DIRECTOR.   PRODUCER.   EDUCATOR.   ADVOCATE.

Kristin L. Schoenback (she/her) is a Chicago-based director, educator, and advocate, dedicated to work that practices generosity and empathy. She is interested in the intersection of art and its community, looking for ways that theatre can not only inspire through entertainment, but can make real action in its community. She tends to gravitate toward narratives that disrupt our thoughts about class and gender structures, especially with regards to the spaces that women hold.

Her work is ensemble driven and explores the spaces in between and unspoken. Through the collision of various mediums, often exploring through movement and physical feats, her work elevates the visual metaphor of the story. She gravitates towards adaptations and new work that plays with language and structure, challenging how we interpret stories. Kristin is invested in amplifying voices that have been pushed to the sidelines such as women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and the working-class. She is learning what is is to take up space in an otherwise patriarchal world, all while pursuing generosity, empathy, and justice. 

Obsessed with Priya Parker's THE ART OF THE GATHERING, Kristin values the spaces we work in as artists and how we commune with each other in the world.  The generosity and empathy that draws her in narratively, leads the way she works in the room. 'Our process is just as - if not more so - important as our product. It is our responsibility on this earth to care for one another, and create a space that reminds us that what we do as artists, is create something to give away. Our work should both awe and honor the guests.'  

​

She serves as co-founder and artistic director of project-based collective, Cats Cradle Theatre. Some notable directing credits include THE ALMOST EMPEROR OF THE UNOFFICAL DEESTRICK OF LAKE MICHIGAN, THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (Cats Cradle), TITUS ANDRONICUS (The Collective), TAME THAT B!#@h (Arkansas Shakespeare), A LONG WAY TO TIPPERARY (Valiant), MACHINAL (Lake Forest), & OEDIPUS, A CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (Illinois State). She has worked with such companies as Book-It Repertory Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, The House Theatre and the Hypocrites. She has also worked intimately with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival where she co-conceived their programming for educational outreach, including their short Shakespeare touring company which travels to community centers, schools, and prisons. She holds her MFA in directing from Illinois State University, and her BA from Concordia University. She is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union.