Martha Lavey

MARTHA LAVEY, Artistic Director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1995-2015

“Under her transformative leadership, Steppenwolf became a national leader in producing new plays and commissioning playwrights.”  With dozens of Steppenwolf productions going to Broadway and abroad, she “gained national and international recognition for the company and Chicago as a vital theater destination. During her tenure Steppenwolf was awarded the National Medal of the Arts – the only theater to ever receive the honor, as well as the Illinois Arts Legend Award and nine of the company’s 12 Tony Awards.  She established several programs including:  Steppenwolf for Young Adults, the Professional Leadership for emerging arts managers, The First Look Rep of New Work for plays in development.  Lavey was named on of the “100 Most Powerful People” by Chicago Magazine twice, selected one of the city’s “10 Most Powerful Women in the Arts,” by the Chicago Sun-Times and awarded the title of “2010 Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune.  While serving as Artistic Director, she performed in more than 30 Steppenwolf productions, as well as performing. at the Goodman, Victory Gardens, & Northlight.  A recipient of the Sarah Siddons Award, she earned a doctorate in Performance Studies from Northwestern.  In addition to the Alumnae Award, she received an Alumni Merit Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University.  Born in 1957, she passed away in 2017. " (Steppenwolf.)