Remy Bumppo Reveals 2024 Associate Artists

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, launching its 2024 - 2025 season with Dear Elizabeth, October 17 - November 17, at Theater Wit, has announced its slate of new Associate Artists. The 2024 Associate Artists are John Boesche, Mikael Burke, Jean E. Compton, Addoris Davis, Liz Gomez, Gregory Graham, Amanda Herrmann, Kotryna Hilko, Lauren M. Nichols, Abhi Shresthaand Anna Vu. Additional information may be found at RemyBumppo.org. 

“Remy Bumppo's Associate Artists are repeat collaborators who specialize in design and production,” said Artistic Director Marti Lyons, “These artists are key to our standard of excellence and drivers of the aesthetics for which we are known. I am thrilled to welcome these collaborators to Remy Bumppo.” 

The new roster of artists joins current members Mike Durst, Kristy Leigh Hall, Yeaji Kim, Christopher Kriz, Joe Schermoly and Ellen Willett.  

The 2024 Associate Artists are, in alphabetical order:

John Boesche (he/him/his) is a media artist and theatre designer who has collaborated with artists in live, theatre, dance, installations, performance art, music and opera for more than 250 professional productions. His emphasis has always been on how media supports the essential “liveness” of the performance. Regional theatre credits include the Arizona Theatre Company, Asolo Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Court Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Museum of Contemporary Art, New York Shakespeare Festival, Roundabout Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare at the Folger, South Coast Repertory, Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Theater On The Square. In 2019 Mr. Boesche was commissioned to create “7 Soliloquies,” a suite of short theatre/media works projected on the Merchandise Mart to celebrate the city’s “Year of Chicago Theatre.” He is chair of digital media for live performance at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

Mikael Burke (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based director, deviser and educator. A Princess Grace Award-winner in theatre and Jeff Award-winning director, his recent credits include: Milo Imagines The World by Christian Magby, Christian Albrigh and Terry Guest (Chicago Children's Theatre, world premiere); King James by Rajiv Joseph (Forward Theatre); Oak by Terry Guest (Urbanite Theatre, world premiere); Othello by William Shakespeare (Theatreworks Colorado Springs); Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet(Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Notes from the Field by Anna Deveare Smith (TimeLine Theatre, Chicago premiere); The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers (Yale Repertory Theatre, world premiere); Tambo & Bones by Dave Harris (Refracted Theatre Company, Chicago premiere, winner of eight Jeff Awards); Blues For An Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); The Magnolia Balletby Terry Guest (About Face Theatre, Chicago premiere, winner of two Jeff Awards) and Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (Theaterworks Hartford). Burke is also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University and Roosevelt University. He received his MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Jean E. Compton (she/her/hers) is a stage manager, collaborator and new works booster. Compton has stage managed five productions with Remy Bumppo including, Dear Elizabeth, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Galileo’s Daughter, Anna in the Tropics and Passage. Other Chicago credits include The Brightest Thing in the World (About Face Theatre), Paradise Square (Pre-Broadway), Thirst (Strawdog Theatre Company), The Death of Gaia Divine (Momentary Theatre), 3:35PM, Candide and Mudpie 2018(Mudlark Theater Company), You for Me for You (Sideshow Theatre Company), Lizzie (Firebrand Theatre), Shining Lives (Northlight) and The Miscellany, All-One! The Dr. Bronner’s Play and Spirits to Enforce (Passage Theatre). Her regional credits include six summers at Chautauqua Theater Company (Birthday Candles, Cannabis Passover, Proximity, Indecent, Blood at the Root, Commedia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Into the Breeches!, An Octoroon) as well as Into the Breeches! (Cleveland Play House), Venus in Fur and The Whale (Rep Stage) and seasons at Two River Theater and Cleveland Play House. She is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Addoris Davis (they/them/theirs) is a theatre artist and technician based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they are currently serving as the production manager at the Florentine Opera. Their training includes a B.A. in technical theatre from the University of Alaska. Chicago credits include production management for The Jigsaw Bride, The Secret Council, Jeeves Intervenes, Little Women and Neither Have I Wings To Fly (First Folio Theatre), Anna in the Tropics (co-production manager), Galileo’s Daughter, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Love Song and Dear Elizabeth (Remy Bumppo), 37th Young Playwrights Festival and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (Pegasus Theatre Chicago), Cymbeline and Romeo and Juliet (Midsommer Flight), and Lifeline Theatre’s From the Mississippi Delta, Cat’s Cradle, Fillet of Solo, Skunk and Badger and Native Son. They are also a playwright, with their work chosen for a stage reading at the Valdez Theatre Conference.

Liz Gomez (she/her/hers) is a Chicago based lighting designer who has collaborated with Remy Bumppo on a number of projects. Lighting design credits include: Passageand Love Song. Gomez has also assisted on: Blues for an Alabama Sky, Galileo’s Daughter and Routes. She has designed lights for various companies around Chicago, including: Raven Theatre, Free Street Theatre, Visión Latino Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, University of Illinois Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University. She has a BA in theatre design from Columbia College Chicago.

Gregory Graham (he/him/his) is a Chicago Costume Designer and milliner. His credits include: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (Court Theatre); Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, Dream: A Community Reimagining of A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Mothers (Gift Theater) The Writer(Steep Theatre); Blues for an Alabama Sky, Anna in the Tropics, Routes (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); The Porch on Windyhill, Garbologists, Fireflies (Northlight Theatre); Once (Writers Theatre); Is God Is (A Red Orchid Theatre); From the Mississippi Delta (Lifeline Theatre); A Mile in the Dark (Interronbang Theatre Project); The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Theo); 1919 (Steppenwolf Theatre); Enough to Let The Light In (Teatro Vista); Private Lives (Raven Theatre); Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, Rent, Porchlight Revisits: Passing Strange (Porchlight Music Theatre); On the Greenbelt, Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog Theatre); The Facts of Life: Satan’s School for Girls, The Drag Seed (Hell in a Handbag Productions). Regional: The Wiz (Children’s Theatre of Madison); 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. 

Amanda Herrmann (they/them/theirs) is thrilled to be joining Remy Bumppo as an associate artist. Amanda is a fourth generation carpenter and a Jeff award-winning prop designer in the city of Chicago. Herrmann will be working on the upcoming production of Art by Yasmina Reza. Previously, they have designed props on Love Song, Routes, Galileo’s Daughter, Top Girls, Frankenstein, Hang, Pirandello's Henry IVand Fallen Angels. Other Chicago credits include: Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon, Her Honor Jane Byrne, Frankenstein, Acts of God, Steadfast Tin Soldier, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Plantation, Hard Times, Beyond Caring, Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth, Life Sucks and Moby Dick (Lookingglass Theatre); Anna Karenina (Joffrey Ballet); How to be a Rock Critic (Steppenwolf Theater); Book of Will and Miss Bennet (Northlight Theater). Herrmann is a graduate of Ripon College with a BA in theater and art.

Kotryna Hilko (she/her/hers) is a Chicago based costume and set designer, her credits include Dear Elizabeth and Love Song (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Peter and the Starcatcher (Paramount Theatre), In Quietness, Revolution, Killing Game, The Room and The Haven Place (A Red Orchid Theatre), Lifespan of a Fact (TimeLine Theater Company), Tambo and Bones (Refracted Theatre Company, Jeff nominated), How Blood Go (Congo Square Theatre), Caroline, or Change (Firebrand Theatre), Byhalia Mississippi (Definition Theatre Company and The New Colony), andKiss (Haven Theatre). She received her MFA in stage design from Northwestern University. 

Lauren M. Nichols (she/her/hers) is a freelance designer, C.A.D. draftsman and model builder native to Chicago. Credits include productions with Writers Theatre, Steppenwolf, Paramount, Marriott, Rivendell, Village Theatre in Seattle UIC, University of Chicago, Lifeline, Victory Gardens, DePaul Opera, Jackalope, Harper College, Glass Apple, Young People's Theatre, Chicago Children's Theatre, Shattered Globe, Renaissance Theatreworks in Milwaukee, The Gift Theatre, Firebrand, Hell In a Handbag, Teatro Vista, Raven and BoHo. Her scenic designs for Remy Bumppo's Anna in the Tropics and Blues for An Alabama Sky were both Jeff nominated. As an associate she has worked with dozens of companies all over the country including Court, Julliard, NY Theatre Workshop, Drury Lane, St. Louis Opera, Goodman, Milwaukee Rep and The Alliance. She currently teaches drafting and digital design as an adjunct professor at The Theatre School-DePaul University. She is the recipient of the 2024 Michael Maggio Award for Emerging Designers and has an MFA from Northwestern University.  

Abhi Shrestha (they/them/theirs) is a Chicago based theatre educator, director and dramaturg originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. They are the director of education and engagement at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, resident dramaturg and community organizer for the Chicago Inclusion Project and a proud board member of the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health. Shrestha has spent more than seven years cultivating a theatrical and administrative practice that champions youth agency and empowerment. They believe deeply in the liberatory power of arts education and views theatre as a civic engagement modality.

Anna Vu (she/her/hers) is a Chicago-based stage manager originally from Atlanta, GA. Remy Bumppo credits include: Love Song, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Galileo’s Daughter. Select Chicago credits include: Coronation (Refracted Theatre Company), The Odyssey with A.B.L.E. and Richard III (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Carouseland Mel Brooks’ The Producers (Music Theater Works), Toni Stone (Goodman Theatre), Buried Child and The Language Archive (AstonRep), Festival of Unfinished Work (Bramble Theatre Company), The F*ck House, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (2022) and Tarot Card Play (Strawdog Theatre Company). Some regional theatre credits include: Murder on the Orient Express and Over the River and Through the Woods (Cortland Repertory Theatre) and Pericles and The Comedy of Errors (Utah Shakespeare Festival). She received a BFA in theatre management from Auburn University. 

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