Principal Staff
» Steven Woolf, Artistic Director
» Mark Bernstein, Managing Director
» Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director
Steven Woolf, Artistic Director
Steven Woolf (Artistic Director) received his BA in theatre and MFA in directing from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an honorary doctorate by the University of Missouri St. Louis. He is one of the first recipients of Webster University’s Declaration of Merit.
Last season, he was awarded the Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Direction for his work on The Rep’s production of Red, and his production of Awake and Sing! at The New Jewish Theatre tied with Red for the Kevin Kline Award for Best Production of a Play.
His past direction at The Rep includes You Can’t Take It With You, The Diary of Anne Frank, Frost/Nixon, The History Boys, The Pillowman, Humble Boy, Pirandello’s Henry IV, The Retreat From Moscow, The Crucible, blue/orange, Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Copenhagen, The Shape of Things, ART, Dinner With Friends, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Closer, Death of a Salesman, Betrayal, As Bees in Honey Drown, Skylight, A Question of Mercy, Arcadia, The Life of Galileo, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, The Living, Death and the Maiden, Six Degrees of Separation, Sight Unseen, Other People’s Money, Terra Nova, Dog Logic, The Voice of the Prairie, Company and A Life in the Theatre. He directed the critically acclaimed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Great Lakes Theatre Festival in Cleveland. For the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University he has directed Angels in America–Part One, Two Rockin’ Gents, Jeffrey and The Crucible. For Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre he directed The Sunshine Boys, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Camelot, Crimes of the Heart, Driving Miss Daisy, Wait Until Dark, Lion in Winter, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Born Yesterday, The Boys Next Door, The Dresser and most recently, The Diary of Anne Frank. His production of The Voice of the Prairie has been seen at Totem Pole Playhouse and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where he directed The Crucible, honored as Best Play in the region by two major critical award panels, Skylight and The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He has directed plays such as The Physicists, The Fantasticks, U.S.A., The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Stop the World I Want To Get Off, Jacques Brel is Alive..., and many others around the country.
While in New York he served as the project producer of the original productions of The Robber Bridegroom and The Red Blue-Grass Western Flyer Show and was co-producer of Tom Griffin’s Workers. Off-Off-Broadway he directed Impulse and Chicken Soup and worked on The Acting Company’s Broadway season at the Billy Rose Theatre. Stock work has taken him to places such as Lakewood Musical Playhouse, Ivoryton and Cecilwood Theatres. He has worked in major regional theatres including long-term residencies at the world famous Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and at StageWest in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is thrilled to have been honored by the Arts and Education Council which awarded him the St. Louis Arts Award for Individual Excellence in the Arts, and by the Missouri Citizens for the Arts which awarded The Rep its Arts Award for Advocacy, and he is pleased to be among the first recipients of “The Good Guy Award” given by the St. Louis Women’s Political Caucus.
He served as a panelist and an on-site evaluator for the theatre program for the National Endowment for the Arts and served on the advisory panel for the Regional Arts Commission and the ad hoc committees for program assistance and touring for the Missouri Arts Council. He served on the executive committee and the national negotiating committee for the League of Resident Theatres, as well as on the board of Missouri Citizens for the Arts, and he is a trustee of the IATSE Local #6 health fund. He has been on the faculty of the Drama Division of the Juilliard School under John Houseman and is adjunct faculty at Webster University. He served on the board of the Kevin Kline Awards.
Mark Bernstein, Managing Director
Mark Bernstein (Managing Director) is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has managed nonprofit professional theatres since 1982. Since he assumed the management leadership of The Rep in 1987, the theatre has enjoyed growth and stability, strong community support, and responsible financial management. New programming initiatives have included enhanced educational programs and the introduction of the Off-Ramp series.
Favorite shows from 25 seasons at The Rep include Candide, The Voice of the Prairie, Terra Nova, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Six Degrees of Separation, Young Rube, The Living, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, The Life of Galileo, Arcadia, Sweeney Todd, An Ideal Husband, Into the Woods, Inherit the Wind, Proof, The Crucible, Take Me Out, The Little Dog Laughed, Souvenir, Crime and Punishment, Red, Sunday in the Park with George, and, of course, the great Shaw plays: Saint Joan, Pygmalion and Man and Superman.
He has been active in the leadership of the League of Resident Theatres, having served as vice president for three years, an executive committee member for more than 10 years, and as a member of numerous national negotiating committees. He has taught in Webster University’s Arts Leadership Program and in the Nonprofit Management Center at Washington University, has served on the board of directors of the Arts and Education Council and on the citizens advisory panel for the Regional Arts Commission. Before coming to St. Louis, he spent six years at the Philadelphia Drama Guild and taught financial management for nonprofit arts institutions at Drexel University.
He is a Sondheim fanatic, and travels the world in search of the perfect Sweeney Todd, the best goat cheese tarts and the best chocolate desserts. His list of the best chocolate desserts can be found on The Rep's website.
Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director
Seth Gordon (Associate Artistic Director) is in his third season with The Rep. This season he will direct Good People on the mainstage and Venus in Fur in the Studio series. Previously at The Rep he has directed Next Fall, The Fall of Heaven and the world premiere of The Invisible Hand. He has also created the Ignite! New Play Festival which will enjoy its second series in the spring.
Previously, he spent nine seasons in the same capacity at the Cleveland Play House. At the Play House, he produced FusionFest, a performing arts festival, and the Next Stage Festival of New Plays. His Play House directing credits include Dinner with Friends, Proof, Forest City (world premiere), Vincent in Brixton, Tuesdays with Morrie, A Christmas Story, RFK, Of Mice and Men, The Chosen, Doubt, The Lady with All the Answers, Inherit the Wind, Bill W. and Dr. Bob and A Soldier’s Tale, which featured a rarely produced libretto by Kurt Vonnegut. He has directed in Cleveland for Dobama Theatre, the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival and the Beck Center for the Arts. Elsewhere he has directed for Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, Syracuse Stage, and Stages Repertory in Houston, among many others. He recently directed the Arabic premiere of Our Town in Cairo.
Previously, he served as literary manager and then as associate producer of Primary Stages in New York, where he produced and/or directed countless productions, workshops and readings of new plays by this country’s leading playwrights. He has also directed at many other New York theatres, and has directed and lectured at various universities including The New School and Case Western Reserve University. He received the 2004 and 2006 Northern Ohio Live Award for Excellence in Theatre. He currently serves on the advisory panel for the Regional Arts Commission here in St. Louis. He considers himself a lucky man.
