CO-FOUNDER, STEPPENWOLF WEST

A member of The Steppenwolf ensemble since 1979. He has acted in or directed over 50 Steppenwolf productions. Stage highlights with Steppenwolf include: Balm In Gilead (also Off-Broadway), Aunt Dan and Lemon, Tracers, You Can't Take It With You, Hedda Gabler, My Thing Of Love (also Broadway), Frank's Wild Years, Space, Domesticated, Parallelogram (also Los Angeles), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Grapes Of Wrath (also La Jolla, London) Lydie Breeze (also Sydney, Perth) The Homecoming, The Hothouse, We All Went Down to Amsterdam, And A Nightingail Sang, Three Sisters, The Seafarer (also Los Angeles). Other productions include: Fiction (Roundabout Theatre Co- N.Y.), New England (Manhatten Theatre Club- N.Y.), Misha's Party (Williamstown Festival- Mass), Pyrenees (Kirk Douglass- LA), Much Ado About Nothing (Kirk Douglas- LA), Up For Grabs (Wyndham's Theatre- London). Directing highlights include: Stage Struck, Your Home In The West, King Lear, Miss Julie, Night Mother, Beyond Therapy, Richard II. TV/Film include: My So-Called Life, Devious Maids, The Morning Show, Related, My Life and Times, Midnight Run, Decieved, Light of Day, 21 Grams, Marley And Me, Amsterdam. He's been on the faculty of Columbia College, DePaul University and The School at Steppenwolf.

CO-FOUNDER, STEPPENWOLF WEST

Co-Founder Steppenwolf Theatre, The School At Steppenwolf, Steppenwolf Classes West and Steppenwolf Films . He has acted in and directed over 40 Steppenwolf productions, Stage highlights include: Time of your life (Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle), Grapes of Wrath (Broadway, London), The Caretaker (Chicago, Broadway), August: Osage County (Chicago, Broadway, London, Sydney), Tribes (off-Broadway), Streamers (Kennedy Center), Picaso At The Lapin Agil, Anna Christie (Los Angeles). Directing highlights include: Krapp's Last Tape, The Homecoming, The Hothouse, Educating Rita, A Steady Rain. Television highlights include: Nash Bridges, Grey's Anatomy, Scandle, $1, Dirty John, Inventing Anna, Alaska Daily. He recieved and honorary doctorate from Illinois State University in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the field of theatre, He is a Co-Producer The Steppenwolf Theatre Film Documentary for PBS AMERICAN MASTERS (Spring of 2026)

Shannon Cochran has been closely associated with Steppenwolf Theatre for over 30 years, having appeared in many plays there, and has taught and directed at the School at Steppenwolf in Chicago. While pursuing her tv and film career in LA, she was one of the original SteppWest instructors. She is a veteran of stages large and small all over the country, as well as commercials, audiobooks and industrials. Shannon has an Obie Award for the role she originated in Bug. She also did the world premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2, as well as the first national tours of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cabaret and August: Osage County. Most recently, she appeared in POTUS at the Geffen and Appropriate and The Little Foxes at South Coast Repertory. She can be seen on the upcoming Amazon series “Ballard” and the feature film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.