Jessica Thebus is a theater artist, director, and educator. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and is currently Director of the Northwestern MFA Program in Directing. She has directed in Chicago and nationally for twenty-five years, and has long associations with many Chicago theaters, including the Goodman Theatre where she directed A Christmas Carol from 2000-2005, as well as plays by Tracy Scott Wilson and Sarah Ruhl.  Northlight Theater is also an artistic home for Jessica where she has directed ten plays including Shining Lives: A Musical which received a Joseph Jefferson award nomination for best new work. Favorite others include Steppenwolf Theater Company,  Lookingglass Theater Company, The Gift Theater, Writer’s Theater, and Court Theater.  Favorite projects nationally have taken place at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Huntington Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Marin Theater Company, as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Jessica also creates outdoor spectacle projects in Chicago that celebrate community, joy and environmental justice.