Roxanna Conner

Roxanna Conner (she/her) is the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University, which offers undergraduate degree programs in Acting, Dance, Design & Technology, and Theatre Studies; and graduate degrees in Acting and Design & Technology. She has served as a leader of education and community initiatives for several organizations, including Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, Congo Square Theatre, and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), where she developed programs for students and lifelong learners. Her directing credits include the upcoming for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is efuf and Prowess (NIU), Voices of Tomorrow (Victory Gardens Theater), Empathy (CLIMB Theatre), and as Assistant Director for How I Learned What I Learned and The Nativity Tribute (Congo Square Theatre), CPS Shakespeare: Macbeth and CPS Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre).

 

As a producer in Chicago, her credits include Cullud Wattah, In Every Generation, Voices of Tomorrow, and the Regional Emmy-nominated Where Did We Sit on the Bus? at Victory Gardens Theatre. She also produced the development workshops of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner Primary Trust by Eboni Booth and live-looping hop-hop musical Mexodus by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson as part of the Ignite Chicago Festival of New Plays (Victory Gardens Theater). In her role at NIU, she produces eight plays and two dance concerts each academic year. Roxanna has led residencies and workshops on Shakespeare, August Wilson, and Devised Theatre in many institutions, including Chicago Public Schools and the Antalya International Theatre Festival (Antalya, Türkiye).