing director. They are also a former board and company member of The Mime Company and a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. For the past 15 months, Brian has served as chief operating officer of We All Code, a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to teaching coding and web development skills to under-served youth.

Matt Fletcher proudly serves as producing artistic director of Sideshow Theatre Company, where he was last seen in Tilikum, Give It All Back, and both iterations of Stupid Fucking Bird. Other performance credits include Idomeneus (Jeff Award - Best Ensemble), The Golden Dragon, Mai Dang Lao, Tyrant, Heddatron, Theories of the Sun, Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), and others (Sideshow Theatre Company); The Killer Angels (Lifeline Theatre); Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens); Common Hatred (The Ruckus); As Told by the Vivian Girls (Dog & Pony); Chicago Fire (NBC) and two seasons with The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, NC. Matt received his BA in drama at the University of Virginia. Love always to his wife Katy!

Nate has worked in Chicago with Sideshow (Antigonick, Stupid Fucking Bird, Maria/Stuart, Idomeneus, Strangerland at Chicago Fringe Fest 2011, and Heddatron), the Goodman (Carlyle, New Stages Festival 2014), 16th Street Theatre (Pinoklandia), Jackalope Theatre Company (The Peacock), and The Ruckus (Common Hatred at RhinoFest). He has worked with Ensemble Studio Theatre (NYC) and in 2007 at the Hangar Theatre (Ithaca) as a member of the Lab Company. Nate graduated in 2008 from the University of Virginia with a degree in drama and a minor in Afro American studies. He graduated high school in Guatemala City and grew up in Latin America. He is proud to be an ensemble member with Sideshow where he treads the boards as Charlie No Pants for the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers and helms Sideshow's new play development program, The Freshness Initiative. Nate sends love to his family, the gutter, the dirt, the youth of America and to Elizabeth Anne.

B. L. Panther is a Midwest native and degree-carrying folklorist. Alongside their work with Sideshow, they are also a regular film and television critic at TheSpool.net and can frequently be found performing at Second City's longest running storytelling showcase: We Have Questions.

Zach has been involved with Sideshow since 2016, initially as an intern and later as literary associate. They are a writer and director, having worked on Double Vision (Underscore Theatre Company), Bicycle Thieves (Littlebrain Theatre/RhinoFest), Grand Hotel (Kokandy Productions), Saint Joan (Poetic Forum Collective), Chicago Dramatists’ Playwrights Aloud series, and others. They also created the criticism site The Hanslick Girls, and the video essay series “And Now, They Sing.”  Zach holds a BA from Northwestern University. You can find them at the above social links, or on the New Play Exchange.

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Justin is a director, dramaturg, and producer originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He was the production dramaturg on the world premiere of HeLa at Sideshow. His other collaborations have been with Goodman Theatre, The New Colony, Eclipse Theatre Company, Pride Films & Plays, Steep Theatre, Prop Theatre, Red Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Orlando International Fringe Festival, and Walt Disney Imagineering. Justin is a festival adjudicator for the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild and a nominator for The Kilroys List. His education includes a BFA in theatre, training at the Tennessee Williams Institute, and an internship in literary management and dramaturgy at Goodman Theatre. As an artist, Justin is focused on exploring how the history of the American theatre can influence the future of it.

justinjsacramone.com

Geoff Bridges is an actuary at Segal Consulting.  He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and graduated from Reed College with a degree in mathematics in 1990.  Geoff joined the Sideshow Theatre board in 2018 after participating in the Arts and Business Council of Chicago’s Onboard program.  Geoff enjoys exploring Chicago, bridge tournaments, juggling, snowboarding and hanging out with his pack of dogs as well as the big boss, Tofu the cat.

Janet Burroway is the author of plays, poetry, children’s books, and eight novels including The Buzzards, Raw Silk, Opening Nights, Cutting Stone (all Notable Books of The New York Times Book Review), and most recently Bridge of Sand. Her plays have received readings and productions in Chicago, New York, London, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her Writing Fiction, now in its ninth edition, is the most widely used creative writing text in America, and Imaginative Writing is in its fourth edition. She is author of the memoir Losing Tim (Think Piece Press, 2014). Winner of the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in Writing from the Florida Humanities Council, she is Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Florida State University.

janetburroway.com

Frances Gecker is one of the founding partners of FrankGecker. Prior to founding FrankGecker, she was a partner at Jenner & Block and co-managing partner of the insolvency practice at Freeborn & Peters and Neil, Gerber & Eisenberg. She represents and counsels financial institutions, trusts, corporations, creditors’ committees and investors in commercial law, restructuring and insolvency issues.

Jonathan has been the artistic director of Sideshow Theatre since its founding in 2007. He has directed and assisted for Sideshow, Greenhouse Theater Center, Lookingglass, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Diversionary Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Seven of Chicago and Pavement Group. Recent projects include X, HeLa, truth and reconciliation (Jeff Award nomination for direction), The Happiest Place on Earth, Antigonick, Stupid Fucking Bird, Idomeneus (Jeff Award for ensemble), and others. Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Virginia and is the literary manager for Goodman Theatre, where his recent dramaturgy credits include Roe, How to Catch Creation, Blind Date, Objects in the Mirror, Gloria, War Paint, and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.

jonathanlgreen.com

Brian Pastor has served as the founding executive director and the artistic director of Promethean Theatre Ensemble, as well as resident director at City Lit Theater. Brian previously served as executive director of Raven Theatre and, prior to that, spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit Theater, the last nine as managing director. They are also a former board and company member of The Mime Company and a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. For the past 15 months, Brian has served as chief operating officer of We All Code, a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to teaching coding and web development skills to under-served youth.

Megan is a founding ensemble member for Sideshow Theatre. She served as the company's executive director from 2007 - 2016. She works with Sideshow Theatre directing world or Chicago premieres (Chalk, Tyrant, The Burden of Not Having a Tail, Theories of the Sun, Ekphrasis: Cave Walls to Soup Cans), and with Southern Illinois University (Joan's Laughter). Megan recently directed We Are Very Small, a sketch comedy show written by Tom McGuane at iO Chicago, and the world premiere of Target Behavior by Caity-Shea Violette with 20% Theater Company. Megan wrestles from time to time as The Cutting Edge for the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW). She is a proud graduate of the Catholic University of America.

Karen Walters is Senior Director, Compensation for USG Corporation, where she is responsible for the strategy, design, implementation, and administration of base pay, short-term incentive, long-term equity, and recognition programs. Responsibilities span domestic and international locations as well as executive compensation, proxy reporting, Board matters and other total rewards matters. Prior to joining USG, Karen worked for a number of large companies such as Aon Hewitt, Arthur Andersen, Sears and Sprint. Karen is a former executive board member of the Chicago Compensation Association (CCA).

Karen is an active member of the Conference Board Council on Compensation, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), Global Equity Organization (GEO), Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), WorldatWork and International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plan.

Karen received her MBA from University of Notre Dame and holds a BS from Westminster College. She is an equestrian enthusiast and passionate about travel, skiing and the theatre (of course!).