Jacob G. Padrón and Aaron Carter Join Steppenwolf’s Artistic Staff

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announces that Jacob G. Padrón will join Steppenwolf Theatre Company's artistic staff as Associate Producer and Aaron Carter will become the company's new Literary Manager. Padrón will play a key role in supporting productions in Steppenwolf's Garage Series including First Look Repertory of New Work, Garage Rep and NEXT UP, as well as other ancillary programming. Carter will be instrumental in reviewing and cultivating news plays for the Steppenwolf stage, as well as various aspects of audience engagement including post-show discussions, podcasts and the Steppenwolf blog. Both will work closely with Artistic Producer Rebecca Rugg to deepen Steppenwolf's commitment to the development of new plays, new artists and new audiences.

"We are thrilled to have Jacob and Aaron joining Steppenwolf's Artistic team," comments Rugg. "Both are rising leaders in contemporary theater and bring considerable knowledge with them. Aaron is well-versed in Chicago theater; he represents a local sensibility and is also known in the community as a champion of playwrights and new work. Jacob's work in Oregon as a producer and cultivator of new voices will be an invaluable asset in our Garage programming," adds Rugg.

BIOGRAPHIES

Jacob G. Padrón is a producer and director, who has served as an Associate Producer at Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 2007. At OSF, he was instrumental in producing twelve shows performed in repertory each season and spearheaded the commissioning and development of new musicals. Jacob was formerly the Managing Director of Yale Cabaret in New Haven, Connecticut and produced over 20 new works as a part of the theatre's 40th anniversary season. In the fall of 2006, Jacob co-produced Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays for Center Theatre Group, a collaboration that included over 50 Los Angeles theatre companies. His directing credits include Luis Valdez' Los Vendidos (The Sellouts), Little Shop of Horrors, See What I Wanna See and Grace, Or the Art of Climbing (reading). Jacob has worked with Yale Repertory Theatre, Baltimore CENTERSTAGE and El Teatro Campesino. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University (BA) and Yale School of Drama (MFA), Jacob is also the proud co-founder of Tilted Field Productions, an ensemble based company committed to producing story-driven projects in theatre, film, TV and new media.

Aaron Carter is a new play developer, literary manager and playwright. He has served as the Literary Manager at Victory Gardens Theater for nearly four years, where he played a key role in the IGNITION Festival, and was involved in the production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Year Zero, Love Person and Living Green, among others. As a new play developer and dramaturg, Aaron has worked with many theaters and labs including WordBRIDGE, the Kennedy Center, Timeline Theater, Route 66 and Chicago Dramatists. Aaron also teaches courses in playwriting, dramaturgy and dramatic literature at Northwestern University, De Paul University, Roosevelt University and Grinnell College. Aaron graduated from Ohio University with an MFA in Dramatic Writing where he studied under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. As a playwright, Aaron's work focuses on race, faith and obscure performance skills. His latest play, Start Fair in The Common Race, was presented in a workshop production in the "What's Next Lab" at Next Theater in Evanston. Aaron's work also appeared in Theater Seven's Chicago Landmark Project.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL (Martha Lavey, Artistic Director; David Hawkanson, Executive Director) is where great acting meets big ideas. Our passion is to tell stories about how we live now. Our mission is to engage audiences in an exchange of ideas that makes us think harder, laugh longer, feel more. The company was formed in 1976 by a collective of actors and is dedicated to an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through ongoing group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned ensemble of 43 artists who represent a remarkable generation of actors, directors and playwrights. For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org, www.facebook.com/SteppenwolfTheatre and www.twitter.com/SteppenwolfThtr.