Photos: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG in Rehearsal at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company will launch its 51st Season with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Topdog/Underdog, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon.
Steppenwolf Assistant Directing Program
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
$4,120 per production (2026-27 season)
Program details
- Organization
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company
- Category
- Directing
- Disciplines
- Directing
- Format
- Development program
- Career stage
- Emerging
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Duration
- Per production (first rehearsal through opening, approx. 6 weeks)
- Stipend / award
- $4,120 per production (2026-27 season)
- Typical deadline
- Rolling (2026-27 form currently open; closes when positions filled)
Overview
Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Assistant Directing program hires early-career directors on a rolling basis to assist on each of its mainstage productions, with Chicago-based applicants (12+ months in the city) prioritized. Assistants work full time from first rehearsal through tech and most previews and may be invited to paid understudy rehearsals and other events; the per-production rate for 2026-27 is $4,120. It is not a formal fellowship but a structured paid pathway, with the 2026-27 application form currently open.
Eligibility
Early-career directors; local Chicago applicants (based in Chicago 12+ months) prioritized.
Notes
Not a formal fellowship but Steppenwolf's structured paid pathway for early-career directors. 2026-27 productions include Topdog/Underdog (Kenny Leon), Adirondack Chair Circle (Pam MacKinnon), The Comeuppance (Tina Landau), Ellen B. (Whitney White), The Night Fawn (Terry Kinney). Steppenwolf's BIPOC Fellowship program is administrative/apprenticeship-based, paid minimum wage plus stipend.
Contact
- pzakem@steppenwolf.org (Program-specific)
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