Spencer Ryan Diedrick, Chicago Theatre Director

I am a Chicago-based theatre director, with a focus on new play development and community engagement. I have spent over a decade in the Chicago storefront scene and learned much from some of the best directors around: Robin Witt, Jamal Howard, Jon Berry, Nick Bowling. I embody my core values of honesty/transparency, “epic yet intimate”, “process over product”, and “no half measures” to shape effective and responsible theatrical works. Through rigorous discussion and play, I cultivate compassionate rooms that feature underrepresented and original voices at the forefront of artistic conversations, whether by showcasing a rising playwright or illuminating an undervalued work on a local stage. In collaboration with a network of theatre-makers from a myriad of overlapping practices and backgrounds, I strive to create works of accessible, empathetic, and imaginative storytelling.